Saturday 21 September 2019

Sunrise at Faulconbridge Point and the Grose River

What an Awesome day! It started with a 2:50am alarm, I quickly packed my bag with food, water and camera gear and then loaded the bike onto the car. I drove to Silverwater to meet Anton at 3:30am, we quickly popped his bike onto the rack and started the drive up to Faulconbridge. We hit the trail on the mountain bikes just on 5:00am. It was still extremely dark pre-dawn and we had an absolute blast heading out towards the Faulconbridge Point lookout. Unfortunately we missed the pinnacle of the red glow but were still treated to a pretty decent sunrise nonetheless. The Grose Gorge was shrouded with a thick fog, it was a pretty incredible site!

Capturing the sunrise
We missed the peak of the red glow but it was still a pretty awesome sunrise

Anton enjoying the view
From here we backtracked and stashed the bikes before plunging 350m down into the Grose Gorge. The walk down takes you through some amazing rainforested sections. The final part of the descent is extremely steep with a few fixed ropes, its a lot of fun! It was nice seeing the Grose River with plenty of water in it, its a pretty impressive site! We explored the gorge for a while boulder hopped our way to the rapids for a break and snack.

Making our way through the mist on the descent

Making our way through the mist on the descent

Descending into the Grose Gorge

There were some beautiful sections 

There were some beautiful sections



Entering the rainforest

Small fixed rope down climbs

Small fixed rope down climbs

Anton enjoying the might of the Grose River

Plenty of water flowing in the Grose River

Quick stop for a snack by the rapids
Sadly we only had a limited amount of time so after a few photos and a short break we started the long slog back up to the bikes. Its a bloody tough climb, 350m over just 1.5km! It was a relief to reach the summit and then enjoy the cruise back to the car on the bikes.

After finally cresting the climb we reunited with the bikes for the cruise back to the car

The ride back to the car was the perfect way to finish off the outing
This was our first experience with a multi discipline outing and we really enjoyed it! I am excited at the prospect of seeing what other adventures become possible combining MTBing and hiking :)

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