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
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/
Amazing formation! Were there any other views within those 21 hours? I don't know if I could walk that far just to see the pole, however sometimes I am mad enough to walk hours in the mountains without seeing anything.
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to walk it in less than 21 hours. We were slowed on the return trip by a guy who was slightly injured.
DeleteMost of the time we were walking along the Wolgan River which is quite pretty.
Near where we start is the ruins of Newnes Oil Shale processing works ... Quite interesting.