Stephen, Keira, Sam, and Jason
Report by Jason
At Boree Log this March, Stephen approached me with a proposal, an Easter trip to Mt Buffalo to explore some of the recently opened canyons featured in the Canyoning Around Victoria guidebook. Over the next month, I spent many evenings poring over the guide and chatting with friends about their past adventures in the area. My stoke was building, and so was my canyon hitlist.
Soon enough, Good Friday arrived, and Sam and I began the 700 km drive to Bright.
Unfortunately, we’d left our planning too late, and all the good campgrounds were booked. Our fallback was Ah Youngs Campground in the Buckland Valley, a place our friends had previously described as a chaotic blend of leaf blowers, drones, rowdy 4WDs, and a fragrant mix of horse (and human) manure. Read about their trip here.
Thankfully, midway through our drive, Keira messaged with an address, one of her friends in Bright had kindly offered us their bunkhouse. Not only would we escape the crowds at Ah Youngs, but we’d also have a roof over our heads for the 50 mm of rain forecast on Sunday. We settled into our weekend home and set our alarms for a 5am wake-up to start the first canyon of the trip.
Day 1 – Running Jump Creek
Stephen, Keira, Sam, and Jason
To ease into things, we chose Running Jump Creek: a long but technically straightforward canyon with over 900 metres of abseiling across 34 pitches, and a glorious 0 metres of elevation gain. While it’s often done as an overnight trip with a mid-canyon bivy, we opted to do it in a single day.
After the usual morning faff, we sorted the car shuffle and began the walk-in at 8am
We wetsuited below the Dickinson’s Falls Lookout and tackled the first two abseils. On the very first pitch, the rope wedged itself in a crack during the pull-down, but I was able to scramble back up and free it. Then came the hardest part of the day: a 600 m creek bash through dense scrub and unstable rock, which dramatically slowed us down.
Eventually, the creek steepened, waterfalls reappeared, and my fear of an all-day scrub bash was replaced with excitement. We picked up the pace, leapfrogging through the canyon. I reminded everyone of my hatred for whistles (why use them when hand signals exist?), which, naturally, encouraged the group to blow their whistles loudly any time I made eye contact, even when we were five metres apart. It even disrupted one of my canyon naps…
At one of the pitches, after pulling the rope, I noticed a biner missing from my harness. I looked up and saw a shiny orange glint still hanging from the anchor. Luckily, I was able to scramble up a slab river-right to retrieve it.
The rest of the canyon flowed easily, many straightforward abseils and one short slide. As we changed out of our wetsuits, the sun was setting, and we began the creek walk out by headtorch. Somewhere along the way we realised if we did Crystal Brook tomorrow and left the car at the top of Mt Buffalo tonight, we’d save ourselves a two-hour return drive tonight. At 6:30pm, we reached the car and demolished a bag of salt and vinegar chips on the way back to camp.
Running Jump felt a lot like Box Creek at Kanangra - only with four times as many abseils. Both are open granite gorges with stunning views into the valley, and excellent spots for sunny mid-canyon naps.
Day 2 – Crystal Brook
Stephen, Keira, and Jason
After a more reasonable 7am wake-up (to Keira’s delight), we drove up Mt Buffalo for our most technical canyon of the trip. Rain was forecast in the early afternoon, so we aimed to start early and move efficiently. We wetsuited up in the carpark and stopped at the coffee cart for a pre canyon espresso.
By 10:30am, we were at the top of the falls, scouting for the correct anchor. We found several options but chose a set of glue-ins right at the edge. Stephen rigged the rope, and I began the descent (coffee in hand) searching for the next anchor - an "off-camber, semi-hanging anchor about 3 metres right of the flow."
Although this pitch was listed as 38 metres, I found myself near the rope’s end, hanging in free air, with no anchor in sight. Eventually, I spotted bolts on a ledge about 15 metres below. I called for a lower and traversed across a narrow ledge before climbing awkwardly up 2 metres on slick holds to reach the belay. I clipped in, secured myself, and decided it was the perfect time for a mid-canyon Instagram post (and maybe a quick scroll through some reels).
Twenty minutes later, Keira arrived. I threw her a long safety line so she could avoid the awkward mantle I’d just done. With her two-way radio, we communicated with Stephen up top, though in hindsight, I had reception the whole time and probably could’ve just called. It turns out I’d skipped P2 entirely and gone straight to P3. The rope pull looked good, so we committed the group to the ~50 m abseil.
