The weekend just before this walk had been wet. Very wet! The Blue Mountains had not received as much rain as the Cumberland Plain, but still had had a fair amount. Enough to make it worth getting up early and seeing some waterfalls.
Clarinda Falls
My original intention was to go and visit some of the waterfalls near Wentworth Falls. I got up early and caught a train up the Blue Mountains that should arrive at Wentworth Falls before 9 am. However, the train stopped at Penrith and went no further. Another train, on the down line (this is the line that runs up the Blue Mts) had broken down at Emu Plains and it seemed no other train would be going past it. After waiting in the train at Penrith for over an hour, we were eventually moved to buses and then began a very slow journey up the mountains. The bus passed through Springwood around 10:30 am, so I thought I should get off at Faulconbridge and still do a reasonable walk.
Clarinda Falls
So I set off down the Victory Track. After all the rain, I expected the track to be wet. It was not too bad, but the creeks were up. Clarinda Falls was quite nice in the high water. The lighting however was not very good for creek and waterfall photography. A cloudy day had been forecast – but it had turned out blue sky. Clarinda Falls was not too bad – being in the shade, but Numantia Falls were a write off as far as photography was concerned. They were half in the sun and half out.
I continued on the junction of Sassafras Gully and then down the Sassafras Gully track. I stopped at the creek crossing however. I would had to wade across. I was not too keen on this – so turned back and exited via Sassafras Gully track to Springwood.
The creeks had been nice on this walk, but I had seen virtually no fungi out. This time last year – the fungi in Sassafras Gully was quite amazing. Perhaps things will improve in a few days?
More photos from the day are online on my website here.