Ridge walk to Mount D'Arcy and Back
- Date:
- 30-Oct-2021
- Category:
- Day Walk
- Days:
- 1
- Grade:
- 4 MH
- Description
- Starting from Itchenstoke/ Mount Tootie we drive 11 km to end of D'Arcy Range fire trail and park the cars. Mount D’Arcy is a rarely visited peak and the whole walk is off-track. For the 1st km we head north. At the start the bush is thick and care is needed with navigation. Then we turn east and the vegetation soon opens up with occasional rock platforms. In parts the ridge narrows to approx. 10 m width. There are excellent views to the north with Parr South prominent in the background. To quote from Yuri's walk report: “We now reached a section containing enormous grey boulders separated by a labyrinth of twisting passages and slots. It was mostly possible to advance along the tops and enjoy pleasant views, but at the same time, there were visual delights right under our feet, including beautiful caves adorned with honeycomb tafoni formations.” “Without any doubt, the most outstanding feature here is a dome-shaped cave, the size of a big tent, punctured by a multitude of windows of different shapes and sizes. It is possible to crawl inside and look out through the holes into the open sky, which is the best way to enjoy this wonderful creation of nature. I called it Perforated Rock.” We continue along the ridge now to a final 150 m ascent to the summit. (Mount D’Arcy is actually the same height as where we parked the cars, but the first part of the ridge is a barely discernible descent.) The summit is flat and tree covered with limited views, but offers pleasant shade for lunch. We can decide whether to visit the second lower summit 300 m to the east. This is more summit like and rocky offering glimpses of the Colo, but to quote Yuri “the last 50 m of the ascent was incredibly scrubby, mainly due to the abundant Hardenbergia vine.” From there we return the same way we came. Estimated walking time is 3hrs each way assuming a slowish pace. For those interested in history, the area was surveyed in 1833 by colonial surveyor Frederick D’Arcy (c. 1809-1875).
- Map:
- Mountain Lagoon
- Participants:
- 8
- LGA:
- Hawkesbury
- Type:
- Program