Six Foot Track Day 4: Black Range Road, Jenolan Caves, back to Katoomba.

DAY 4! The end was near! A final 8 kilometres that separated us and CIVILISATION: toilets, coffee, cider, junk food and all the vices of our daily lives. 

We were so motivated to get home that we managed to set off around 8 in the morning, leaving a campsite full of other hikers still having their breakfast behind. And for the fourth day in a row, the weather was cool and sunny. Not a single cloud to be seen in the sky.

There was a mild uphill walk just after we left the campsite, but by this stage, this felt like a walk in the park for us.

We powered on, thinking about coffee, pub lunches and pear cider in that order. BURP.

And soon enough, we found ourselves passing the 5kms to go sign just before the Jenolan Caves Cottages. 

From thereon, it was a steep descent down to the Jenolan Caves House, the end of the Six Foot Track. When I wasn’t worried about tumbling over the end of the track into the steep valley below and remembered to look up, the views were stunning. 

Once we made it to the bottom of the hill, we veered left and soon found ourselves walking past the spectacular Carlotta’s Arc and the Blue Lake, named after the daughter of General Adams, the man who first surveyed this area.  

Suddenly, there were tourists everywhere, escaping to the mountains for the ANZAC Day long weekend.

People! People holding coffees! People holding coffees and eating deep fried food! 

The finishing line was oh-so tantalisingly close. 

Et voila! The El Dorado of our hike, Jenolan Caves House - a Germanic looking, historical hotel tucked away in the rocky hills, surrounded by caves full of stalactites and mites. 

We all crashed onto the nearest chair when we finally made it past the finishing point. There was a mad rush of activity within the group, as we all dashed off to purchase coffees like caffeine-deprived fiends, and book ourselves a tour of the caves. It was another half hour before we all realised none of us took an “after” shot of our trek. So it was back on with our packs as we all headed to the end point of the track to document our success: 

45KMs, 4 days in wilderness, WE DID IT! 

A quick lunch later, we headed off on our tour of the Chifley Cave, one of the larger caves in Jenolan as the park ranger explained to us the formation of the caves and the amazing power of dripping water. 

A rock known as Madonna and Child, apparently.

A rock named Bacon. 

At the end of the tour, we drove back to Katoomba to pick up the other car, and then to Leura nearby for a greasy but satisfying second lunch. With that, it was time to head back to Canberra. 

But we couldn’t go without a quick stop at Echo Point look out to say hi to the Three Sisters - an iconic rock formation in the Blue Mountains. 

By that time, it was late afternoon, a distant fog was rolling in. The autumn air was still warm, and everywhere we looked, happy tourists were posing for snaps.

And as beautiful as it was, we simply didn’t fit in. We stank and itched everywhere, haven’t taken off our hiking boots for 4 days, or pooped into a proper toilet bowl. 

So without a glance backwards, we headed off to Canberra, our adoptive home, eager for that amazing first shower back from the wilderness. 

What I read - April 2013

I thought I would get a lot of reading time in April while hiking, but as it turned out, strenuous physical exertion and the lack of daylight by the time we got to our campsites each day weren’t conditions conducive to reading.

But I did manage to find my way through two books, taking my total for the year to a slow and steady 8. HUZZAH! 

1. The Family Law, by Benjamin Law


2. Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami

Six Foot Track Day 3: Black Range Camp Ground

Day 3 was meant to be the Slog Day. 15 kilometres of uphill struggle as we climb higher and higher through the Black Range. 

But as it turned out, none of us knew how to read a topological map. We had managed to do the steepest, hardest part of the trek on Tuesday when we decided to push on past our designated  campsite and get some extra miles under our feet. What was left of Day 3 was simply to finish the climb to the top of the Black Range, and from there on, it was a pleasant walk in the woods and then a slight descent to the Black Range campground. The track was flat and wide, the walk was cool and shady, we came across numerous other hikers and bikers taking their ANZAC Day long weekend in the mountains. 

And the best part? We managed to arrive at our campground at just past 11:30AM.

Say WHUT? Another 5 hours of daylight and sun? Not having to cook in near darkness? Or carry 15kg packs up a hill in the sweltering midday sun? 

OH THE LUXURY.

Needless to say, we spent the rest of the day at our campground, doing yoga in the sun on our sleeping mats, reading, listening to music, and just generally chilling. Not having to walk til dusk felt like the most amazing prize for blood sweat and tears on the day before. 

xx doots

View from top of the Black Range. 

Mountain biker we came across.

Random pine plantation we walked past.

Our campsite. 

My trusty little hiking boots. 4 days. 45 kilometres. NO BLISTERS. 

Six Foot Track Day 2: Alum Creek, Black Range

I don’t have a lot of pictures from Day 2 and there was a good reason for that: it was easily our hardest day on the hike. The good news is that most of the track along here was dirt track, which made for a pleasant change after the rocky steps on our first day. The bad news? 20 kilometres of steep uphill terrain from here on. 

WHAT IS MY LIFE? I asked the skies. Why exactly am I putting myself through this just to walk from Point A to B? 

25kms left

20 kms to go

We had planned to camp at Alum Creek for the day. But after pushing ourselves all morning, we managed to get to Alum Creek in time for lunch (mountain bread, laughing cow cheese, canned tuna … never again). With the whole afternoon ahead of us and still a lot of uphill terrain to cover on Day 3, we decided to engage in an act of pure masochism and keep moving. 

And so we walked on, this time with no established camp site in mind, and having to wade across Little River a few times as the path crossed and deviated from the creek. After the creek, we climbed steeply up the hill to the Black Range, and eventually made it to what appeared to be a middle saddle with a rocky clearing. The landscape was barren, rocky, and full of blackened trees trunks due to bush fires and burnings in the area.  To add to the eeriness, when the night descended, there was a full moon. Owls hooted. Wild animals screeched outside our tent. Was it close? Was it faraday? We couldn’t tell. 

The winds started after that and the tent caved in on us, its poles bend from the sheer force of the gusts. It was a wildly long night, and after what seemed like an eternity, someone looked at their watch and cried: “IT’S ONLY 1:30AM”. 

We all groaned. Unable to sleep. Unable to do anything else in the eerie darkness, except to lie there with half the tent caving in on our faces, listening to the sounds of an unwelcoming nocturnal world. 

xx doots