Bushwalk Australia

Hi guys,
We're going up to the Blue Mountains over Easter and planning a multi day hike. Probably 3 - 4 days. We're pretty fit n fast and looking for something with about 15 - 20 km a day, depending on the ascent involved. I'd love to pick your brains as to what walk gets us a good variety of scenery and stunning views?
Thanks,
Dutchy

You are spoilt for choice in the Blue Mountains. Check out this site for some ideas. http://bushwalkingnsw.com/

Particulalry this one http://bushwalkingnsw.com/walk.php?nid=719

Just be aware that on 'day 2' you may have to cross the creek a few times at spot where it will over 1m high. So you need a pretty waterproof pack

Prices hike, not bushwalkers. Unwanted company can go and take a hike but when bushwalking in the Blue Mountains no matter how fit you are you will be hard pressed averaging 15-20 kms over four days unless you do nothing but slog along fire trails, particularly if you are on your first trip there. I suggest you scale things down a bit and head out to Kanangra and set up a base camp at Boyd Crossing and start sizing things up, do a couple of day trips and an overnighter to the Kowmung and back. After you've got the feel of the place the possibilities are endless.

So many choices..... depending on your skill level, fitness and experience. A lot of the best walks are off track or involve a fair bit of off track walking - and so you need to navigate and route find. Eg walks in the Blue Breaks, or to parts of the Wolgan - Capertee divide. It can be hot and humid during Easter - and river walking can be good - e.g. along part of the Kowmung River or the Colo River.

If you want to walk along tracks - then you can do a walk along the upper Grose River - Mt Victoria to Blue Gum Forest and then to Blackheath (normally done over two days - but it is easy to extend it to three or four days, with side trips - e.g. to Lockleys Pylon), or In the Wild Dogs Mts or a big loop from Kanangra Walls (e.g. Kanangra - Cloudmaker - Ti Willa Plateau - Kowmung River - walk up the river and exit via Roots Ridge or another of the tracks)

Dave

Hi guys, thanks for the tips. We'll be sticking to tracks, and normally tackle 20 km days in the Vic high country.

So with the rain ruining our first 2 days and getting lots of gear wet, we decided on day trips so we wouldn't have wet gear stewing away in the car for 3 days!
So for those that think hiking the blue mountains is so much harder than elsewhere, think again. We did the (so called) 'very hard' and 'expert' walks, but failed to see how they are harder than walks in the Vic high Country. Yes, you have one steep decline, and one steep incline, but otherwise the hiking was fairly flat. The (very) steep inclines aren't always there in the high country, but you go up and down all day. We thought the fitness level required would be similar. We were lucky with lower temps though, but the high country gets hot at times too.
With all the rain on Friday and Saturday, the rivers were high but waterfalls abundant!
Saturday we walked Pierce Pass into the Grose valley, but couldn't go on to bluegum forest due to the raging river.
Sunday we did Katoomba Falls to Ruined Castle, and back up the Golden Stairs.
Monday Evans Lookdown to Govetts leap, blueforest and back to Evans.
Rest day Tuesday and only did the grand Canyon and enjoyed a sauna in katoomba!
Another shorter walk Wednesday from Wentworth Falls to National pass and back along Wentworth Falls.
Next visit we'll do overnight stuff, however any of the above mentioned tracks married into overnighters would have been fine. 15 km.a day would have been no problem.
It's a stunning part of the world!!!

"So for those that think hiking the blue mountains is so much harder than elsewhere, think again. We did the (so called) 'very hard' and 'expert' walks, but failed to see how they are harder than walks in the Vic high Country."

You did day walks..... enough said.

Lindsay wrote:"[b]
You did day walks..... enough said.

Yes, and I've done both day and overnight walks in the Vic high country. I know how i feel after a high country day walk, and a blue mountains one. We assessed the walks in the Blue Mountains we did, and how they fit in overnight walks. Sorry Blue Mountains bushwalkers, subject to the weather, you're no tougher than the rest of us, despite of what you might think......

Did you want some suggestions for more challenging walks on a future visit? Or are you just making sure everyone knows how awesome you are?

jonnosan wrote:Did you want some suggestions for more challenging walks on a future visit? Or are you just making sure everyone knows how awesome you are?

