Back to the Mountains

My occasional Thursday adventure bushwalking group reconvened last week, and celebrated with a return to the Blue Mountains. We'd stayed away during the many months of disasters, the natural ones and the both personal and worldwide medical ones.

We revisited the dramatic headlands overlooking the Grose River to the north of Mount Victoria: Asgard Head, Valhalla Head, and Ikara Head. And I've got it all sorted out which one is which now.





We discovered the upper reaches of Asgard Brook, in a rather deep  and steep gully.

Below: the magnificently precipitous cliffs at Asgard Head

Asgard Swamp

Valhalla Head, I think

Ladies Rocks

And............ a dingo turned up!



He wasn't shy, and followed us around for a while. He was probably hungry, given the devastation of the burnt landscape and annihilation of almost everything he'd normally eat. I imagine he was hoping he could charm us into feeding him. There again, if one of us had developed a limp and fallen over........


Ikara Head

Pulpit Rock the long way

The legendary Thursday Survey bushwalkers were out in force again recently. We were surveying a new (for most of us) route in the Mount Victoria area of the Blue Mountains.

We started along the historic Berghofers Pass track on the Mount York Road, and spent the next seven hours traversing various terrains to work our way round and back to Mount Vic, with Pulpit Rock as the official destination.

At the appropriate point we crossed the highway and headed up the safety ramp and on to Mount Victoria proper (the mountain, that is).

Looking back down on the highway we just crossed.

Terrific views and easy off-track walking, heading generally southward along the ridges. 

One of which was a fairly narrow (almost but not quite 'knife edge') ridge.

Eventually it's down onto the scenic hobby farm area around Blackheath Creek. Then along the road for a while, and into the bush and up the Little Zig Zag Track, heading north again.













And on to pulpit rock. A great day out!

Image credit: Freda Moxom

Crisscross Spur and the Five Ladies

Another epic walk by my Thursday Survey bushwalking adventure group.

Crisscross Spur and the Five Ladies are spectacular and scenic land formations within the Blue Mountains National Park. (Despite the sign in the picture about the Wollemi wilderness - the Wollemi NP is a few kilometres further north). We're about 20km north-east of Clarence, and approached via the Glowworm Tunnel Road and Waratah Ridge Road.








Leader Harold, pointing out the Five Ladies from Crisscross Spur.

We hit upon a viable way down off Crisscross Spur, to the fire trail below, and continued on to the Five Ladies.

The Five Ladies are a series of excellent pagoda-rich rocky hilltops. We clambered up and over every one of them. Here we are having lunch on Number 2 Lady.

This fine dining table formation was atop the fifth one.






Everywhere you look, it's wild pagoda country.