Day1: Explorer's tree to Coxs river campsite (15 km, 5 h)
Much to our disappointment the morning of Thursday 10th May began with rain. When we reached the blue mountains we discovered the clouds were down and the visibility was extremely limited. We got to our start point, repacked to distribute the food, put on our rain jackets and crossed our fingers that the rain would not last for the whole three days! The track starts by descending through temperate rain forest in Nellies Glen, we were pretty sheltered from the rain and the flora was beautiful! Once we reached the valley floor the track headed along the megalong valley through a combination of public paths and across private land. We meet some of the local "wildlife" along the way as you can see below. At the Coxs river we decided to cross the suspension bridge - built for times of high water, so not really necessary now that we are in drought - which is pretty long and moves around alot when you are in the middle with a large pack on your back! The Coxs river campsite was pretty nice, lots of grass, the river nearby and a pitloo which wasn't too smelly! After setting up the tent and having a bit of a recki, after a 'pringles entree' we cooked a vegi stirfry and had ginger, chocolate and port for desert - gourmet!
Day 2: Coxs river to Black range campsite (20 km, 6 h)
After a leisurely start we headed off at 10 am along the fire trail for our second campsite at black range. On the way we climbed Mini Mini Saddle, passed Alum creek campsite (a really gorgeous spot by the creek with liquid ambers and other beautifully coloured non-native trees!), then climbed up to the saddle of the black range and along the range to the campsite. It was fire trails all day - not my favourite type of track, but at least it made the walking easy, which I appreciated since the majority of the day was up hill and there were a few fairly steep bits to navigate! At alum creek we meet a party of about 20 school children, thankfully heading in the other direction. We had an amusing moment at one of the stream crossings with one of the groups. The stream was all of 3 cm deep (if that!), so walked straight across it, whilst the kids tried to clamber over these large rocks slightly downstream. Their large packs made them rather unbalanced! After 6 hours of walking, plus a few breaks for lunch and snacks (mmmm kendal mintcake), we made it to another deserted grassy campsite. We tried to make friends with the local kangaroos and yellow-tailed black cockatoos, but they were rather shy! Dinner tonight was Jamaican Black Beans with rice - the first meal I have dehydrated with my Xmas resent (a food dehydrator). They were delicious, and followed up with golden syrup puddings and plenty of port! It was a pretty cold night, so despite the fact that the stars were awesome, we retired to the tent pretty early just to keep warm!
Day 3: Black range campsite to Jenolan caves (10 km, 3 h)
After another leisurely start of 10 am we began are 'easiest' day of walking - pretty much all down hill. Though I must say my calves were not happy by the end of it. Again the track was mainly fire trails, but the forest was pretty nice and contained a few delicacies for those with a strong stomach (see below!). We spent a couple of kms walking close to the road which was not so nice, but once we reached Kia Ora the path lead away from the road and down, down, down into Jenolan. We arrived a lunch time and had a couple of hours to kill before our bus arrived, but not quite enough time to visit the caves, so we had a leisurely lunch and then walked around Jenolan lake chasing the sun!
The bus trip back to Katoomba was uneventful. Our bus driver dropped us close to where Jen's car was parked so after a quick change and packing of the car, we headed to Katoomba for dinner then back to Sydney. It was a great walk and so nice just to get out of the city for a few days. I can't wait until the next hike!
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