Dam it all...

Sunday's plan was to set off in search of Hell Hole Falls, believed to be somewhere in the south-western vicinity of Uki. The rain from the previous day and early in the morning here was expected to fill the falls with plenty of water and scare the tourists away, and it seemed like the perfect time to do it. A flat tyre inside the first 10km dampened my enthusiasm a bit, but that was soon patched and I was on my way again.


I climbed over tomewin, attacking the early steep pinch, to take a more scenic route into the Tweed Valley. This is one of my favourite passes, particularly the stretch across the top before the steep descent into the valley below. The rain returned in the Tweed Valley, the temperature dropping to 11 degrees C, yet beyond Uki, where the ride really started, the skies started to clear, leaving only remnants of cloud hovering around Mt Warning. It was time to move on to the next phase.


There is another world to explore in the area around the locality of Doon Doon. Today I would take a slightly different route, to Clarrie Hall Dam, then Commissioners Creek Road, then Rockface road, hopefully finding the falls at the end. It didn't quite happen that way. First of all, the turn off from Commissioners Creek Road had a different name for the first 100 metres or so, meaning that I followed that road for longer than I should have, finally backtracking, finding my way to Rockface road, and commencing the climb on the rutted dirt road.

The road continued to climb, the turn off to the right that was supposed to lead straight to the falls was fenced off as "private property", almost certainly illegally. I'm sure there's a "tosspot of the week" post there, but I have another nomination in mind for that right now. As it was, I continued to climb, realising that I probably wouldn't reach the falls, but might find the summit of the climb anyway. The climb continued, levelling out in places, but generally continuing to gain height, while offering no views.

At the northern face of the mountain there was an intersection, and a heap of wildflowers. The "road" turning off to the East went straight into the valley below, but I decided to press on with the climb, wanting to finish it off. It crested at around 460 metres above sea level before starting a gentle descent. The gentle decent would have been nice to continue, but it wasn't to be. I soon found the end of the "road" and the start of a "trail", where the final destination became obvious.

The final descent to the wall at the northern end of Clarrie Hall Dam was too steep to even consider riding in the muddy conditions. Even walking was treacherous enough. At one point I used the brakes to lock up the wheels of the bike completely, and it still slid down at walking pace. Eventually it was negotiated, and I was left with a simple ride home. I grabbed more food back in Uki, before taking the "conventional" route via Murwillumbah, Urliup and Bilambil. A few squalls of rain along the way made the return interesting, but I was able to negotiate it comfortably enough.
The only option left for finding these falls is now via the old Mt Jerusalem, with a detour from another map that I have seen. This ride was rewarding in and of itself for other reasons, but I still intend to find those falls one way or another.

Streams of Mercy

This is the face that greeted me at 7:00 this morning. He was singing at the top of his sweet little voice, "Come Thou Fount of Every Bwessing, Tune My Heart to Sing Thy Pwaise!"
What a great way to start the day and put a smile on my face. I don't care what everybody else says about two-year-olds. Around here, they're the best!

Jurassic Way 1 - Banbury to Chipping Warden

Theoretically 11 miles, nearer 12.5 ( the garmin took a little while to pick up the satellites in this new area). We should have set off earlier in the day to give ourselves more time to explore Middleton Cheney and Wardington. Weather mostly fine, coolish, a couple of showers - the heaviest of them while we were having lunch. With Marta.









From the car park in Banbury, via the shopping centre for a quick coffee, and a visit to the Tourist Information Centre to pick up another map, we made our way south along the canal, from Banbury Lock, in the direction of the water's fall, past various narrowboats and a few sculptures.

the canal

Long John Silver or Captain Hook? I shoulda blurred out the background.





The start of a new adventure - with Banbury Lock in the background, the Jurassic Way starts - though we couldn't find a sign for it.





Someone's made a real effort with this waterside garden.

We're on the correct path. Just as well.





At this bridge the Jurassic Way leaves the canal and turns left, north-east heading towards the Cherwell, and the M40. The bridge crossing the Cherwell has a plaque.

Just after crossing the bridge the path goes alongside the river and under the motorway.

We could hear the noise clearly for quite some distance afterwards, as we walked across fields, over a railway bridge and past some agricultural buildings.




