Six foot track in April

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Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Tue 15 Mar, 2016 5:40 am

Hi there,

My name is Alexander, I am a 23 year old walking enthusiast from Belgium. I have been one several day walks in the mountains of Europe with my family, many 2 or 3 day hikes with my Scouting troop (mostly in Belgium, but also in the Swiss Alps and the Lake District in England) and have (almost completely) finished the GR20 (a long-distance walk on the French island Corsica).
This April, I am visiting my parents who are currently/temporarily living in Melbourne, and I would like to do some bushwalking in the wonderful Australian bush.

In the period of the 6th to the 14th of April, I would like to visit Wilsons Promontory for about a week. Afterwards, I plan on visiting the Blue Mountains from the 16th or the 17th until the 23rd of April. I would like to do some canyoning, but have also set my mind on walking the Six Foot Track. find no evidence to the contrary, but is walking alone permitted? From what I have read, I understand that water is available at every overnight campsite, but that treating it might be necessary? It might be a bit of a long stretch, but is there anybody here who was planning a (multi-day) trip in that period? We could either walk together, or not and just meet each other at the overnight camping spots.

Don't know if any of this makes sense, do not hesitate to let me know what is unclear.

Greetings,

Alex
Toco
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby DaveNoble » Tue 15 Mar, 2016 5:14 pm

You can certainly do the walk alone (and the same applies for all other walking in Australia).

I think you can get water at each campsite. There is certainly water at the Coxs River - best treated or boiled. I think there is a tank on Black Range campsite.

But if your stay in Australia is short, then there are certainly many other walks I would do in preference to the Six Foot Track - that are a lot more scenic and a lot more enjoyable. Eg Katoomba - Mt Solitary - Kedumba Ck - Wentworth Falls or Mt Victoria - Victoria Falls - Grose River - Blue Gum Forest - Blackheath. Both of these are nice two day walks mainly on good tracks with a little road walking. A lot of the Six Foot Track is a road rather than a track - and this can get a bit tedious.

Dave
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Tue 15 Mar, 2016 11:12 pm

Thank you for your suggestions, I will take a proper look at them later :)
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Thu 17 Mar, 2016 6:21 am

DaveNoble wrote:But if your stay in Australia is short, then there are certainly many other walks I would do in preference to the Six Foot Track - that are a lot more scenic and a lot more enjoyable. Eg Katoomba - Mt Solitary - Kedumba Ck - Wentworth Falls or Mt Victoria - Victoria Falls - Grose River - Blue Gum Forest - Blackheath. Both of these are nice two day walks mainly on good tracks with a little road walking. A lot of the Six Foot Track is a road rather than a track - and this can get a bit tedious.

Hi Dave,

I was browsing around on the internet, but I could not immediately find more information about the two walks you suggested. I take it that they are on paths less travelled and that there are no "official campsites" along the way? Another problem is transport: I do not have a car (nor a drivers licence), which is why I need to rely on public transport / taxi to get me away from or back to Katoomba... Any ideas?
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby tom_brennan » Thu 17 Mar, 2016 9:20 am

Both walks can be accessed by train, though there may be some street walking to get to/from the start/finish. Both are well known tracks.

Katoomba to Wentworth Falls via Mt Solitary
http://bushwalkingnsw.com/walk.php?nid=237
Mt Victoria to Blackheath
http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-an ... ation.html

You can find other information in bushwalking guide books.
Bushwalking NSW - http://bushwalkingnsw.com
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Thu 17 Mar, 2016 6:57 pm

tom_brennan wrote:Both walks can be accessed by train, though there may be some street walking to get to/from the start/finish. Both are well known tracks.

Katoomba to Wentworth Falls via Mt Solitary
http://bushwalkingnsw.com/walk.php?nid=237
Mt Victoria to Blackheath
http://www.wildwalks.com/bushwalking-an ... ation.html

You can find other information in bushwalking guide books.