I'd like some challenging blue mountains suggestions? (In all seriousness)


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jonnosan wrote:Did you want some suggestions for more challenging walks on a future visit? Or are you just making sure everyone knows how awesome you are?

Nothing to do with how awesome I am.... Just trying to bring some Blue Mountains walking Sydney siders back to earth.... Just because you walked the Blue Mountains doesn't mean you're tougher than the rest of as (as some seem to think).... Walk upper Howqua to Mt Speculation with an overnight pack, "only" 18 km, and I tell you you wish it was a Blue Mountains hike.... When people "warn" people from interstate to "only" do daywalks because of it being "the Blue Mountains", you're the one trying to show how tough you are....

But yes, any suggestions for a great 4 - 5 day trek would be welcome. Happy for a one way walk to/from areas where a cab will get to....

Yeah the Vicco high country may have all that good stuff BUT has it got zany uni students p!ssed off their heads on spewmante, dressed in whacky fancy dress, playing volley ball and practicing assorted circus tricks on weed choked river flats???....No? well the Blueys have so cop that!

I wasnt aware of any sort of reputation of the blueys being particularly 'tough' so im not sure what the OP is on about, but they are beautiful.
if you want something purely to physically challenge yourself you should juat say so rather than go making bizarre accusations that as far as im aware have no basis?

perfectlydark wrote:I wasnt aware of any sort of reputation of the blueys being particularly 'tough' so im not sure what the OP is on about, but they are beautiful.
if you want something purely to physically challenge yourself you should juat say so rather than go making bizarre accusations that as far as im aware have no basis?

"but when bushwalking in the Blue Mountains no matter how fit you are you will be hard pressed averaging 15-20 kms over four days unless you do nothing but slog along fire trails, particularly if you are on your first trip there. I suggest you scale things down a bit "

Another comment like that seems to have vanished....

Dutchy wrote:Hi guys, thanks for the tips. We'll be sticking to tracks, and normally tackle 20 km days in the Vic high country.

I think this suggests that you prefer the easier type of walking. Off track walking can be quite hard indeed in the Blue Mountains, and that is not what you did. Next time - try a trip to the "far side" of the Colo River, or a traverse of part of the Yodellers Range. Or walk from Limit Hill to Mt Mistake. Plenty of hard challenges in the Blue Mountains. Do not judge Blue Mountains walks based on the easy tourist walks that you did on your visit.

Dave

Dutchy wrote:We did the (so called) 'very hard' and 'expert' walks, but failed to see how they are harder than walks in the Vic high Country.

I think this is the key point. Compare the gradings of some of these walks between the National Parks web site ("hard") and my bushwalking web site ("easy").
Grand Canyon
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/Blu ... ck/walking
http://bushwalkingnsw.com/walk.php?nid=787

Ruined Castle
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/blu ... lk/walking
http://bushwalkingnsw.com/walk.php?nid=236

In a similar vein, National Pass would be graded "easy", and Blue Gum Forest and Pierces Pass would be "easy to medium". The National Parks would grade all of these "hard".

The National Parks grades their walks from a tourist perspective, so anything involving more than a couple of hundred metres of climbing tends to get a "hard" rating. Guides written for bushwalkers usually assume that people can walk for 5+ hours and climb at least 300m without difficulty, and thus the walks are graded accordingly. Also, the National Parks only provide info on on-track walks. As Dave mentioned in the previous post, once you get off track, things become considerably more challenging.

The walks you did are all excellent walks, and well worth the doing. I recommend to most visitors to do the Ruined Castle and/or the National Pass as the best easy day walks in the Blue Mountains. The Grand Canyon walk is not far behind.

Unfortunately, the Bluies are not blessed with well-tracked multi-day walks. There are a few two day options (eg Mt Solitary, Mt Vic to Blackheath/Leura via Blue Gum), but once you get to 3+ days, you typically need to be prepared to deal with faint tracks or go off-track. If you haven't had much experience in the Blue Mountains, areas like the Wild Dogs and the Gingra Range area of Kanangra-Boyd are probably best to start with as the navigation is a little easier, and the off-track areas tend to be more open.

One of my favourite two day walks in the Bluies is Pantoneys Crown - Point Cameron. Brilliant views for most of the walk, but not for the faint hearted
http://ozultimate.com/tom/bushwalking/2 ... photos.htm