Overview
The Blue Mountains are well-known across our great Australia and overseas for its world class views and abundance of mountain activities. Packed full of things to do for every age and ability; from gentle lookouts littered all around notable townships such as Katoomba to more adventurous pursuits such as the Mount Solitary circuit. For this journey, a group of 6 of us set out in the early hours of Thursday from the Katoomba Falls Kiosk to tackle the latter. *
*an excerpt from my article in Great Walks Magazine
Mt. Solitary loop - Key info
Distance 34km
Difficulty Grade 5 (AWTGS)/ Hard
Elevation 950m
Time suggested time 2 nights, 3 days depending on fitness levels and pack weight
The loop & History
If you’re anything like our group, we prefer hikes that are in a circuit rather than going in and out the same way. This adds more variety and keeps you on your toes unsure what to expect.
Doing this trail in a circuit allows you to hit many notable features of The Blue Mountains and if you were like us definitely unexpected of how little water would be on this trail and how much you can enjoy a quarter of an orange when parched.
After descending down Furber Steps into the valley The Three Sisters loom staring you down. Here as you continue on you will be walking along Scenic Walkaway through Scenic World. As you walk through here there are many remnants and signs of past use cases of the area from coal mining to touristic railways. Be sure to take this part of the walk easy and soak in the fascinating history of the area.
Ruined Castle - Detour The Scenic Way
The walk out to Ruined Castles is only about 7km from Furber Steps and in some route planners is suggested as the first nights stay. However after reaching the campground around midday it was clear we had plenty of legs to keep trekking on. Whilst the detour to Ruined Castles adds 1.2km to the trip. Its a must do especially with fresh legs.
For me its the highlight of the walk with 360 panoramic views of the surrounding valleys with Mt. Solitary imposing just in front of you, just asking you if you’re up for the challenge.
Atop Mt. Solitary - Running out of water and camping at 'The Col'
The journey up Koorawall knife-edge to Mt. Solitary is at times steep and tight, with a touch of scramble. There are multiple trails that intertwine with each other on the way up, with each taking you slightly different directions. Depending on which trail you take the challenge varies. If there is one suggestion to make here is to stop around 2/3 thirds of the way up the knife-edge to take in the views a moment longer as they fade once reaching the top as you dip into the Eucalyptus Forests down into Chinaman’s Gully.
After practically draining most of our fluid reserves half way across Mt. Solitary we were pretty keen for a refill. In hindsight we should have had a lot more carrying capacity and there wouldn’t have been a worry, but with our water bottles getting emptier and emptier and with the days hiking under the hot sun taking its toll, finding more water quickly came to the forefront of our minds. We were fairly confident we would bump into a stream around Singa-Jingawell Ck. However as we were told by every responsible outdoor user ‘there are no guarantees’. Ironically we did find water at this junction however with the water being quite stale and the light dimming we decided to trek on and establish camp.
The night ended with the decision to camp out under the stars at ‘The Col’ (location below) without any extra water, sharing an orange between 4 blokes and writing in the visitor book saying how much we were loving the hike… Secretly I think some of the boys were contemplating writing their final goodbyes.
Giant Steps - Running out of juice
The day started with a descent down from The Col standing at 919m and a looooooong days walk back to Echo Point Information Centre with 18-19km to go.
There’s a certain element of surprise without doing too much research on hikes like these and sometimes its better that way. Other times its not. Regardless when venturing out into the wilderness expect the unexpected.
Upon reaching the base of the valley again we bathed ourselves in the Kedumba River and couldn’t help but guzzle it down, each of us refilling our water bottles multiple times and rehydrating for the leg ahead.
The journey back along Sublime Point fire trail to Giant steps is full of calf-burning uphills and deflating downhills as fatigue starts to kick in. But don’t worry you might encounter some trail runners who make what we were doing seem easy or an older couple who describe the final push up the Giant Steps as a ‘piece of cake’.
With the boys keen for a treat up at the info centre we charged up the Giant Steps and they all suddenly had an extra pep in their step and it made me question how fatigued they really were. On this I think we are all stronger than we think and we have an extra reserve tank that we can dig into when we truly need it. Subconsciously we save our energy in case of a situation where we are really in trouble. But once you make it to the top and you know your safe, the appeal of an icy pole is just too much and you sprint for it.
Writing for Great Walks Magazine
This adventure was a significant moment in my photography and writing journey, as I’m proud to say it was the first time I’ve had something published in any form of print or magazine.
And I would say its definitely been something that has set wheels in motion for me to set up this blog today.
There’s a certain tipping point when you get good enough at something and you can see the possibilities of what you can do and this article gave me a whole dose of confidence knowing that someone valued my work and what I do.
I would encourage anyone reading this that has a creative pursuit to keep investing your time and energy in your chosen field for you never know where it might take you.
