Mount Solitary

Jen and I headed up to the Blue Mountains on the weekend to tackle Mount Solitary. We chose a one-way route from Scenic World in Katoomba, heading down the Furber Steps to the Federal Pass track then out to the Ruined Castle and on to Mount Solitary. The track traversed the top of Mount Solitary before plunging down to the Kedumba River where we camped. Day 2 climbed up to the ridge then along the cliff top to Wentworth Falls, around 28-30km all up depending on which guide you read. From the track notes we knew day one was going to be a long day (around 16km with lots of up and down) but we hadn't quite expected it to be as hard as it turned out.

The begining of the walk was lovely - walking along the Federal Pass track past the landslide we entered some beautiful forests and were lucky enough to see about 5 lyre birds doing there thing on the side of and on the path. They were beautiful, larger than I had expected and graceful in flight. It was a real treat to see them. We made good progress to the ruined castle, and enjoyed a well earned break (and the fabulous views) on the top feeling that we were on schedule for a mid-afternoon finish. The descent from the Ruined Castle proved us wrong. It was pretty hairy with sliding scree beneath our feet it took alot of energy and effort to get down.

We stopped for lunch fairly soon after this to regather our strength for the ascent of Mount Solitary. This was also longer and harder than I had expected. It was mostly a scramble up between rocks, not the easiest thing with a heavy pack on your back and a slightly dodgy knee! I really struggled and Jen had to wait a lot for me to get up to the top. Once we were on the top the going improved and I started to feel a bit better, but was reconsidering our choice of camping destination - were my feet and legs going to make it that far? We got to the last campsite on the top at Singajingalong creek head around 3.30 pm, but discovered it occupied. After a decent break on a rock ledge with some reviving pringles and the knowledge that we were getting through our water, with none evident nearby, we made the decision to keep with our original plan and head to the Kedumba river. According to our tracknotes the descent of 2.3 km from the cliff-tops should take about an hour. Considering my levels of tiredness I thought this might stretch out to 1.5 - 2. What I, and Jen, hadn't factored on was that the slope was going to be pretty much as loose and steep as the descent from the Ruined Castle. It took us 2.5 hours to get down! It seemed interminable and my feet got more sore and I got more tired every step I took. It was 6.50pm when we eventually arrived at the campsite! So we put got to work straight away putching the tent, filling up the water, making a pot of tea (love the trangia kettle) and dinner. The stars were fantastic so we enjoyed them as dinner cooked, then pretty soon retired for the night in preparation for day 2.

We managed to get our stuff all packed up (with fairly minimial faffing) and headed off on the long up hill climb from Kedumba river up to the ridge. It was a pretty steady climb not super steep and stable underfoot so we made reasonable time despite our tired limbs. The forrests we walked through were beautiful and there were some lovely views across the valley to Mount Solitary (we could see the nasty spur we'd come down the night before) which made the climbing more bearable. Unfortunately the hard yakka of the day before had wreaked my feet, a massive blister on the sole of my big toe was uncomfortable first thing and just got worse. After the long climb it was fairly flat along the top of the cliffs, but my feet started to hurt more and more with every step I took. In the end I decided I needed to bail as I was walking so slowly and so uncomfortably. So with about 3km to go I stopped at the top of Wentworth Falls and Jen went on to the station to pick up the car. Once I got my boots off and the pressure off my toes they started to feel better (though all my muscles started to feel worse!).

It was a much harder walk than I had imagined, and with all the discomfort I didn't end up enjoying it that much, which was a shame, as in all other respects it had been a lovely weekend - great company (it was lovely spending time with Jen), beautiful weather, some great scenery, varied terrain and vegetation... just also a lot of hard work which my body wasn't quite prepared for.

Time to get fit again I think!