Mountains Mishaps: Death and Misadventure in the Blue Mountains of NSW: Blue Mountains Search and Rescue History, #2

By Christopher F Webber

VOLUME 2, chapters 6-13: Every year in the Blue Mountains, up to 400 visitors get lost or need rescuing, with many spending an unexpected night in the bush. Most incidents happen in the same locations, within a few kilometres of civilisation. Readers will not only enjoy some gripping adventures, but also learn how to enjoy their trip in the Blue Mountains to the maximum. The over 620 episodes cover from the 1860s to the present day. Most people survived, but there were over 240 untimely deaths. There are in excess of 200 colour photographs and many maps. For the first time, all the Blue Mountains canyons are mapped together, and all the storms and snowfalls are catalogued.

The Blue Mountains National Park has the highest visitation of any National Park in Australia, more than 4 million visitors per annum. In the Blue Mountains, the numbers are uncertain, as only about 20% of incidents are reported to the public. Through Freedom of Information requests and interviews with local people, this book aims to help break the silence. Between 2004 and 2007 nearly 400 people were reported missing in the Blue Mountains and surrounding area, which led to 200 search and rescue operations.

These incidents may have a wide effect on the local community and tourist industry. Up to nine organisations may be involved searching for a single man. For example, one 2013 search involved 1,000 people and lasted four weeks. Another search resulted in a miraculous survival and payment of $200,000 to the survivor, who suffered permanent injuries. One man survived an air crash and a week of freezing temperatures without food in some of the most rugged terrain to found his own airline. A couple got lost in the same place twice in the same weekend, and had to be rescued each time. Another man tried to cross the rugged, 150 km wide Wollemi National park with only some potatoes and naan bread in his back pack. 99% of missing persons are found, but there are several mysterious disappearances.

The book has a chapter for each cause of injury or death – 12 in all, plus a Preface, Introduction, and four appendices. Each chapter starts with some personal stories, followed by a description of the hazard, and instructions on how to avoid it. This is followed by other stories arranged in chronological and geographical order.

 The focus of the book is on incidents that occur in the bush, but there are some of the more remarkable incidents on the roads, in the air, and on the railways, too. There have been 40 air crashes, for instance. Readers will learn of the incidence of snow, storms, floods, landslides, and tremors. There is also a local history of the geology, railways and the local emergency services. The heroism and selfless dedication of both professional and volunteer rescuers is highlighted. Blue Mountains rescuers have received many awards for their bravery.

This is an important and unique book, featuring prize-winning research, which anybody with an interest in in emergency situations, cars, trains, planes, canyoning, bushwalking, mountain biking, swimming, liloing, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities should read. It could save your life, or at least save you from an embarrassing night in the bush. This book will tell you where to go, what to take, and when. This is a non-academic study that can easily be read in small stages.

 This book is sponsored by the NSW Government through Create NSW and by the State Emergency Services Volunteers Association. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Webber
• Release date: Dec 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9780645809923

Christopher F Webber

Christopher Webber was born in England and lived in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka before moving to Australia.  He has been a member of Blue Mountains SES since he moved to the Blue Mountains in 2001 and has been an SES member for 25 years. During that time, he has been involved in many searches for missing persons as well as other dramatic events described in the book.  He is the recipient of the National Medal, the 2019-2020 Bushfire Citation, the NSW SES Long Service Medal, and other awards.  He has been bushwalking in Australia for 50 years, and led walks for the All Nations Bushwalking Club. He has published two military history books, many articles about ancient and modern military history, and a World War 2 hex -and-counter type historical simulation game.  He also made significant contributions to the ancient and medieval historical strategy game Field of Glory 2.    He published ground breaking research on the Thracians after making three visits to Bulgaria and taking part in archaeological digs.   He worked in the IT industry as a trainer, project manager, software tester, website content editor, and IT support technician for over 30 years.    After 15 years’ service with TAFE and the Department of Education., he was made redundant, and decided to write a book about a more relevant issue.  

Book preview

Chapter 6 – A Land of Frost and Fire: Environmental Effects

The Blue Mountains experiences extremes of cold and hot weather, bringing fire and snow. The July 2015 snow fall shut down the upper mountains and brought trees crashing down on walking tracks (author’s photo)

The typical climate in the Blue Mountains is warm temperate, with an average summer-autumn rainfall peak associated with summer storms (November to June) and a drier early spring. However, the weather can change quickly in the Blue Mountains, so walkers should be prepared for heat, rain and cold. For example, in December 2020 – during summer – there were seven nights with single digit temperatures, including one night when the temperature fell to 5° C. There were even two days with maximum temperatures of around 15° C. This was especially surprising given that temperatures were above 30° C for nine days at the same time of the previous year, when nearly all the national park was burnt down in bushfires that lasted for months. Check the Bureau of Meteorology website for the latest weather forecast before going into the bush. This chapter mentions 16 incidents causing three deaths.

