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canyonwalker) wrote2024-01-04 01:57 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2024-01-04 01:57 pm
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Descent into Valley of the Waters
Australia Travelog #26
Valley of the Waters, NSW - Fri, 29 Dec 2023, 9:30am
Our main hike today is to see Empress Falls and Sylvia Falls. They're in the dramatically named Valley of the Waters branch of Jamison Canyon near our hotel. I've been pretty achy this morning and not sure how much I wanted to commit to hiking, but Hawk flagged this trek as one of her top priorities in the Blue Mountains National Park, so I agreed to give it a go.
The trail starts near a place called the Conservation Hut. The map indicated that food was available there. We assumed that meant it was a nature center/historical exhibit that also sold some food, maybe sandwiches and sodas out of a reach-in fridge. Nope! Other way around. It's actually a full service restaurant with a few historical signs outside its doors. I guess I'm glad to see that crass commercialism in national parks is not a uniquely American thing. 🙄
Anyway, the trip into the Valley of the Waters starts with a descent. Right away there are stone steps going down, down, down from the Conservation Hut. Ugh. Just what my aching ankle hates, I thought. And I'm going to have to climb all this on the way out! 😓
After several long flights of terraced stairs the trail levels out for a bit. There's a vista point just off to the side, Queen Victoria's Lookout. It provides a beautiful view out across Valley of the Water, which is really just a side canyon to the much larger Jamison Valley. From here we can hear waterfalls but not quite see them. There are actually something like seven waterfalls within the space of a mile or two in this canyon. Only the first few are reachable on the trail right now as there's been damage due to a landslide.
Soon enough it's down, down, down again.
There were even more steel staircases after these. A few were extremely steep, like stairs aboard a naval ship. So much for my desire to take it easy with lighter hiking today. I am trusting that the falls will make this all worth it!
Speaking of falls....
...There's this small falls splashing directly across the path. This is not Empress Falls, nor is Sylvia Falls (either of the two we've set out to visit today), nor does it have a name or even a marking on the map.
Speaking of things not marked on maps: elevation. We're finding that Australian maps and guideposts are terrible at indicating elevation changes. Basically they don't. And US based map services that do indicate elevation, like AllTrails.com, have wildly inaccurate data here. This trail has already involved more elevation change than we were led to believe. With my sprained/pulled ankle muscle I expressed concern.
"We can turn back now if you need," Hawk offered.
"In for a penny, in for a pound," I countered. I'd come too far to give up now. I'd play through the pain. Then I thought of an even more apt aphorism for my determination: There is no 'back', only forward.
In beauty I walk, forward.
Stay tuned for some amazing waterfalls... yes, forward of here. 😂
Update: Three beautiful waterfalls on the trail ahead.
Valley of the Waters, NSW - Fri, 29 Dec 2023, 9:30am
Our main hike today is to see Empress Falls and Sylvia Falls. They're in the dramatically named Valley of the Waters branch of Jamison Canyon near our hotel. I've been pretty achy this morning and not sure how much I wanted to commit to hiking, but Hawk flagged this trek as one of her top priorities in the Blue Mountains National Park, so I agreed to give it a go.
The trail starts near a place called the Conservation Hut. The map indicated that food was available there. We assumed that meant it was a nature center/historical exhibit that also sold some food, maybe sandwiches and sodas out of a reach-in fridge. Nope! Other way around. It's actually a full service restaurant with a few historical signs outside its doors. I guess I'm glad to see that crass commercialism in national parks is not a uniquely American thing. 🙄
Anyway, the trip into the Valley of the Waters starts with a descent. Right away there are stone steps going down, down, down from the Conservation Hut. Ugh. Just what my aching ankle hates, I thought. And I'm going to have to climb all this on the way out! 😓
After several long flights of terraced stairs the trail levels out for a bit. There's a vista point just off to the side, Queen Victoria's Lookout. It provides a beautiful view out across Valley of the Water, which is really just a side canyon to the much larger Jamison Valley. From here we can hear waterfalls but not quite see them. There are actually something like seven waterfalls within the space of a mile or two in this canyon. Only the first few are reachable on the trail right now as there's been damage due to a landslide.
Soon enough it's down, down, down again.
There were even more steel staircases after these. A few were extremely steep, like stairs aboard a naval ship. So much for my desire to take it easy with lighter hiking today. I am trusting that the falls will make this all worth it!
Speaking of falls....
...There's this small falls splashing directly across the path. This is not Empress Falls, nor is Sylvia Falls (either of the two we've set out to visit today), nor does it have a name or even a marking on the map.
Speaking of things not marked on maps: elevation. We're finding that Australian maps and guideposts are terrible at indicating elevation changes. Basically they don't. And US based map services that do indicate elevation, like AllTrails.com, have wildly inaccurate data here. This trail has already involved more elevation change than we were led to believe. With my sprained/pulled ankle muscle I expressed concern.
"We can turn back now if you need," Hawk offered.
"In for a penny, in for a pound," I countered. I'd come too far to give up now. I'd play through the pain. Then I thought of an even more apt aphorism for my determination: There is no 'back', only forward.
In beauty I walk, forward.
Stay tuned for some amazing waterfalls... yes, forward of here. 😂
Update: Three beautiful waterfalls on the trail ahead.