Splendour Rock

[jeremy089786]

Hi Guys,

I just came back from Splendour Rock, my new favourite view in the blue mountains. The report is below, and the photos are at: http://adventuresandtinkerings.blogspot ... rings.html

All the best,

Jeremy.

"I have a new favourite view in the Blue Mountains… Hoorah!

So after 2 weekends cooped up in the city I was getting the locked in depression, not to mention an incredibly sore back. This of course meant that I was well overdue to get out, so despite the cold Friday rain it was high time to pack my stuff, faff about collecting my dispersed gear and then finally getting through the public transport system, which saw me pedal out of Katoomba at 10:30pm.

In the miserable cold fog I zoomed towards Narrowneck hoping to find the Synn cave which would provide warmth and general happiness. Having never been there and in thick fog, this of course turned out to be a very bad idea and I almost came to grief trying to scramble down a cliff that turned out to not even be the cliff I was hoping for. So after this little scare and now with a bloodied ankle, I decided to press along the path to find somewhere flat and out of the way. In the end I came upon a great little embankment about 20mins past the locked gate, which kept me dry and happy throughout the night.

Waking up fairly rested after 6 hours of sleep I rugged up and rode down the now fantastically graded Narrowneck fire trail, stopping sequentially to snap the beautiful surroundings on an incredibly pleasant morning. At the end, I disembarked and wandered my way towards the Cox’s river where I was preliminarily thinking about camping.

Along what I considered at the time, a fairly flat and boring section of forest, I had the realisation that I should alter my plans and turn off to a spectacular lookout, I had heard about extensively but never made the left turn to check out. So after filling up my water bottles at Mobb’s swamp, I continued the hour or so to the turn off and as soon as I started climbing was instantly gob smacked. Behind me were the 3 highest mountains in the area in full view and although I had seen these many times before, this view showed them in spectacular detail and this was a huge change from the flat viewless forest which came before.

Upon reaching the top, I was rewarded with an even more incredible view… Splendour Rock. Providing 270’ views into the best part of the mountains I sat in awe looking from the upper Cox to the 3 peaks, to Kanangra and then even to the Blue Breaks, Warragamba and towards Katoomba. On this rock is a plaque to bushwalkers who were killed in WWII, and I couldn't think of a more fitting place for these walkers to be commemorated.

So for the next couple of hours until the suns rays started to fade I lay back reading about the amazing walkers who once glanced over these peaks. The most memorable for me was Gordon Smith, who started his adventures in the 1920’s and was the first recorded person to kayak the Colo!

Now with darkness I had some good chats with another party (only 3 of us to a huge campsite), started the fire and tucked into a dehydrated meal – a rare treat! That night was clear, with excellent stars, however this also meant that the mercury dropped pretty quickly to around freezing point. Luckily after some recent experiences without enough warmth, I had everything I needed for snow camping so was appropriately snug and happy.

Now starting to another beautiful morning, after the compulsory sunrise viewing and photos I decided to pick a new route back, following a path along some of the ridges which I believe make up the 'Dingo’s' (map not currently available to me) and these provided far better viewing than the walking the previous day. Short of a reliable map, I decided to start back down towards Mobb’s swamp after a very enjoyable 3 or so km’s of stunning views.

While the day before I was relatively bored through this section of forest, I found myself with new found enthusiasm hopping and skipping through, loving every tree and rock along the way. I also found myself constantly looking up towards the 'Dingo's' planning my next trip along the length of the ridge.

Now back up Tarro's ladders and onto Narrowneck I zoomed along to the climbers carpark in about an hour and then successfully found Synn cave, which will also get a repeat visit. All in all a great and much needed 50 or km's. As for timing, I left Splendour Rock at 7:30 and arrived back at the Climbers carpark at 12:30 (with bicycle assistance)."

[juxtaposer]

Some very nice pics and always a beautiful walk. I must note however that Gordon Smith never kayaked the Colo River, he walked it with Max Gentle in about 1931. They were the first Sydney Bush Walkers to do it, but a few parties are known to have preceded them.

[jeremy089786]

Hi Juxtaposer, thanks for the info! I wonder who was the first to float the Colo?

[DaveNoble]

Hi Juxtaposer, thanks for the info! I wonder who was the first to float the Colo?

Here is the story of one early trip - http://www.david-noble.net/blog/?p=3342

Dave

[jeremy089786]

Hi Dave,

Great read. I would love to see some pics of bushfire soldered kayaks!

J.