HYPOthermia

People have died of hypothermia (being too cold) in the Blue Mountains for two main reasons: being caught out at night in winter unprepared, or becoming stuck in a waterfall or canyon. The Blue Mountains are usually about 10° C cooler than western Sydney temperatures, making the climate quite pleasant in summer, but this can be a problem in winter, when there can be snow falls. See Appendix B for a complete list of snow falls in the Blue Mountains, and their effects. The climate in the higher mountain areas can tend towards cool temperate, even in summer. This makes long exposure at night and in water dangerous to inadequately equipped people. The first recorded deaths were probably on 4 July 1900:

 On Wednesday 4 July 1900, it started snowing from Blackheath to Bell. In Blackheath, the snow falls continued all day and night, giving a total of 900mm, the highest ever recorded. Because of the altitude difference, the snow fell at the bottom of the valleys as heavy rain. The bad weather prevented a search from starting until Sunday 7 July for two brothers, 24-year-old James and 22-year-old George Barton.

The brothers had set out Monday 2 July from their home in Bell to go possum trapping and shooting in the Grose Valley. Most probably they went via the Engineers Track from Hartley Vale Siding (now a patch of flat earth opposite the Hartley Vale Road junction with the Darling Causeway). They had not been in the Grose Valley before, but they were regarded as experienced bushmen and carried a tent and supplies for three days. They were expected to return Wednesday 4 July, but neither had been seen.

On Sunday 7 July, the weather cleared. At least eight volunteers and the Hartley Vale policeman, Constable Bleechmore, walked down into the valley, where all the creeks and the river were swollen with run-off. That afternoon, just upstream of Burra Korain, they found the body of George. Covering him was his brother’s coat. Nearby was a swag and a pitched tent; it’s curious that George’s body wasn’t found inside either of them. There were also two trees which had been felled to provide a river crossing. It was determined that George had died of hypothermia and exposure in the snow a couple of days beforehand. Nine of the searchers then carried his body out, back to Hartley Vale Siding.

Hypothermia begins when the body temperature drops to 35° and goes through several stages. In early stages, the blood is moved away from the extremities to the core of the body and the brain. The obvious signs are shivering, a fast heart rate, increased respiration, and contraction of blood vessels (causing a change in skin colour). There may be increased urine production and mental confusion. Perhaps that’s why George wasn’t found inside the tent – he had been wandering around in a state of confusion.

As the condition worsens, the mental state gets worse, resulting in amnesia, slurred speech, and loss of fine motor skills. The last is quite important for anybody doing ropework and is sometimes mentioned as a problem for people involved in canyoning or abseiling down waterfalls. They find they are unable to use their hands properly. Drinking alcoholic drinks makes the condition worse, and should be avoided.

In the final stages, with body temperature at 28° or lower, shivering stops, and many of the body’s systems shut down. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure all decrease. Up to half of sufferers may feel hot and take their clothes off. Another strange effect is that people surrounded by water get dehydration. Hypothermia and dehydration often go together, as you don’t feel like drinking freezing water when your core temperature is low.

Since James Barton had been able to place his coat on his brother, it was thought he might still be alive. The search for him continued the next day (Monday 8 July), this time by at least 30 people, some coming from as far away as Lithgow. With them was another policeman, Constable Matheson. It was thought that James had gone across the river seeking help. They searched down the river every day, reaching the Blue Gum Forest on Friday, by which time only Matheson and Bleechmore were left. The policemen had to go down into the valley and back each day, as they had no camping gear. Their clothes and boots were worn out from the rugged terrain, scrub, and lawyer vines.[1] By Friday there was little hope of finding James, so Matheson returned to Lithgow.

The next Sunday, the search was resumed, this time with 44 men, volunteers coming from Hartley Vale, Bell, Mt Victoria, Lithgow, and Blackheath. The four men from Blackheath walked all the way up the river from Perrys Lookdown to Hartley Siding and back in one day. Most of the searchers scoured gullies in the Grose headwaters. They split into four groups; each being assigned a gully. When all the searchers regrouped, they found that a Mr Enderby had become separated from his party. Bleechmore and others followed his tracks up a gully till dark, shouting and firing a revolver. Enderby turned up that night without assistance. Constable Bleechmore looked really worn and ragged, and caught a cold that prevented him from continuing the search for the next week.

