Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Blue Mountains
So, how do you turn a short, largely road-based hike into an adventure? Well, you only need to alter one little variable. Like for instance, you don't get yourself to the start of the trail until 5:30pm or so. When the sun sets at 6:39pm.
Saturday morning I was a bit lazy. I slept in (till 9 perhaps), I talked to my mom on the phone, I pondered the possibilities. I decided to do the trip I had discussed with some fellow critical massers (this was my first one!) the night before. That entailed hopping on a bike, riding north along a whole bunch of beaches, hopping on a ferry over to a campground in a national park, then doing some hiking the next day before coming back. So I started thinking about packing. I realized that, despite their compactness, I could not fit my ten, sleeping bag, thermarest, and other essentials into my daypack. This was a problem. I hadn't really thought about the fact that the bike I am using has no rack. Biking 30km or so with my big pack on on a sunny day just didn't seem appealing.
So I changed my plan. I would go to the Blue Mountains by train instead. This is where the time crunch came in. I got an idea of where I was going by looking at a few maps online and took off for the bus. And rode a bus.. and another bus.. and a train.. tick tick tick..
Finally, Blackheath. Glancing at a nearby watch, I noted the time was 5pm. Turning out of the station, I saw a road sign pointing towards the park. 4km!! I hurried on. Consulting a map at the park entrance, I saw that the nearest camping area was about 7km away on a road :(. But the other one was quite a distance down a trail into the valley, where the going might be rough and it would get dark sooner. So I opted for the closer site - the first stretch of the walk was on a trail, and the rest was on a dirt road which would be easier to follow if it got dark (at this point I still had some optimism I might make it before this occurred).
I think the trail would have been quite nice if I didn't have to zoom through it.. well, it was nice anyhow. The setting sun shone on cliff faces that surrounded a basin filled with a green sea of trees. There were some little caves by the side of the trail that looked tempting but you weren't supposed to camp in those, and they were too exposed for me as a solo camper. It was really starting to get very dusky. But given that I was following a curving clifftop, I could see my destination ahead: Pulpit Rock is where the trail ended and the road began.
Walking on the road after dark was both beautiful and frightening. The road to Pulpit Rock was a dead end and there hadn't been anyone down there, so I was pretty confident I wouldn't run into anyone I didn't want to on this stretch - my back was covered. So I was able to enjoy first a few planets shining behind silhouettes of eucalyptus trees then later a sky full of stars. When I turned on to the "main" road to the campsite and as it got darker, I started to get a little more antsy. Actually I would say rabbity. It's amazing how much noise you make just walking along (quickly) with a big pack on your back. So I would stop and sense with my ears and eyes every once in a while to see if a car was coming (that's the rabbit part). I was now out on a fairly open plain with medium-sized trees and shrubs around - I could have set up camp just about anywhere, but I decided to press on. I was trying to decide whether it would be best to hide if I should hear a car coming or if that was just being too paranoid. Then suddenly I saw lights ahead and I still hadn't made a decision. I crossed to the other side, kept my head down, and kept walking, ready to run into the bushes or something if I had to. But the car kept going. Whew.
I didn't run into any more traffic on my walk, and I did eventually come upon the promised campsite. As I suspected (it being a long weekend and Australians being so fond of the bush), it was well-populated. I put on my headlamp at this point just so I wouldn't scare everyone. I think they were still a little surprised to see this person wandering into camp after dark with no car.
The camping area was not that huge and it was hard to see just how far it extended in the darkness. There was a big group of something like brownies with a bright lantern taking up about a quarter of the space, another group of guys with a lantern, then a group around a very low campfire who weren't talking. At all. I wandered around a bit looking for some space that wouldn't encroach too much.. it was hard to find. The group around the low campfire still weren't saying a word.. I didn't want to disturb them, so I gave a very timid "..hello!..". No response. Perhaps they didn't hear me. I went to the brownies group and asked the leader-looking-person about the camping area, hoping perhaps for a pointer on where I might go - well, he answered me, but seemed to be shooing me at the same time. I had managed to obtain confirmation that I would have to find something within the area I had covered, at least. After another sweep, I finally settled for a patch of real estate next to the water reservoir and the parking lot, not far from the darkened campfire group.
As I was setting up my miniature tent, an oldish man from the campfire walked by me to his car. He wore a headlamp so all I could really see was bright light. He stopped and looked at me. I said a louder "Hello". I go absolutely no response. He just kept looking at me. Thinking I had breached some taboo or committed some other heinous misdemeanor, there was little I could do but carry on with setting up my tent, which I did. The man carried on to his car. When he came by again, I was set up and piling my stuff inside.
