Donkey Mountain is about as close as I can imagine to what bushwalker heaven might be like. An amazing island of rock, soaring out of the valley, ringed by towering cliffs, dotted with distinctive pagodas, the rock fractured by countless cracks, canyons and caves all waiting to be explored.
It was just three days before winter. As I jumped into my car to set off up the mountains I looked at the weather station at Mt Boyce — pretty much the same altitude as where we were heading. It was reporting a chilly two degrees, with a wind chill that would make it feel even colder.
We set out on Saturday morning from the Golden Stairs carpark on Narrow Neck. On the way down the stairs, we were met by many runners coming in the opposite direction – running up the stairs (well to be truthful, few were actually running). They were on a 100 km fun run. We were to see them again later. Once down on the main track to the Ruined Castle, we left the runners behind. Quiet was regained. But only temporarily, there began a chorus of bird calls. Craig, a keen bird spotter pulled out his binoculars to see as well as hear.
A few people from the club had been suggesting that I should actually run a nude trip, rather than just surprising people with some impromptu nakedness when the conditions were right, so with a free day coming up and the promise of a sunny outlook ahead this trip was born.
That idea isn’t surprising — this stunning upper gorge is what gave birth to the conservation movement in Australia and lead to the eventual formation of the Blue Mountains National Park after all — but how many people stop and ponder what is in the other two thirds of this river’s course.
PARTY Amanda Walasik Anne Nguyen Ashley Burke Ben Pullicin Cathy Stansbury Chee Wong Christian Wilson Helena Miranda Huy Lam Lilian Donoso Maria Traversa Nick Coleman-Hicks Pam Ong Parastoo Saharkhiz Peggy Huang Sky Ella Reidy Tony Ruzek Yu-Chun Huang Yumi Hong
Four of us set out in Ben’s care for a trip up to Katoomba, where we met up with Zoe and Ashleigh, and then collected Lilian off the train. Then a short drive to the Victoria Lookout kiosk where we parked cars and headed off to Furbers Steps and down into the Jamieson Valley. There are…
As some may remember from an earlier post of mine, I had decided completing the whole Great North Walk in sections was part of my 2012 New Years Resolution. I have since managed to walk both Berowra to Brooklyn in a day and Thornleigh to Mt Kuringai in another day. Before crossing to complete the sections past the Hawkesbury I wanted to walk the part to the City.
As we drove up the mountains, through constant drizzle, it was looking like we’d be stuck with a pretty miserable day. But the three boys in the back of the car, aged nine, four and two, weren’t deterred. It was the last day of school holidays and they were desperate for an adventure!
After arrival at Cowan Station, with numbers lesser than expected, we all set out along the section of the Great North Walk between Cowan and Brooklyn. The walk crosses over the F3 Freeway and then a sheltered valley to Jerusalem Bay. It is evident that “improvements” in the form of extra cut steps and hand rails are intruding on what has always been a basic but attractive bush track. Anyway, after…