Constable Matheson took his place, with the men from Blackheath again walking all the way from Perrys and back. By the end of the week, after almost two weeks of searching, more snow and bad weather came in, and the search was suspended. A week later, Albert Barlow, an aboriginal tracker from Sydney, was brought in. Bleechmore and Matheson continued searching, but nothing was found, and by 7 August the search ended. Over 150 person-days of searching had been conducted. James Barton’s body was never found. It was thought it had been washed away in the flood. A tablet commemorating George Barton was placed in 1902 where his body had been discovered, but it has since disappeared.[2]

The story of the Barton brothers is unusual. In the Blue Mountains, very few people have died from the cold in winter. Most deaths from hypothermia have occurred in canyons in the warmer months, even on hot days in summer. Body heat is lost 30 times more quickly in water than in air. This is what makes the water in Blue Mountains creeks and canyons dangerous. It is usually quite cold, as sunlight may not touch the water, or only reach it at midday.

On 25 April 1984 Stuart Campbell, 20, of Earlwood tried to abseil, bushwalk, and canoe through Rainbow Ravine and Thunder Gorge with three friends. The maximum temperature in Katoomba that day was only 15 degrees. The river was bitterly cold and swollen, canoeing any part of the canyon isn’t possible and Campbell suffered badly from hypothermia. He had body soreness and became delirious, so was unable to walk out from the gorge. One of his party climbed out to get help, but the rest had to stay there for the night.

A rescue party from Blue Mountains Police Rescue Squad arrived at dawn the next day. It was composed of Senior Constables P. Black, P. Tunchon, C. Hiley, A. Thom, A. Holley and R. Machin. With them were Lithgow ambulancemen W. Sutor and J. Goodwin. Senior Constables Black and Hiley, with the two ambulancemen, were forced to swim naked across the river with their clothes and equipment held above their heads in canvas bags to reach Campbell. He was given first aid and then winched out of the ravine by Polair helicopter. His four rescuers were also winched out, and all were taken to Lithgow hospital, with the rescuers suffering from mild hypothermia. The policemen and ambulancemen were allowed to leave after treatment. Campbell was photographed in his hospital bed afterwards.[3]

Treating hypothermia involves warming up the person. For mild hypothermia, this can be done by drying the person, putting them in properly insulated clothing, and moving them to a warm environment. In worse cases, hypothermia may be helped by placing hot water bottles in both armpits and in the groin. If there is no other source of heat, it may help to wrap another person up with the patient, skin to skin. Drinking warm sweetened liquids (without caffeine or alcohol) can help. To prevent frostbite, try to keep circulation going to the tips of the fingers and toes.

Preventing hypothermia is simple: wear layers of (woollen or synthetic) clothing, keep dry, seek shelter, and stay out of the wind. If sitting or lying on the ground, put an insulating layer between the patient and the ground. Wear a wet suit if going into water (a thin one will do in summer), and keep as much of the body as possible out of the water while travelling through it. That means staying on top of a lilo and keeping it fully inflated. This simple advice becomes more difficult to implement the worse the state of hypothermia, as people get confused and have other mental problems. A person who is injured, ill, or has an altered conscious state is at risk of significant heat exchange when lying uninsulated on cold ground for prolonged periods.

Shivering and deliberate activity to keep warm have high energy demands and are limited in duration by energy availability. This is why feeding with high sugar foods is important in hypothermia prevention and treatment.

15 October 2012: A man in his fifties was walked out and taken to hospital with mild hypothermia after getting into trouble while bushwalking at Leura Cascades.[4]

Police were called at 8 pm Saturday 25 April 2015 when Justin Rebel, 20, failed to return from a walk with his friends on the Happy Valley walking trail at Mount Wilson. He was only wearing a light jacket and tracksuit pants, and the temperature dropped to 4°C that night. His father, Daniel Rebel, was very concerned for his safety, given how unprepared he was for the cold. He was found the next afternoon safe and well, about two kilometres from where he left his friends. He was taken to hospital and treated for hypothermia. He had been alone in the bush, without food or shelter, for about 20 hours, in near-freezing temperatures.[5]

