My conviction that the old 2 inch to the mile (1:31,680) scale maps were made with more attention to detail was reinforced recently. Early March I lead a club trip down the full length of Bell Creek Canyon. As I was expecting it to be a long day I insisted on an early start for our small experienced group. There was also no need to waste time getting to the start of the canyon with needless creek bashing. Accordingly I chose option iii) from "Canyons Near Sydney" to enter Bell Creek at Grid Reference 502896 (Australian Map Grid Zone 56; i.e. the grid reference numbering you see on 1:25,000 maps). This required finding a particular ridge to head north on before dropping north west into a side creek that quickly lead into Bell Creek. The misty day limited visibility to only a couple of hundred metres so I could not easily see the "big picture" of where all the ridges went. Thus I was pleased when following my 1:31,680 scale (Mt Wilson) map I came to an unusual feature at GF 502884 that confirmed my location. Here was a small side creek that crossed the ridge! Our entry into the side creek just further north was fast and straight forward but seemed seldom used. Despite good steady progress it truly was a long but thoroughly enjoyable day. We did not get to the exit out of Wollangambe Creek until 7.15pm and not back to Mt Wilson until 8.40pm.

Later when I checked the Mt Wilson 1:25,000 scale map this unusual feature had been smoothed out into the general shape of the ridge. It wasn’t wrong but not as good as my faithful 1:31,680 map. The grid shown in black is 1,000 yards square and numbered differently to the grid on 1:25,000 scale maps. If you look carefully though there is a series of faint numbers in red corresponding to the map grid you need. Now one detail the 1:25,000 maps do have is the modern network of fire roads. So I don’t blindly use my old 1:31,680 maps but often visit the map library to see if there is detail I should know about. The maps for good detail are the 1:10,000 scale produced by The NSW Rogaine Association for their events. Every rock is shown! It takes the guesswork out of navigation. Good navigating whatever map you use.