Wentworth Falls & National Pass

If we hadn't had enough stairs with the Giant Stairway and the Fern Bower walk, that afternoon we went to the very popular Wentworth Falls and the (slightly-less popular) National Pass trail.  It was extremely busy--we had to park the car a good distance away, but we took our bicycles to the trailhead so we wouldn't have to walk.

The National Pass walk was really neat--depending on where you were and how the cliff was shaped drastically changed the environment.  We went from hot and arid cliff faces to rocks covered in green vegetation in a matter of minutes.  The end of the walk took you up next to another waterfall through a lush rainforest gully, and heading back to the start along the Overcliff Walk, we passed through sunny glens, slightly shaded by eucalyptus trees, and then through swampy areas covered in ferns.

The cliffs and the views therefrom were really beautiful.  I can see why it's one of the most popular trails in the Blue Mountains.  We saw a couple skinks and heard the screeches of white cockatoos as they flew over the valley, but otherwise no wildlife.  While there was a lot of traffic on the National Pass, once we turned off onto the Overcliff Walk we only saw one other group of hikers.

Not a cloud in the sky when we reached the Wentworth Falls Lookout

The uppermost portion of Wentworth Falls

Looking down.  The second set of waterfalls are just barely visible in this photo

Crossing the stream at the top of the falls

The top of the falls, from the other side.

A good spot for a photo of the falls

The narrow stairs down followed the face of the cliff.

About halfway down we started wondering how many hundreds
of stairs we'd climbed that day..

Definitely the most popular spot of all our visits--
though the weather was the best today, too.

Continuing along the National Pass trail, looking
back to Wentworth Falls

The shady curved cliff face, outcroppings covered in vegetation

As we went, every once in a while we'd pass under other
falls, sprinkling from above.

Curving around into the sun, it became dry
nearly instantly.

...and then back into the shade.

Empress Falls at the other end of the trail loop

We watched someone abseil down the falls

The second abseiler had a bigger audience.

Back up out of the gully, the views from the Overcliff Walk were
really spectacular.  Just the first hint of clouds..

(Despite the name, Overcliff Walk, you're not completely on top of the cliffs)

Back at the Wentworth Falls Lookout, the clouds were coming in.
Though, we were lucky and it didn't rain until we got back to the car:
and even then, only a sprinkle.