Day 1: Scenic World to Splendour Rock via Blackhorse Mountain &
Mount Merrimerrigal Traverse
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| Group Shot before leaving Scenic World (Gallzy, Krtek, Me, Chris & Mikey) |
Waking early at 5:30am, I was quickly out of bed, dressed, and double
checking my hiking gear. Mikey arrived shortly after 6:30am after having
already picked up Chris and Gallzy. We were soon on the M4 and making our way
up into the heart of the Blue Mountains. Talk began of a pre-hike breakfast. It
originally began with a take-away coffee and a muffin and eventually became a
sit down pancake feast at my favourite Blue Mountains café, Lily Pad in Leura.
We arrived at Scenic World at about 9:10 and started getting ready to
commence the journey out to Splendour Rock. Some of the boys had a few things
to shuffle around in their packs while I was making a failed attempt at getting
my GPS tracking beacon to work. Finally after an obligatory group photo with
our mascot Krtek, we got underway just before 10am.
We quickly left the streets of Katoomba and started the journey south
along the Narrowneck Plateau. I love Narrowneck, it contains such a diverse
range of plant life and is surrounded by incredible cliff lines. There are also
stunning views of Mount Solitary as well as the Jamieson, Cedar and Megalong
Valleys. I enjoyed pointing out a lot of the landmarks to the boys as we
walked. We made pretty good time and it wasn’t long before we passed the fire
tower and were on the descent down to Clear Hill at the tip of Narrowneck. We
were treated to a fantastic view of Warragamba Dam and the Wild Dog mountains
whilst we tucked into the first of Mikey’s gourmet meals.
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| Krtek enjoying the view of Mount Solitary from Narrowneck |
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| Descending Tarros Ladders |
After a hearty lunch we made our way down to the Tarros Ladders where
the real fun began. Tarros Ladders is a series of climbing spikes that runs
down a ~10m cliff face on the southern tip of Narrowneck. It is one of the very
few access points on and off the plateau and is certainly pretty exposed and potentially
very intimidating. Mike was feeling pretty confident and decided to proceed
down the spikes first with his pack. I was a little apprehensive about
descending down with a heavy pack and suggested lowering the packs down via
rope. Gallzy climbed down to the bottom to help Mike while Chris and I
proceeded to lower each of the three remaining packs down one at a time.
Finally after all the bags were safely lowered Chris and I proceeded down the
spikes so we could continue onwards. It was an excellent challenge and also a
great opportunity to test out my new GoPro.
Our mood was high after the excitement of Tarros Ladders and we
proceeded quickly over Mount Debert and down to Medlow Gap. After a short stop
here to refuel we proceeded along the White Dog Ridge Firetrail before swinging
off onto the narrow singletrack that would take us up to Blackhorse Mountain.
The single track was crazily steep and our pace slowed drastically on the
climb. About a third of the way up the trail appeared to disappear likely after
a semi recent fire. We followed cairns left by other bushwalkers for a while
but eventually we were just scrambling up the side of the mountain. There was a
lot of loose soil and scree which made for very tough going but after an
extensive slog we made it up to the ridgeline and reunited with the track. The
views from the summit of Blackhorse Mountain were spectacular. Breakfast Creek
and the Megalong Valley to the north looked stunning whilst to the south huge
storm clouds were ripping through the Three Peaks and coming straight for us.
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| The trackless ascent of Blackhorse Mountain |
I suggested that we quickly get off the ridge as the descent looked
particularly steep and best not tackled in the rain. We made it down to the
saddle of Blackhorse Gap in the nick of time and the rain began to fall as we
commenced the trek along the Wombat Parade. The Wombat Parade runs along the
base of the eastern cliffline of Mount Warrigal. It was beautiful and
rainforested but certainly provided sections with difficult footing which kept
us on our toes. Fortunately the heaviest part of the storm missed us and we
only coped a short and reasonably light shower. At the southern tip of Mount
Warrigal we also faced an interesting drop down two smallish cliffs. The first
one was pretty easy and we managed to pass the packs down without too much
problem but the second one involved a little shimmy over a ledge which was a
little more exposed than we would have liked.
Onwards through the saddle we made our way up the short climb to the
Mount Merrimerrigal clifflines. After a short search we were able to find the
small cave that you must climb through to gain passage onto the plateau. Our
progress had been slowed drastically by the climb over Blackhorse Mountain and
the Wombat Parade and the light was certainly beginning to fade at this point.
We made our way across the top of the plateau known as the Playground of the
Dingos and talk started about whether we should just stop at the next available
campsite. Determined to press on we lost the track in the fading light and managed
to continue onwards in the rough direction using the gps.
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| The Playground of the Dingos |
Finally under the cover of darkness we hit the final climb up Mount
Dingo and proceeded across the top making our way down towards our campsite at
Splendour Rock. As we approached 200 metres to go on the gps, much to my
disappointment we could see a fire in the distance. I had hoped we may have the
place to ourselves but there was another small party of three there. They joked
that we had arrived late and pointed us in the direction where we could find
some clearings to set up our camp.
