Showing posts with label Blue Mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Mountains. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Blue Mountains Miscellaneous

Little skink along the National Pass ("little" -- though still probably a foot long)
Yellow-tailed black cockatoos along the Pulpit Rock tail
Spiny flowering plant along the Pulpit Rock trail
Bearded tree man in the Grand Canyon
We didn't see very much wildlife in the Blue Mountains, overall: only birds and skinks, and even then the only completely new bird we saw were the King parrots.  The four different walks we did (not counting the Giant Stairway, since we didn't go all the way down) were all varied, unique, and incredibly interesting.  For only two full days there we felt like we saw so much.

Sunday, heading out of town, we decided to swing by the Three Sisters for one last look.  It was a little foggy, so we were expecting to see the shapes of the rocks through the mist.  When we reached the lookout, however, the entire valley was blanketed in fog.

It was a little eerie, standing on the top of the hill with only an absolute white in front of you.  The trees disappearing into the foggy hillside were really beautiful.  It was kind of the perfect way to end our trip.

Sulphur-crested cockatoos hanging out by the bins
Jamisen Valley
Queen Elizabeth Lookout

We really enjoyed our time in the Blue Mountains, and hope we have a chance to go back sometime!  Next time we'll have to go during off-peak season and either see the blooming waratahs or perhaps even a wombat!

Grand Canyon Walking Track

Our last walk in the Blue Mountains was the Grand Canyon walk.  While the stunning views of the cliffs and valleys were mostly absent, this was probably our favorite walk overall.  We started the walk at the Evans Lookout.  Immediately the trail descends into the canyon.  The rainforest at the bottom of the canyon feels like you could've stepped into a Jurassic Park movie.

The end of the initial descent into the rainforest
Looking up
The trail crosses the stream several times..
..before bringing you up out of the bottom of the valley
Looking down, the creek below is now completely hidden by the vegetation
A waterfall passes right in front of the trail
And the trail begins to climb again.
(Though it is still a long way up to the top.)
A dry segment of the trail
Leaving the rainforest behind, the end of the trail brought
us back up to the road.  From there it was only a
short jaunt back to the carpark.