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The Horsetrack has recently opened and access to the upper reaches of Govetts Gorge is a lot easier. It's had some rain lately but not enough to close the valley, so I took the opportunity to revisit Edenderry Falls and Hilary Falls, ad head up towards where Arethusa Falls cascades into the valley.

Megalong Creek is fairly short, unassuming, and little visited. However, the last 1km before it meets the Coxs River is a delight. After rain it is a turmoil of cascading waterfalls that descends the last 100m.

The Larapinta Trail is an iconic 230km route over the West Macdonald Ranges in the Northern Territory. We didn't do it all. But we did do four days covering 130km covering the highlights.

NSW Topo has Bennett Lookout located right on the cliff edge. On the ground there's nothing there to indicate anything special or unusually spectacular that location. However, a couple of hundred meters back from the cliff edge is a flat rock platform with an old cairn and excellent views from West and North right around to the East.

The sixteen highest peaks in Australia are all close to each other in Kosciuszko National Park. This trip completed them all in a single day.

Since the subsidence of the track after the 2021 rain event, Narrowneck is now a 25km return trip. This trip did the return trip four times in a single day.

David Crevasse is a slot near Mount Banks. It's used as an abseil route by canyoners with an exit back to the plateau nearby. This trip accessed it from the South of the Grose Valley, instead of the more usual walk in from Mt Banks car park.

Burra Korain is one of the lesser travelled ridges. The track is indistinct in places and has a couple of options to miss the main ridge and follow a side ridge. This half day trip visited the nose and descended the cliff face on the western side close to the nose to find a new pass. The return to the plateau was via the previously visited nose chimney.

A collection of longer runs around the Blue Mountains, including UTA options, Hanging Rock, Grand Canyon, Narrowneck, a few around the Grose Valley.

These are `flood` river levels for NSW. The BOM only gives access to the last few days of data.

The Wolgan Capertee Divide is a range of connected mesas and mountains that separate the watersheds of the Wolgan and Capertee Rivers. The Skyline Traverse is a magnificent 3 day walk along the divide.

The source of Wentworth Creek is west of Wentworth Falls. It has a dam built in the 1940's to supply water to the Wentworth Falls reservoir. This short trip visited the dam and pumphouse, and also the falls above and below.

Wentworth Falls has several well travelled passes above and below the clifflines. Stonehaven Pass is a little visited pass between them.This very short trip visited the pass and its lookouts as well as the hoist that was used to build National Pass.

The source of Erskine is close to Kings Tableland Road at Wentworth Falls. It winds for 30km Eastwards right down to the Nepean River at Glenbrook National Park. This trip explored a small section of the upper reaches.

Narrowneck has 14 known and documented passes. This trip found a 15th pass. It is ascendable by a competent bushwalker who has scrambling ability and tolerance for a degree of exposure. It is less exposed than passes such as Carlon Head, Walls Pass and Landslide Gully.

This walk was the southern part of the Wolgan-Capertee Divide from Baal Bone Gap to Newnes. This is a trip for experienced parties, as there are frequent route and pass-finding challenges.

There are fourteen known bushwalking passes along the rim of the 12km long protrusion of plateau that juts to the south of Katoomba. This trip completed them all in one long day

Mount Banks has a half way ledge that allows passage from the far Southern end to the car park in the North. It was named Traverse of the Gods by Phil Foster when he first crossed in early 2010's

Narrowneck has a few ledges where the Mount York Claystone erodes faster than the surrounding sandstone layers. This trip traversed a couple of kilometers of a claystone ledge that starts at Black Billys Northern Head.

Mt Solitary has two well known passes - the Korrowall Knife Edge at the North West and the Eastern Col as well as two less well travelled ones - Miners Pass and Point Repulse. There are at least five other bushwalkers passes. This trip completed one of the longer and trickier ones - Terreo Pass.

Holbeachs Descent and Spring Creek Ridge Pass are both little travelled passes into the Kedumba Valley. This trip went to Lions Head, then down Holbeachs Descent and up Spring Creek Ridge.

Starting at Hat Hill Rd, this trip followed Hat Hill Ridge to Brownes Path. It then returned to descent the Unnamed Gully, cross the base of Bald Head cliffs and ascend Lews Pass to follow the lower section Hat Hill Canyon to return to the ridge. A complete circumnavigation of Bald Head.

Mount Solitary has two well known passes - the Korrowall Knife Edge at the North West and the Eastern Col. There are also two less well travelled ones - Miners Pass and Point Repulse - both fairly long days. However, there are several other bushwalking passes that get from the talus to the plateau. This trip completed three of the well known ones and four of the undocumented ones.

