Having just done a four day practice hike through Namadgi National Park, we headed off - all “experienced” and still aching - to Katoomba to start the Real Thing: the Six Foot Track.
The Six Foot Track, which runs for 45kms from Katoomba to the Jenolan Caves, was originally built as a horse trail in the 1880s to allow better tourist access to the caves.
These days, it’s the route of a famous marathon here in Oz, a popular bushwalking trail through the Blue Mountains, and a common training ground for the crazies preparing to hike the Kokoda Trail.
Although typically done over three days, the Duke of Ed program requires us to go on a four day adventurous journey, so we averaged out the hike over four days and three nights, leaving ourselves some time on the last day to explore the caves.
And so we were off, bright and early on an Aussie autumn day. The photo below was taken at the start of the track by an elderly couple, who became our trail buddies for the rest of the trip. They were both from the Blue Mountains area and told us some stories about the history of the trail.
From the start of the trail, we immediately descended steeply down the cliffs of Nellies Glen. Straightaway it became difficult, as we thudded down the steep, slippery stairs, trying not to lose our balance or roll an ankle, which I eventually did anyway. By the time we emerged out of the lower sections of Nellies Glen, my knees felt like jelly and my right ankle throbbed ominously. We took a quick break to tape up my ankles and eat some trail mix before setting off again - thankfully this time along a more level part of the trail towards Megalong Village.
Along the way, we stopped to admire a flock of six yellow-tailed black cockatoos who were silently gliding around among the gum trees, watching us from above without a hint of alarm. They were simply magnificent.
And as we trekked through the settled parts of Megalong, we came across farms where horses and kangaroos lived side-by-side, one domesticated and the other wild.
Two puppies from a nearby farm also came out to welcome us, and trotted after us for a while until we hiked further and further from the vicinity of their home.
And soon, it felt like we were hiking further from the vicinity of anywhere. The trees grew sparse, signs of humanity faded into the margins of our vision. It was nearing noon, and there was no shade to be found.
I was beginning to wilt a little in the sun, annoyed by the sudden lack of cool shade when I just happened to look back and see where we had come from:
The views were simply incredible. Mountain cliffs behind us, grass lands and rolling hills ahead. Somewhere along the way, we walked past a fox, curled up sleeping in the grass. It eyed us lazily, and like all the other animals we came across on the hike, it didn’t seem to feel remotely threatened by our existence. We were in its home after all.
Soon after we left the grassy hills of Megalong, the scenery changed again. This time we were walking along a relatively narrow track on the side of the mountain, until we came to the highlight of our day: the Bowtells Swing Bridge - one of the longest suspension bridges I’ve ever seen. It allowed only one person on at a time and swung ominously over the rocky Cox’s River. It took us a good half an hour to cross the bridge individual, as we shouted words of encouragement at each other and laughed when the bridge shook as each person reached the middle section.
Soon after the bridge, we reached our camp site for the day. The elderly couple who had started out with us had put us to shame by reaching the campsite way before us. They chose to wade across the river rather than go on the suspension bridge. Together we sat in the afternoon sun and talked about our work, our lives and the previous hikes that we’ve done.
They told us how happy they were to see young people like ourselves out there in the bush, challenging ourselves. I gave a mental hair flick, even as I swore to myself I’d never do this again.
By 5:30PM, it was almost too dark to do anything. And so we crawled into our tents for our longest, coldest night in the bush yet.
xx doots
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