About 6:30 pm on Thursday 28 July 2016 a 32-year-old man phoned 000 to say he was lost at Wentworth Falls. He said he had started walking from the Conservation Hut about midday but could not find his way back to the hut. He did not have any food, water or camping equipment with him. Police and emergency services launched an immediate ground search for the man but, by 12:30 am on Friday, had not found any trace of him. The temperature dipped to a low of -1.2 degrees that night but, taking into account the wind chill, it felt more like -6 degrees. The search was suspended until 7 am on Friday, when a helicopter was brought in along with ground teams. The man was found not long afterwards. He had injured his ankle and was suffering from hypothermia, but was expected to recover.[6]

As mentioned above, even rescue professionals can get hypothermia. In June 2017, the Blue Mountains Police Rescue Squad, led by Senior Constable Steven Day, was called to retrieve the body of a woman (a suicide victim) in Leura. Due to the dangerous weather conditions – strong winds, light snow and rain – and suffering from mild hypothermia and fatigue, the rescue operators had to return the next day to complete the operation.

There are many more examples of people being affected by hypothermia, sometimes fatally, in the chapter on canyon incidents.

HYPERthermia and Thirst

 On 10 December 2006, David Iredale, a 17-year-old student at Sydney Grammar school who lived in Pymble, set out on an overnight walk with two friends: Phillip Chan and Kostas Brooks. They were going from Katoomba to Mt Solitary and return as preparation for a Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme silver level test. They walked via the Federal Pass to Ruined Castle and Mt Solitary for their first night’s camp, at Chinaman’s Gully. They then planned to follow the walking track down to the Kedumba River, up the walking track to the 4WD track beneath Kedumba Pass and then back to Katoomba via the old Sewage Treatment Plant 4WD track. David was the fittest of the three, and got into the habit of going ahead of the other two, then waiting for them to catch up.

The most difficult part of the first day’s walk was tackled after lunch, the two kilometres along the Korrowall Knife Edge from Cedar Gap to Melvilles Lookout. This is a 320m climb up steep hills, culminating in two near-vertical rock scrambles. It was an extremely hot and dry day, with a maximum temperature about 32°, and the boys were forced to stop regularly to drink water. Many people have got lost on this section of the track, and they did, too, going off on the wrong track and getting lost for about an hour. They eventually successfully backtracked to the right path, reaching the highest point of the plateau at around 4 pm. By that time, although all three boys had packed between two to four litres each, they had run out of water.

They descended from the Knife Edge and arrived at their campsite at Chinamen’s Gully, near Melville’s lookout, at about 6 pm. The boys had expected to find water and spent

20-25 minutes looking for a source in nearby dry creek beds. They made an attempt to use bush skills to collect water by putting plastic bags on trees in the hope that they would trap transpiration from the leaves. Later they made camp, pitching two tents and lighting a fire. David fried and ate some pre-cooked sausages for dinner and Kostas ate ravioli, while Philip Chan decided not to eat. After dinner the boys sat around talking for a short time – they were a bit depressed and worried about the lack of water. Philip called a friend who had also been in cadets to ask if he knew any other way to collect water. Philip’s friend suggested that the boys dig a hole, put a bottle on it and cover it with plastic, but they did not end up trying to do so. Instead, they went to bed.

After a disturbed sleep, the three boys woke early, with their spirits significantly lifted. They were not worried as they knew it was only a short, if difficult, walk down to the Kedumba River. 11 December was also a hot, dry day, though a little cooler at about 26° maximum. Kostas and David both ate some form of breakfast and they set off on the track around 7:45 am. They had to ascend and traverse the top of Mt Solitary for about 1.5 hours before they could descend back down into the valley to the Kedumba River, about 4.5 km away. The boys spoke to their parents, and were assured that there was water in the Kedumba River.

From the campsite they left that morning, the boys walked along the plateau that forms the top of Mount Solitary to a lookout known as The Col, arriving at about 10.45 or 11 am. They had kept together up to this point. At the Col there has been, by long convention, a waterproof tin with a notebook and pen kept in it for hikers to make entries. David made a good-natured entry on behalf of the group, which reads as follows:

"Got to the top!!

Haven’t had H2O for a whole day but river coming up!

Enjoy the view!

David Iredale, Phil Chan, Kostas Brooks

11/2/06"

From the Col, the boys undertook the arduous task of descending the very steep gradient to a level area, which turned out to be the last place that David was seen alive. That descent would take the fittest person some time and considerable effort to complete, particularly with a pack on their back. David began moving ahead and out of sight of the other two boys, before he would then stop to rest until the other two caught up with him. On several occasions Philip and Kostas called out to him to slow down or wait up, at which point David would call back for them to hurry up. At the foot of the long descent, about 30-45 minutes after they left the Col, Philip and Kostas found David waiting for them. They were on a prominent saddle about half way down the ridge between the Col and the Kedumba River. They then left together but David began again moving ahead quickly, possibly even jogging or running, saying he would go and find some water in the Kedumba River. He was soon out of sight. That was approximately 11:45 am, and was the last time that David Iredale was seen alive.