The campfire group, meanwhile, had started talking to each other and they Sounded like perfectly normal, friendly people. But by this time, I really felt like I was some kind of alien invader, so I just hung out in my tent - ate my sandwich for dinner and wrote in my journal. I was basically ready for bed at this point anyhow, though I did admire the tree branches backlit by the starry sky through my skylight as I drifted to sleep.
...
I awoke in the morning to the chirping of the birds. One of the campfire group was up - I have no idea whether it was the guy behind the headlamp or night. He came over and... spoke! I apologized for encroaching on the campsite, but he seemed perfectly genuine in responding that it was no trouble at all. Then we started chatting and he invited me over to the campfire, upon which he was boiling some eggs in a billy. He had no spondonicals, so he had to use a stick to move the pot to the other side of the fire. He was very nice, and in fact I found out that we had done almost identical bike trips - the South Island of New Zealand plus Tasmania! He also topped up my water supply for me before I headed off down the trail. I still don't know quite what the deal was with the night before.
I didn't expect a whole lot from my walk, which took me down into the tree-filled basin and along a creek at the bottom of it, eventually back out and up to near where I had begun the night before. But it turned out to be really gorgeous! (Unfortunately, I can't share the beauty very well since in my haste to depart I had not bothered to charge my camera batteries, so it died a short way along. But I expect there will be a few photos in my gallery soonish). Eventually I came to a cascading series of sandstone platforms with little waterfalls between them.. and that is where I hit the Grouse Grind. No other people, and tree ferns instead of hemlock trees, but it was very like the Grind. Longer, though - I think. In the hot sun, it was exhausting!
Somewhere near the start of the "Grand Canyon", where I instead turned up to a lookout on the ridgetop, I met a couple of older travellers who kept confusing their adventures in South America, Africa, and Alaska with places they had been in Australia - they were pretty amazing, and had a few travelling tips to pass on. They also told me the time, when I asked - 11am! only! No wonder my legs were a little tired. By the time I got back to the train station, I had probably covered about 17km before lunch. Even today, my legs are still recovering.
The train ride home was also rather interesting, as I was accompanied by several enthusiastic Rugby League supporters on their way to the Grand Final. Luckily, they were all Tigers fans or there might have been trouble :).
Saturday morning I was a bit lazy. I slept in (till 9 perhaps), I talked to my mom on the phone, I pondered the possibilities. I decided to do the trip I had discussed with some fellow critical massers (this was my first one!) the night before. That entailed hopping on a bike, riding north along a whole bunch of beaches, hopping on a ferry over to a campground in a national park, then doing some hiking the next day before coming back. So I started thinking about packing. I realized that, despite their compactness, I could not fit my ten, sleeping bag, thermarest, and other essentials into my daypack. This was a problem. I hadn't really thought about the fact that the bike I am using has no rack. Biking 30km or so with my big pack on on a sunny day just didn't seem appealing.
So I changed my plan. I would go to the Blue Mountains by train instead. This is where the time crunch came in. I got an idea of where I was going by looking at a few maps online and took off for the bus. And rode a bus.. and another bus.. and a train.. tick tick tick..
Finally, Blackheath. Glancing at a nearby watch, I noted the time was 5pm. Turning out of the station, I saw a road sign pointing towards the park. 4km!! I hurried on. Consulting a map at the park entrance, I saw that the nearest camping area was about 7km away on a road :(. But the other one was quite a distance down a trail into the valley, where the going might be rough and it would get dark sooner. So I opted for the closer site - the first stretch of the walk was on a trail, and the rest was on a dirt road which would be easier to follow if it got dark (at this point I still had some optimism I might make it before this occurred).
I think the trail would have been quite nice if I didn't have to zoom through it.. well, it was nice anyhow. The setting sun shone on cliff faces that surrounded a basin filled with a green sea of trees. There were some little caves by the side of the trail that looked tempting but you weren't supposed to camp in those, and they were too exposed for me as a solo camper. It was really starting to get very dusky. But given that I was following a curving clifftop, I could see my destination ahead: Pulpit Rock is where the trail ended and the road began.
