Sunday, October 29, 2017

Totem Pole, Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia


The Totem Pole  is a stand-alone rock/earth pillar, about 6 meters high.

- Location:
       • In a remote area of the Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia
       • 16.5 km (as the crow flies) east-south-east of the small village of Newnes
       • 50 meters from the south bank of Wolgan River
       • Grid Ref: 576 199
       • UTM: 56H  0257639  6319973
       • Coordinate: -33.23204 150.3991

- Somehow, the pillar is made of material strongly bound together and resistant to weather erosion ... but how what why and when?  It is also protected somewhat by a capstone on its top, but that doesn't explain its continued existence.

- The capstone itself looks like a loose hat. Why hasn't it been blown away already ?

- Standing on a steep slope, the Totem Pole is also gravity-defying. You really have to wonder why it hasn't toppled over already !

- Our party who visited the Totem Pole today: 3 mad masochists - Neilson, Jimmy and I

- Detailed trip report, including our GPS tracklog files:
Click on this link: http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2017/10/totem-pole-wollemi-nat-pk-nsw-australia.html

- Distance and time of the route we took from Newnes to the Totem Pole:
       • On firetrail: 17 km;  4 hrs 30 mins
       • On a disused road/track, some sections indistinct: 1.5 km;  40 mins
       • Scrub bashing: 6 km;  4 hrs
       • One-way total: 25 km;  9 hrs

- The return leg: It took us much longer, 11 hrs 40 minutes, slowed down by Neilson who developed leg & foot injuries.

- Total: 50 km;  21 hrs ... ALL IN ONE DAY !


Question

Is it worthwhile to walk 21 hrs just to see the Totem Pole ?
If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer !

Actually 3 women also started the trip with us; but they quit much earlier.  Maybe they knew the answer  :-)


Some pictures - taken in 2017 October

Neilson and I at the south bank of Wolgan River with the Totem Pole half way up the slope
The above picture doesn't show it ... the slope around this part of the river bank is very steep.


Neilson has climbed up to near the base of the Totem Pole. From the pic, you can sort of get an idea of the steepness of the slope.


Jimmy beside the Totem Pole


Somehow, the pillar is made of material strongly bound together and resistant to erosion ... but how what why and when?  It is also protected somewhat by a capstone on its top, but that doesn't explain its continued existence. Standing on a steep slope, it is also gravity-defying. You really have to wonder why it hasn't toppled over already !

Just as well the Totem Pole is not easily accessible. Else all the climbing on the steep slope by visitors would cause enough soil erosion to soon send it tumbling down to the Wolgan River below.


Detailed trip report

A detailed trip report with our GPS tracklog files and more photos are in this link:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2017/10/totem-pole-wollemi-nat-pk-nsw-australia.html


Post Script

1 - The Totem Pole is an example of a Hoodoo ... refer to this link in Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(geology)

2 - I went to see the hoodoos, the Putangirua Pinnacles, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand North Island in February 2018. It is an amazingly outlandish place, like from an alien world. Photographs and a detailed trip report are in my blog:
http://mntviews.blogspot.com.au/2018/02/putangirua-pinnacles-new-zealand-north.html

Please visit my main page at http://mntviews.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Dinosaur turd


These dinosaur poo photographs are funny and Freda is so cute  :-)
Photographer: Tania Kayrala, 2017 October
Location: A cave in Rock Island, Wollemi National Park, NSW, Australia


I am joking, it is not dinosaur shit. It is a stalagmite.

Now, in a limestone cave, stalactites and stalagmites are composed of deposition of calcium carbonate and other minerals. But here, it is formed by mud dripping down from the ceiling.

A photograph of the ceiling of the same cave is:

Photographer: Paul Ma, 2017 September
Same location as the pics by Tania Kayrala


When a stalagmite reaches the ceiling, it becomes a mud column ... as in the 2 pics below:
(But I'm no where as cute as Freda.)

Photographer: David Hou, 2017 October
Location: near Goochs Crater, Blue Mountains National Park, NSW, Australia

By the way Goochs Crater is a wonderful place. Photographs and trip report to there are in my blog:
https://mntviews.blogspot.com/2017/10/goochs-crater-friday-canyon-dargan-arch.html

Please visit my main page at http://mntviews.blogspot.com/

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Why do you climb mountains?


Why do I climb mountains?
If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer.

The mountain in the above pic is Castell y Gwynt. It is a top of Glyder Fach in Snowdonia, north-west Wales.
Please visit my main page at http://mntviews.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Happiness for a woman ...


Happiness is ... watchig the man of your life cooking for you.
(I thought happiness for a woman is when her husband finishes the food although it is not delicious.)

Please visit my main page at http://mntviews.blogspot.com/
Donations are welcome to support the creation of more interesting articles in this blog  :-)

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