We moved down to P4, where the anchor sat directly in the flow. Packing the rope here was a chilly experience - at one point, I got a brain freeze from the 9°C water pounding my helmet. P5 involved a slippery approach to a hanging belay. I belayed myself over, clipped in, and swung into position. At P7, the bolts were unusually high, and Keira and I got a good laugh watching Stephen channel his inner ballerina to reach them.
After the final abseil, we got changed, had lunch, and began the tricky walk out. The climber’s route was steep, with several handlines and scrambles. We admired some of the mega-classic climbing routes like Ozymandias and Where Angels Fear to Tread - the site of Daniel and Margot’s recent epic.
Halfway up, the rain finally arrived, making the rest of the walk a slippery slog. No surprise we didn’t see any climbers. At 3:30pm, we returned to the car park to find Sam huddled in my car with the heater on full blast. We changed into dry clothes and joined him.
Crystal Brook was an excellent canyon—short but packed with fun ropework, problem-solving, and beautiful scenery. Plus, it has the novelty of mobile reception for mid-canyon instagramming.
Day 3 – Skeleton and Howells
Stephen, Keira, Sam, and Jason
With a shorter day behind us, we decided to finish the trip strong. Skeleton and Howells is usually done as a two-day trip due to its off-track approach and long exit, but we committed to doing it in a single day. To save time, we sorted the car shuffle the night before.
At 7:30am, we began the walk-in: bush-bashing through sub-alpine scrub, climbing over granite boulders, and sliding down loose scree. By 10:30, we reached the first abseil and suited up.
The upper canyon started as a creek walk with engaging down climbs and beautiful surroundings. Soon the walls opened into another open granite gorge with a series of sloping abseils, reminiscent of Running Jump. We leapfrogged our way down about 10 pitches before the creek narrowed and three more technical abseils began. While manageable in these low-flow conditions, these could quickly become serious in higher water.
After some easy drops, the canyon slowly became more vertical, culminating in a spectacular 50 metre abseil directly through the main flow. The final section offered a handful of stunning vertical waterfalls and infinity pools with expansive views into the Buckland Valley.
At 5:30pm, we reached the end of the canyon and began a gruelling 3 km creek walk out.
Fueled by oat bars and Powerade, I trudged downstream by headlamp, waist-deep in cold pools and navigating slippery terrain. We averaged a brutal 1 km/hour. Occasionally we followed animal tracks on the bank, only to be met with thorny blackberry vines. It was soul-crushingly slow, but looking up at the stars occasionally helped.
At 8pm, we finally hit the firetrail. I sat and watched rainbow trout in the river while waiting for the others. Once on the trail, our pace improved. We stopped briefly to admire giant mushrooms before reaching a gate (walker permitted). As I hopped over it, I tossed my pack, forgetting my helmet was strapped to the outside. We all heard a horrible crunch as my helmet exploded into five different pieces.
At 9:15pm - 13 hours and 45 minutes after leaving—we reached the car and devoured a bag of salt and vinegar chips.
Skeleton and Howells was the highlight of the trip for me. It had several distinct sections and incredible variety. Tough, but worth every step. There is even reception in parts of the canyon to do some live-instagramming.
Final Thoughts
Mt Buffalo is home to some excellent canyons, climbs, and walks - truly an adventurers playground. We could have easily spent weeks here exploring what else the area has to offer. I’ll definitely be back to tackle some more canyons and maybe even some climbs.
While the canyons are superb, they are serious undertakings and not to be taken lightly. If you are planning a trip, ensure you are proficient in SRT, have an efficient team, and are aware of aquatic hazards. While the water levels were low for this trip, some of the canyons at Mt Buffalo contain potentially dangerous water features such as siphons and hydraulics, and have aquatic ratings up to A5. Have a read about whitewater canyoning and grades here.
Robert Springer and Sam Thompson have made a truly excellent guidebook. The book not only has written info, but photos, maps, and topos. Without the book we would have never considered descending some of these canyons. If you are looking for the next canyon adventure, consider picking up a copy from their website.
Thanks Robert and Lingshu for helping answer our ridiculous amount of questions and providing excellent beta.
Huge thanks to Stephen, Keira, and Sam for an incredible Easter adventure. One I definitely won’t forget anytime soon.
