Grand Canyon One-Way to Heat Stroke

Concentrated marketing of the Grand Canyon Walking Track in addition to the perpetuating closures of many other tracks due to unrehabilitated landslides, have funneled visitation congestion through the popular Grand Canyon in the Blue Mountains.

Normally, the Blue Mountains Region attracts around 4 million visitors annually.  Half of those converge on Echo Point, 850,000 participate in the Scenic World rides and around 200,000 hike the Grand Canyon.  It was reported that during the school holidays in September 2020, record numbers of visitors caused overcrowding and delays at key pinch points along the trail.  Once visitation returns to normality post-pandemic, these numbers will inevitably worsen beyond capacity to probably unsustainable congestion.

Being very familiar with the route, we criticise the clockwise decision in our previous blog post https://naturetrail.com.au/blog-post/grand-canyon-best-hiked-anti-clockwise/

We highlight other concerns.

The rationale for the one-way hiking protocol is so groups of hikers by walking in a single direction will be able to better maintain the social distancing protocol of the imported COVID flu virus pandemic.

Parks Service order:

This protocol will help mitigate the inability by hikers to maintain social distancing (1.5m) when heading in opposing directions passing by each other on many of the narrow paths and staircases along this loop route. Much of the track is <1m and the staircase widths are about 1m.

But the COVID justification is just part of the Parks Service rationale for imposing its one-way restriction.  There are simply too many hikers using the track at anyone time. Peak usage is weekend 11am to 3pm, so this peak congestion needs to be addressed by Parks Service.  The best times for hiking are midweek and early from first light; it’s more peaceful, less crowded, cooler and one has a better chance of spotting wildlife.  Spreading the visitation scheduling should feature in the marketing – spread the love!  Learn from the many other popular hiking loops around Australia and overseas – what sustainable and workable solutions have been devised to cope with the peak overcrowding problem?

Parks Service’s decision to mandate the hiking direction to clockwise is inferior to the anti-clockwise direction.  We agree with most regular hikers, and canyoners and tour operators who use this canyon, whether it be hiking or canyoning or both.  The anticlockwise direction is superior as it enables visitors finish with the spectacular view from Evans Lookout, with facilities nearby – shade, drinking water, larger car park, toilets – not available at Neates Glen car park.

The Parks Service justifies the mandatory clockwise direction as a way of spreading out the crowds and parking congestion at the two car parks at Evans Lookout and Neates Glen.  But its recommendation of visitors starting from the Evans Lookout Car park and finishing at Neates Glen car park is nonsensical.  The bulk of visitors who use the canyon (probably 95%) are hikers in independent groups who arrive by car from Sydney, so by finishing at Neates Glen they will have to hike 1.4km back to their cars at Evans Lookout car park.

Parks Service seems to have overlooked the heightened hazard of extreme heat conditions that prevail on this plateau top landscape in the early afternoons particularly during summer.  Temperatures can soar to 40 Celsius in direct sun.

Since the bulk of hikers are members of the public in independent groups, they cannot be presumed to have the outdoor hiking skills are knowledge of weather conditions that can cause exposure to dehyidration, heat exhaustion and the onset of critical heat stroke.

By Parks Service forcing public hikers to hike this 1.4km between Neates Glen car park and Evans Lookout car park at peak visitation (1pm to 3pm) being typically the hottest part of the day is unsafe and contrary to NSW public health guidelines.

In the lead up to summer last year Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District Director of Public Health, Dr Victor Carey, was reported in November thus:

“Preparation is key to surviving the hotter months ahead. Keeping up fluids, checking the daily weather, remaining in shade and reducing physical activity during the heat of the day are some of the many things you can do to stay healthy in the heat and out of your local emergency department.”

 

 

During extremely hot weather, it is easy to become dehydrated or for your body to overheat. Exposure to high temperatures can lead to life-threatening heat-related illness such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion. More commonly, heat can make existing chronic illness worse. This can have equally serious consequences such as inducing a heart attack in someone who has a heart condition.  Heat affects everyone differently and some people can be at greater risk than others. People are reminded to check on the welfare of others, especially on hotter days.”

The NSW Government’s Environmental Health (in the outdoors context) recommend in a heatwave the following health advice:

  1. Monitor the weather using Bureau of Meteorology’s Heatwave Service
  2. Prepare yourself before the heat arrives
  3. Plan your day and avoid being in the heat between 11am and 5pm
  4. Wear loose fitting clothing – wear light-coloured, loose-fitting clothes made from natural fibres like cotton
  5. Stay out of the sun
  6. Stay hydrated by drinking water – drink cold drinks and eating smaller cold meals such as salads and fruit
  7. Put wet towels or cool packs on your arms or neck
  8. If you go outside, carry a bottle of water with you
  9. Look out for each other
  10. Keep in contact with elderly friends, neighbours and relatives during a heat wave in case you or they need help.

[Current as at: Friday 11 December 2020]

Parks Service would be wise to heed this expert health advice as it applies to visitation to the Grand Canyon.  It’s unique decision to force hikers a direction that will know to result in positioning the majority in ambient heat stroke conditions on hot summer is contrary to heat mitigation, hiking safety and to the NSW Government’s own health safety advice.  May be the reactive Parks Service doesn’t think this is part of their remit.

The marketing of the Grand Canyon since it reopened on 28th October 2017 after major restoration and upgrade over a decade was promoted for return visitation extensively by the New South Wales Government.  Visitation steadily returned as intended.  Before the ten year closure, statistical visitation had been typically 90,000 per year.  However, since the reopening this has since more than doubled during 2018 and 2019.

Then as a consequence of the threatening bushfire emergency impacting the entire Blue Mountains Region, canyon access closed again from 10th December 2019 through to February 2020. The juxtaposed onset of the COVID pandemic then shut down tourism again to the entire Blue Mountains to date.   A brief reprieve over the September 2020 school holidays, saw record visitation – 95% independent hikers an hiking groups, 5% canyoners.

Rather than the Parks Service responsible repairing a range of tracks and promoting other tracks in the area, its management approach is to restrict route access by mandating the hiking direction to be one-way.

The following popular hiking tracks remain closed in the Blue Mountains National Park and adjoining Council bushland reserves:

  • Prince Henry Cliff walk around Leura Cascades
  • Cliff Top Track (Grose Valley escarpment)
  • Govetts Leap descent and Rodriguez Pass walking track, due to fire damage.
  • Perrys lookdown campground, due to dangerous trees.
  • Walls Cave, Popes Glen and Pulpit Rock, due to fire and flood damage.
  • National Pass from Valley of Waters to Slacks Stairs, due to ongoing rockfall risk following the death and injury of Parks Service track contractors (29th November 2017).
  • Federal Pass between Scenic Railway and Golden Stairs, due to rockfall
  • Part of Amphitheatre track from the base of Bridal Veil falls to Fern Bower, due to ongoing rockfall risk.
  • Bridal Veil View (east) track is closed for track maintenance.
  • Charles Darwin Walk
  • Ingar Campground
  • Wollangambe One Canyon, due to a dangerous “whirlpool” (water syphon)

Such tracks need to be promptly remediated, re-opened and publicised to attract the independent hiker market, to lessen the visitation pressure on the Grand Canyon and so  avert a repeat of the congestion of the September school holidays of 2020.

May be the reactive Parks Service doesn’t think this is part of their remit.