We're still on the right track
At a minor road we turned right, then left towards Warkworth. In Warkworth, we turned left to a footpath opposite Manor Farm. The path took us towards Overthorpe, passing a church at some distance on our right, then skirting Overthorpe along a tree lined path from which we could glimpse some splendid gardens. We then turned right towards Middleton Cheney across fields and past allotments, down to cross a stream and up into the large village.









We turned left and went across the by-pass ( A442) and into the High Street where we found the Take Thyme cafe and conveniently by-passed the worst shower of the day while we had our lunch. There is a heritage trail, but we had no time to follow it today.

I hadn't realised Middleton Cheney was big enough to have a secondary school, or so many small shops. According to the village website, there are plenty of ghosts in the village as well.





From the cafe we went along Church Lane, and found the footpath between houses. Soon after leaving the village, we crossed a field before walking alongside another one with llamas and sheep, and a tree surrounded by fallen apples which from a distance looked like unseasonal yellow flowers.

Onward and across the B4525, over more fields, where the way is pretty clearly marked, then through a wooded area. The map was useful to check where to cross a narrow section of wood before turning right along the edge and past Chacombe House before arriving at the village itself. The path climbs up into Chacombe through some woodland where signs are very clear. You leave the village from the junction of Silver Street with Silver Street North. You can see the church across the field, and there's a picnic area and a large stone.





From here the route as far as Wardington was straightforward, leading under the railway then uphill and across fields.

under the railway

some curious sheep





We had a small problem finding the way very close to Wardington, and came out about fifty yards too far along Thorpe Road, but it was plain from then on, as the path led us round the village, but at one point (in the Close) there was a sign simply saying footpath. We asked a local resident, who almost sent us back round the village, but finally showed us the nearest path, between some houses, and luckily the Jurassic Way was signposted at that point. Then there was one occasion when a sign was actually pointing ahead instead of left as it should have done. This made us walk all of an extra couple of hundred yards, but finally the route to Edgecote was clear. if we'd looked at the map instead of blithely following signs, we'd have been fine.

We met the road where there are a couple of cottages, then took the road to the right and followed it until it turned to the left into the village of Edgecote, just after the church.

From here we took a track, through a gate downhill to cross the Cherwell ( very small here), then up a gentle slope and into Chipping Warden.

Rain on lens again!

pdf fromNorthants C C - Banbury to Ashby St Ledgers

A video of this section - by voxley19 from August covering many of the same landmarks.

Moose cow and calf on Teal Lake

(Click the image to view a larger version)
Today on my way to work I saw, for the first time, a Moose on the shoreline of Teal Lake. Not only that, but it was a cow Moose with a calf! To top it off, it was one of the Moose that have been collared by the Grand Portage Reservation Natural Resource Department! What a treat to see these animals today. The reservation has collared several Moose in order to track their movements over the course of two years and they will be using the collected data to help manage reservation lands for the benefit of Moose. I sat and watched this mother and child for about 10 minutes, and they barely moved. Just before I left the mother laid down in the grass and the calf followed suit. I wonder how long they stayed in this spot?

I vant to be left alone

Both the Muscovy (above) and the Runner duck had to be chased off their nests. They weren't happy being forced to abandon their eggs, rotten and stinking though they were.
That poor Muscovy. She keeps trying to nest and having no luck. I think the only thing she did wrong this time was to pick the period with the record number of consecutive 100°+ days. She's not much of a weather forecaster I guess.
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Friday Ark.

Checking out Manawa

Nothing going on today needing my attention with the Adams Park work. After treatment, stopped for some shopping. Then attended my fraternity alumni luncheon. Brought my bike (Fuel EX7) on the car and my change of clothes for a ride.
Windy day for a bike ride. Decided it was a good afternoon to see how things are going at Lake Manawa.
Well, the river level is down. But still lots of standing water in the trail area. West Sidewinder is bone dry. Word is Longs Loop is rideable. Woodchopper is under water yet (see Photo). Ended up putting on only 3 miles surveying the situation.
Trail work planned Sunday and Tuesday. I was not making the Sunday work day, too much activity from the weekend.