Bonnum Pic - GC2XQF5

I will start by saying; this is what “The Rats” love about geocaching. The remote locations and hiking experiences we have had as a result of geocaching is what I love about this sport. So when Hoojar placed this remote cache at Bonnum Pic I was eager for another hike into the wilderness.

For those that don’t know, Bonnum Pic is just under 100km SW of Sydney in the Nattai National Park. It sits high above the Wollondilly River and offers amazing 360deg views with the Blue Mountains wilderness and Warragamba catchment to the north. The Pic is a narrow rocky ridgeline that protrudes out into the abyss. It’s a 16km round trip walk from the nearest parking spot.

On the 2nd Aug I left Wollongong ready for a hard days walk. The southern highlands had turned on a magnificent day, fog filled the valleys while a cool breeze filled the higher ridgelines. Leaving the Wombeyan Caves Rd I crossed a few acres of private property before parking at the National Park boundary. From this point there is very little signage identifying the route to Bonnum Pic. Numerous walkers over time have left a plethora of rock cairns which ensure you’re never too far off the beaten track.

The early stages of my walk hugged the nearby property and it was here that I seen the strangest sight of my walk. A ring-tailed possum had made the barb-wire fence its resting place for the day. Initially I though the possum was dead or stuck but he soon woke, checked me out before nodding back off to sleep.

Recent strong winds that had battered the region made my walk at times very difficult, large branches and fallen trees littered the ridgeline. My first glimpse of the Pic and the valley below certainly put the scale of this walk into perspective. 150m cliffs line the narrow ridge, which constantly reminding you of the perils around you. As you get closer to the Pic there are a few up and down climbs and a bit of boulder hopping. It is only when you are 130m from the end that the real rock scrambling starts. There is a short, very exposed climb down that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Not being a good rock climber I opted for the safety line and was soon belaying myself down this tricky section.

Soon afterwards I had reached the end of the Pic and the vista from here was beautiful. Miles and miles of wilderness lay before me, it was magical. Having enjoyed the moment I set about retrieving the geocache and was glad to find a blank logbook.

My return route was back over the same country. The exposed climb seemed so much easier when climbing up and for every difficult boulder hopping route I faced there was always an easier path found upon inspection. Some 5½ hours after starting I had returned to the car, pleased with my walk and the FTF.

Thanks Hoojar for the cache.