Walking on the road after dark was both beautiful and frightening. The road to Pulpit Rock was a dead end and there hadn't been anyone down there, so I was pretty confident I wouldn't run into anyone I didn't want to on this stretch - my back was covered. So I was able to enjoy first a few planets shining behind silhouettes of eucalyptus trees then later a sky full of stars. When I turned on to the "main" road to the campsite and as it got darker, I started to get a little more antsy. Actually I would say rabbity. It's amazing how much noise you make just walking along (quickly) with a big pack on your back. So I would stop and sense with my ears and eyes every once in a while to see if a car was coming (that's the rabbit part). I was now out on a fairly open plain with medium-sized trees and shrubs around - I could have set up camp just about anywhere, but I decided to press on. I was trying to decide whether it would be best to hide if I should hear a car coming or if that was just being too paranoid. Then suddenly I saw lights ahead and I still hadn't made a decision. I crossed to the other side, kept my head down, and kept walking, ready to run into the bushes or something if I had to. But the car kept going. Whew.
I didn't run into any more traffic on my walk, and I did eventually come upon the promised campsite. As I suspected (it being a long weekend and Australians being so fond of the bush), it was well-populated. I put on my headlamp at this point just so I wouldn't scare everyone. I think they were still a little surprised to see this person wandering into camp after dark with no car.
The camping area was not that huge and it was hard to see just how far it extended in the darkness. There was a big group of something like brownies with a bright lantern taking up about a quarter of the space, another group of guys with a lantern, then a group around a very low campfire who weren't talking. At all. I wandered around a bit looking for some space that wouldn't encroach too much.. it was hard to find. The group around the low campfire still weren't saying a word.. I didn't want to disturb them, so I gave a very timid "..hello!..". No response. Perhaps they didn't hear me. I went to the brownies group and asked the leader-looking-person about the camping area, hoping perhaps for a pointer on where I might go - well, he answered me, but seemed to be shooing me at the same time. I had managed to obtain confirmation that I would have to find something within the area I had covered, at least. After another sweep, I finally settled for a patch of real estate next to the water reservoir and the parking lot, not far from the darkened campfire group.
As I was setting up my miniature tent, an oldish man from the campfire walked by me to his car. He wore a headlamp so all I could really see was bright light. He stopped and looked at me. I said a louder "Hello". I go absolutely no response. He just kept looking at me. Thinking I had breached some taboo or committed some other heinous misdemeanor, there was little I could do but carry on with setting up my tent, which I did. The man carried on to his car. When he came by again, I was set up and piling my stuff inside.
The campfire group, meanwhile, had started talking to each other and they Sounded like perfectly normal, friendly people. But by this time, I really felt like I was some kind of alien invader, so I just hung out in my tent - ate my sandwich for dinner and wrote in my journal. I was basically ready for bed at this point anyhow, though I did admire the tree branches backlit by the starry sky through my skylight as I drifted to sleep.
...
I awoke in the morning to the chirping of the birds. One of the campfire group was up - I have no idea whether it was the guy behind the headlamp or night. He came over and... spoke! I apologized for encroaching on the campsite, but he seemed perfectly genuine in responding that it was no trouble at all. Then we started chatting and he invited me over to the campfire, upon which he was boiling some eggs in a billy. He had no spondonicals, so he had to use a stick to move the pot to the other side of the fire. He was very nice, and in fact I found out that we had done almost identical bike trips - the South Island of New Zealand plus Tasmania! He also topped up my water supply for me before I headed off down the trail. I still don't know quite what the deal was with the night before.
I didn't expect a whole lot from my walk, which took me down into the tree-filled basin and along a creek at the bottom of it, eventually back out and up to near where I had begun the night before. But it turned out to be really gorgeous! (Unfortunately, I can't share the beauty very well since in my haste to depart I had not bothered to charge my camera batteries, so it died a short way along. But I expect there will be a few photos in my gallery soonish). Eventually I came to a cascading series of sandstone platforms with little waterfalls between them.. and that is where I hit the Grouse Grind. No other people, and tree ferns instead of hemlock trees, but it was very like the Grind. Longer, though - I think. In the hot sun, it was exhausting!
Somewhere near the start of the "Grand Canyon", where I instead turned up to a lookout on the ridgetop, I met a couple of older travellers who kept confusing their adventures in South America, Africa, and Alaska with places they had been in Australia - they were pretty amazing, and had a few travelling tips to pass on. They also told me the time, when I asked - 11am! only! No wonder my legs were a little tired. By the time I got back to the train station, I had probably covered about 17km before lunch. Even today, my legs are still recovering.
The train ride home was also rather interesting, as I was accompanied by several enthusiastic Rugby League supporters on their way to the Grand Final. Luckily, they were all Tigers fans or there might have been trouble :).
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