Canning Stock route - Mujingerra Cave
Submitted: Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 08:57
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Member - Drew T (VIC)
I'll be on the Canning in Jul this year (one vehicle only - leaving
Wiluna approx 10 Jul if anyone wants to join us for a quick 15 day trip)
Last time i went was back in 1996 & one of the many highlights of the trip was descending down a rope to
the entrance, and then crawling down into Mujingerra
Cave itself & having a swim around in the 'pond' below. No snakes the time we went (although we went very very slowly looking out for them!!)
My question ... The trip journal in Exploroz from 2003 says "...it has now collapsed and it is not realistic for visitors to get into the
cave itself". The article in the latest Overlander says "... and since it collapsed a few years ago access is quite difficult with a short abseil to its base"
So can anyone tell me what has actually collapsed .. the exterior area? ..
the entrance tunnel you crawl down for 30 feet or so? ... the interior
cave? What is considered a 'short abseil'
Reply By: Willem - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 11:45
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 11:45
Drew
I was there last year at the end of April.
The side walls of the
cave have collapsed causing
the entrance to be partially blocked.
Well, there is a hole but I am not sure if you can access the
cave now. I would say that the
cave walls probably collapsed due to camels walking around the perimeter and putting a lot of weight on it. Only a guess though. It is probably 3 metres down to the rubble now.
AnswerID:
166999
Reply By: ExplorOz Team - David - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 11:55
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 11:55
Drew,
Collapsed, I have some pics I will load them into the
places system next week and show you. I went into the hole to try to find a way in and it was completly blocked. Drop me an email to david@exploroz.com to remind me if you could - I am going out now!
AnswerID:
167004
Reply By: geocacher (djcache) - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 19:03
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 19:03
I wouldn't even bother making the detour out from the
well to
the entrance. We were there last may.
Nothing left to see here sonny, move along now.... as they say in the classics.
Dave
AnswerID:
167044
Reply By: Jack0Dazza - Friday, Apr 21, 2006 at 12:09
Friday, Apr 21, 2006 at 12:09
Re this ex-
cave. I was on the track in 2000, and it was after heavy cyclonic rains . I was heading north from
Well 23 (ex WA coast), and was advised by a passing trekker that the Mujingerra
Cave had just collapsed due to extremely wet conditions. I had to go and have a look, of course. It was collapsed. Edges very soft and crumbly. Same year, I think, when the windmill at
Well 33 was flattened and spread over the countryside. Drinking water was extremely scarce that year, due to the flooding of wells. Not the best trip. Luckily, I had done the full trip from the North the year before, and had seen the
Cave then. Also the windmill.
AnswerID:
168286
Follow Up By: Member - Drew T (VIC) - Friday, Apr 21, 2006 at 15:06
Friday, Apr 21, 2006 at 15:06
Yes it is sad it's gone .. I did it in 1996 and was hoping to show it to my 18yo son on this trip.
Anyway, from the other posts about
Canning stock route it looks like access is becoming harder & harder (per new aboriginal land grants)
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Reply By: Jack0Dazza - Friday, Apr 21, 2006 at 18:16
Friday, Apr 21, 2006 at 18:16
Yes, Wells are going out of commission, and potable water is getting harder and harder to obtain. At the Northern end, in 2000, the newly tropical conditions had made going extremely rough, with overgrowing 'turkey-bush' almost totally blocking progress, in any case doing a lot of damage to the paintwork. More water was making a lot more washouts. Since then, the rainfall seems only to have increased, from regular cyclones going across the Deserts, and the CSR. I keep an eye on it, had hopes of going back one day, and idea since placed in the dustbin.
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