David had a map, food for three days, and camping equipment. The track down the mountain is not obvious and he became disoriented. The heat made his thirst worse. David made his first emergency call around 12.00 on 11 December. He rang 000 seven times but the calls dropped out before he could complete the call and it wasn’t possible to find him in time. Unfortunately, the 000 operators receive many crank calls so they were required to get a street address. During one phone call, David told the operator he had become lost walking on the Mount Solitary track near Kedumba River in the Blue Mountains National Park. The operator again asked for his location but he replied: No idea. OK, so you have just wandered into the middle of nowhere, is that what you’re saying? the operator replied.

No action was taken by the ambulance service following the first call despite the fact that the call had dropped out. In subsequent calls he told them he had become lost in the bush, had run out of water and could not see or walk properly. He said he had dehydration, heat stress, and was close to fainting. Despite that, emergency service operators did not ask basic questions such as David’s name, phone number and physical condition, which could have helped narrow the search to get to him more quickly.

Kostas Brooks and Philip Chan reached the Kedumba River at around 12:30 pm or so. They had kept an eye out for their friend and had called out his name as they moved along the track. After reaching the River, Kostas and Philip spent around one hour cooling off and waiting for David to arrive. When he did not, they tried to ring him and sent text messages, but they had no reception and had to walk ahead to higher ground before they attempted to make further contact. When David did not show up, they assumed he was still in front so they proceeded with the original plan and walked east towards the 4WD track below Kedumba Pass.

At around 2:30 pm, Kostas Brooks telephoned his father and informed him that David was missing. Mr Brooks advised them to walk to Kedumba Pass and both boys arrived there at around 4 pm. Sometime around 5 pm, they were picked up by Constable O’Brien, who had been out driving along fire trails searching for David. Kostas and Philip were taken to Katoomba police station by the policeman, who then resumed the search for David On 13 December, the search was continued with the involvement of officers from the Police Rescue Squad, State Emergency Service, National Parks and Wildlife Service and Police Aviation Support Branch. By the morning of Thursday, 14 December, there were approximately 80 people involved in active searching and a further 60 in various aspects of the administration of the search.

A large search base was setup near Queen Victoria Hospital. Eventually there were more than 100 people searching from the Wilderness Rescue Squad, Blue Mountains Climbers Rescue Group, Police, RFS, Ambulance, and SES (including myself). A 16 square kilometre area was searched. They found David’s backpack, and, at another location, a first aid kit, though there was no indication to whom the latter had belonged. The weather during the search ranged from extreme heat to sleet and rain. Helicopters were also used except on 15-16 December because of bad weather on those days.

David’s body was found by a helicopter after eight days’ intensive searching, on 19 December. It was on a rocky incline 200 metres to the north of the track, about a kilometre from the river, in a dry creek bed, 2 km east of Mt Solitary. This was a place that had been searched before. It was not far from his last known meeting point with his friends. It was so difficult to access that police had to be winched into it from a helicopter.

The inquest into David Iredale’s death was told that, had vital information provided by David to 000 operators been passed on to police, he could have been found on the afternoon he went missing. Instead, the searchers assumed David was in good health, well equipped with provisions, and was likely to have made it to the river. An autopsy concluded that in fact he probably died sometime late on that day. His death was attributed to a combination of dehydration and exposure. The NSW Ambulance Service unreservedly apologised to the boy’s family for the failure to pass on information received by the 000 operators to the police.

There were rumours that David suffered from ADHD but his parents denied this. His behaviour and descriptions of his condition is consistent with someone suffering from dehydration. David’s condition would have deteriorated rapidly, as he had not consumed any water for 17 hours. His parents blamed the school for inadequate supervision of the boys’ organisation and preparation. David had requested a GPS from his teacher but his teacher forgot to give it to him. The inquest resulted in 000 operators being given different operating instructions afterward

.

SES, RFS, Ambulance, and Police at the search base at the top of Kedumba Pass, near the old hospital  (Author’s photo).

The NPWS has since installed pit toilets, shelters, and water tanks at the Ruined Castle, and suggests that walkers now do this walk as a three day walk, with the first camp being at the Ruined Castle. However, they warn that there is no guarantee that there will be water in the tanks or anywhere until the Kedumba River