Finally after 25km of mountainous terrain and just shy of 10 hours we
put our packs down for the final time. We worked as a team to get the site
setup as quickly as possible. Mikey was straight onto the cooking whilst Chris
Gallzy and I got the tarp and tent setup. Mikey’s pre-prepared curry was again
fantastic and we all chowed down on it. We tried and unfortunately failed to
get a fire going, everything was so damp after all the rain that the area had
experienced over the last few days. Chris & I indulged in a quiet whiskey
before everyone got ready for bed and we all hit the sack suitably exhausted.
Day 2: Splendour Rock to Scenic World via Mobbs Swamp
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| Krtek looking forward to Mikey's Quinoa & Berry Porridge |
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| With the Boys on Splendour Rock |
After a particularly uncomfortable and restless sleep we all awoke
shortly before dawn as the plan was to watch the sunrise from Splendour Rock.
Unfortunately the whole region was shrouded in thick mist and it wasn’t to be.
Certainly a little disappointing after the epic journey that we had endured to
reach the view from Splendour Rock but also a fantastic reason to revisit the
place. Mikey was quick to get the breakfast going and he certainly didn’t
disappoint with another cracking feast, Quinoa and Berry Porridge. After
breakfast and packing up camp we all
wandered back down to the lookout to check out the view of the slowly fading
mist and sign the logbook.
Once the log book was signed it was unfortunately time to leave the
ambiance of Splendour Rock and begin the 25km journey back to civilisation. We
decided that it was sensible to take the alternate route home via the valley
which would avoid the technical traversing that we had to do on day one. The
descent down off Dingo Mountain was enjoyable in the mist and only involved
some light scrambling. It wasn’t too long before we reached the valley floor
and began cruising along the trail. The terrain was far flatter and the track
was well established so we powered along at a pretty good clip. Shortly before
reaching Mobbs Swamp we passed another party of four that was heading up to
Splendour Rock to check it out. They had camped overnight at Mobbs and were making
the quick walk up with only day packs.
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| Gallzy was loving the many different mushrooms that we spotted along the way. This purple one was my personal favourite. |
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| Gallzy & Mikey climbing Tarros Ladders |
We continued around the base of Mount Warrigal and Blackhorse Mountain
before eventually linking back up with the White Dog Ridge Firetrail. We had
been pushing a decent pace and decided on a quick stop at Medlow gap before the
climb up to Narrowneck. This proved to be a good idea as the climb up Mount
Debert with its 50+ percent gradients was an absolute slog! Up and over Mount
Debert we trudged up the final pinch and reached the base of the Tarros
Ladders. Everyone’s packs were a little lighter and we all felt more confident
climbing the spikes which was great as avoiding the pack hauling saved quite a
bit of time. From the top of the ladder it was only a 5-10 minute climb up to
the lookout at Clear Hill were we enjoyed our lunch, just as we had the
previous day. Mikey brought out the goods one last time with a beautiful pasta
salad which we enjoyed whilst marveling at the view.
We were all starting to feel pretty buggered but set a very respectable
pace on the climb up to the fire tower. Pressing on from here it ungulates all
the way with spectacular views off to both sides. The fright of the day came
about halfway along the plateau. I was talking to Gallzy whilst trying to
maintain a solid walking pace and as a result wasn’t concentrating too much on
my footing. All of a sudden the stick that was about 30cm away from my foot
started to move. The stick turned out to be an Eastern Brown Snake and he was
rightfully pissed off that I had almost stepped on him. I stopped dead and
after his initial warning rear up he made a quick departure into the bushes.
This was probably my closest ever brush with a deadly snake and a reminder that
the bush must always be respected.
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| The firetrail snaking it's way along Narrowneck |
As always after a snake sighting I was hyper-vigilant looking at just
about every damn stick for the rest of the journey. Despite the setback we
still maintained a solid pace and eventually made it to the locked gate, home
to the first aid station on the North Face 100. We also happened to run into a
couple here who were both in training for TNF100. It was great to see them out
there enjoying the wilderness along with a number of friendly groups of
mountain bikers that had been passing us back and forth throughout the
afternoon. The father and son group that we saw was particularly awesome. It’s
a pretty full on trail for a kid who couldn’t have been older than 10,
certainly a respectable effort.
Leaving the locked gate was a relief as it marked on 3km left until the
finish. We passed the top of the Golden Staircase and began the final climb up
to the streets of Narrowneck. There was a surprising amount of traffic on this
stretch which was mildly annoying but it was also good to see people getting
out and about. Cresting the climb it was a cruisy final kilometre back to
Scenic World which was absolutely bustling with tourists.
We had completed our 50km journey and were all feeling the aches and
pains of a hard effort. After loading the car up we popped over to the old
Skyway gondola to pose for a final group photo with the four of us and Krtek. I
want to thank each of the boys for a being a part of what was a fantastic
adventure. It’s hard to explain how deeply inspired I am by the natural
landscape and this outing like many before it has left me excited to get back
out there and continue exploring! A final and special shout out must go to
Mikey, Happy Birthday mate and thank you for organising what was certainly the
best hiking food I have ever had!
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| With the Boys and Krtek after completing our 50km journey |