Thanks for the links, Tom. Had visited both sites before, but somehow did not manage to find the itineraries again.
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby DaveNoble » Thu 17 Mar, 2016 11:01 pm

Both of those walks you can do in 1 to 3 days, depending on your inclination and fitness.

Grose River Walk - lots of campsites along the way (but watch where you get drinking water - best from creeks with pristine catchments)

Mt Solitary Walk - nice campsites at Ruined Castle (new water tanks), on top of Mt Solitary - in a least 5 places, but only 2 with water), and a nice campsite at Kedumba Farm (now national park and a good place to see wildlife)

On both walks you can light fires for cooking, except at Acacia Flat near Blue Gum Forest - which is fuel stove only (but many people seem to ignore this)

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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Fri 18 Mar, 2016 6:33 am

Judging by the comments on WildWalks, it seems like the first walk (Victoria Falls to Blackheath) used to be pretty though. Do you have an idea about the present condition of the track? I was planning on camping only one night and walking/hitchhiking to the falls, but if the track is in such a bad state this might be to optimistic.
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby wilko61 » Mon 21 Mar, 2016 10:29 pm

Hi Alex,
The walk that Dave has suggested wouldn't be difficult. Catch a train to Mt Victoria station and then walk to the "Victoria Falls" road (I'm not sure if there is a short cut from the station), there would then be about a 5km walk along the gravel road to Victoria Falls track (looks about 6.5km from the station in total). Then descend the track and follow the track beside the falls, probably 3km at most. When at the valley floor, follow Victoria creek around until it joins the Grose River(about 1km) at Burra Korai Flat (maybe camp there), follow the Grose River south east now for 8-9km to Blue Gum Forrest, camping at Acacia Flat, it is an option. Now head back towards Blackheath following Govertts Creek / Govett Gorge, to Junction Rock 3km now heading along Govertts Leap Brook along the Rodrguez Pass walking track to Goverts Leap maybe 4km. Then follow the sealed road back to Blackheath station.
Have a look at the topographic maps 1:25000 Mount Wilson (8930-1N) and Katoomba (8930-1S) from outdoor / camping stores.
Cheers

Andrew
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Haylee » Wed 23 Mar, 2016 8:59 am

Hi Alex,

I will be doing the walk with some friends (we are all in our 20's) from 23rd April - 25th April, you are welcome to come with us if you are still staying in the Blue Mountains then. We all live in Sydney and will be starting the walk from Jenolan Caves and finishing in Katoomba.

Thanks
Haylee
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Sat 26 Mar, 2016 6:33 am

Haylee wrote:Hi Alex,

I will be doing the walk with some friends (we are all in our 20's) from 23rd April - 25th April, you are welcome to come with us if you are still staying in the Blue Mountains then. We all live in Sydney and will be starting the walk from Jenolan Caves and finishing in Katoomba.

Thanks
Haylee


Hi Haylee,

Thanks for the offer, but unfortunately I leave for Melbourne on the 23rd. What a shame, it could have been fun.

Cheers,
Alex
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Re: Six foot track in April

Postby Toco » Tue 03 May, 2016 12:58 am

Just for completeness:
I eventually ended up doing two walks: a one day walk from no.14 Guesthouse to the Ruined Castle and back, and a two day walk from Mount Victoria station to Blackheath station via the Victoria falls. I camped at the Blue Gum campsite (what a magical place!), walked up along the Horse track, then followed the clifftop walk and the Popes Glen track to the Blackheath station. I would recommend the second walk to anyone who is a confident walker and not afraid to walk some distance. It's a great walk with stunning scenery and lots of wildlife, I even stumbled across a snake :). The only tricky part of the walk for me was not taking the steep fake trail op the rocks at the Burra Plains campsite, but following the very small path along the river. I was however slightly disappointed by the amount of rubbish along the way, I guess not everyone is determined to leave only footprints...
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