Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains section of the Great Dividing Range lies two hours due East of Sydney. Given its location and scenery and being home to one of the world's natural wonders, The Three Sisters, it is among the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The name comes from the blue hue coming off the misty trees in the sunlight.

My first day was rainy and foggy, so I found the name to be quite silly. I'd just call them the Gray Mountains or the boring mountains. To help maximize my experience, I elected to go through a lovely forest hike that was both sheltered from the rain and not dependent upon beautiful lookouts. 'Twas a wise choice, the woods were lovely. This day proved to be the lowpoint of my trip; I lost my camera that evening. Thankfully, there weren't too many good photos lost that day.

The next day I was sans camera as well, which was a pity, because the sun was out and the hike was fantastic. I did a 20km hike out to the Ruined Castle, actually a giant pile of rocks with great view from the top. It was a long hike, so I was out until sunset. What a sunset it was! The cliffs surrounding the whole valley lit up as if they were on fire and the swirling pinks and purples of the sunset above the blue hue of the trees cannot be described. I doubt a camera would have captured it properly anyway. The hike ended with a climb out of the valley via the infamous Giant Steps, which was about a kilometer straight up! I only had a couple of heart attacks in the process of climbing.

The next day, I took a thirty minute train rain to the nearby town of Wentworth Falls and went for another epic hike. My new camera was purchased, but the battery was on charge, so once again, I could not photograph any of the incredible sites of the day. I first walked along the top of the cliff, then took a trail that goes right in the middle of the cliff, through little caves and under waterfalls. The third leg was predictably along the bottom of the cliff through the forest. The stairs down were a bit dodgy. They started as stairs, but soon they became a series of ladders. Finally, the parks system gave up on building structures all together, instead just throwing a rope over a cliff. No wonder they warned that this trail was for experienced hikers only! Let's just say I was glad to be going down this route and not up. The valley floor bypassed many waterfalls and creeks and had lots of fun terrain; it's nice to be an "experienced walker". The final leg just took me to the train station, which involved walking along the cliff face a fourth time. I went through the rainforest on top instead.

The final day I did have my camera, but the scenery was not as lovely as the previous two days. I decided, or I should say that my legs decided, that there would be no descending into the valley; I doubt I'd survive another epic climb up stairs. I stuck to the ever popular Prince Henry Cliff Track, the typical route for Blue Mountain day trippers. I was disappointed to find that this was a long weekend, the Queen's Birthday, so every one of the five million residents of Sydney decided to enjoy the mountains on this sunny day. I didn't think the wilderness could hold so many people. We had to queue just to walk down the path. It was still lovely, but after three days of solitary bliss, I resented the presence of people in my mountain range. I returned to Sydney that evening, electing to not share the trail with a billion people for another day.