Mount Solitary has two well travelled passes - the Korrowall Knife Edge at the North West and the Eastern Col. There are also two less well known ones - Miners Pass and Point Repulse - both fairly long days. However, there are at least four other passes that get from the talus to the plateau. This trip found a previously undocumented pass and also one known as Bitter Cave Pass.

Kings Tableland has a few passes the give access to Kedumba Valley from the plateau. Blue Drum Creek is an abseil route with an exit to the North. The route taken was to descend into South branch of Blue Gum Creek, avoid first abseil by sidling steeply to the North branch, crossing it and then ascend slightly to the West to reach the opposite ledge facing the abseil. Then follow the ledge for 500m until there is a steep route both down to the talus and up to the plateau.

Narrowneck has a dozen or so named passes and also a few less well known. Harmils Ledge and Dunphys Pass are often walked together, one starts where the other ends. Both have logbooks. This trip added another ledge to avoid the Coral Swamp.

The Upper Grose has a many ways through the clifflines. A few are named - Victoria Falls Track, McKenzies Pass, Brownes Path, Surveyors Gully and Engineers Track Narrowneck. A rarely travelled Pass is Sharps Pass close to Valhalla Head. Sharps Pass doesn't require tape or scrambling ability, just surefootedness on steep talus. The optional alternate Pass used for the exit from the talus has 3 easy scrambles.

Narrowneck has a dozen or so named passes - Black Billy Head is one of the more adventurous ones. It is also one end of the little travelled Rice Terrace. Rice Terrace is a long halfway ledge that is accessible from both ends - Black Billy Head in the West and Mitchells Creek/Coachwood Pass in the East. This Pass is thought to have been first visited in 1980's by Graeme Holbeach. This trip avoided the unfriendly scrub of Fools Paradise, however, it didn't avoid 300m of talus descent and subsequent ascent. Instead it descended Diamond Head Pass to approach Black Billy Head from below.

Narrowneck has a dozen or so named passes and also a few less well known. This Pass is thought to have been visited in 1988 by a well known bushwalker. There have been no known visits after that time, and it has remained undocumented. This trip included another well travelled Pass and a quick visit to its logbook.

Narrowneck has a dozen or so named passes and also a few less well known. Diamond Head is a little tricky for a couple of reasons. While there is only one "real" Rock Pile Pass that uses a rock pile for access, there is another way onto the ledge, as well as a "fake" Rock Pile Pass which has been repeated numerous times. This trip included all three variants and also the Diamond Head route, using Redledge Pass twice for access.

These are `normal` river levels for NSW. The BOM only gives access to the last few days of data.

Starting a Wind Eroded Cave car park, there's a footpad that passes the cave and then heads up onto the tops where there's a few interesting rock formations. However, instead of heading up cross the slope diagonally and head towards the wide gully West of the creek. At the creek, head downstream for 100m, then up a narrow ramp on the West side to a big rock formation with a couple of cairns on top.

Starting at Dunphys Campsite, take the Bellbird Ridge firetrail, turn right at T-junction onto powerline trail to Medlow Gap, follow White Dog Ridge for 3km, take left fork to drop off the ridge and descend 600m to Cox.

Descend Copeland Pass, along Lindemans Pass, ascend Gladstone Pass, descend Bowden Pass, ascend Lawbecks Pass, descend Roberts Pass, ascend Wentworth Pass and return to Fairmont.

Descend Gladstone Pass, ascend Lawtons Gully, head West and ascend the climbers route to Isobel Bowden Ridge and return to Fairmont.

Hat Hill to Pierces Pass via Brownes Path route starts at Hat Hill car park, follows the ridge to Brownes Path, descends the talus steeply to the Grose River via no route whatsoever, ascends the tourist Pierces Pass to the car park. The return is back down Peirces Pass, a 2km walk upstream to Hat Hill Creekm followed by a steep unmarked ascent to Lews Pass and Hat Hill Canyon. After exiting Hat Hill Canyon follow the ridge back to return to Hat Hill and the car park.

Holbeachs Descent and Spring Creek Ridge Pass are both little travelled passes into the Kedumba Valley.

Mt Banks to Mt Hay via Byles Pass route starts at Mt Banks, descends into the Grose via Garrads Gulch, ascends Shaw Gully to Bylwes Pass and follows the cliff line on the South side of the Grose Valley to My Hay and the car park.

Three Brothers to Blacks Ladders route follows a ledge 200m above the Megalong Valley

Compagnoni Pass is about 6km past Cloudmaker

Totem Pole is a 10m hoodoo about 25km down the Wolgan River

Cox River via White Dog Trail is approx 26km with 100m of ascent

Grose Valley Panorama

A wander through Grand Canyon Blackheath in May 2020

On Saturday 21st, my 19yo son, my wifes RFS crew and I watched the fire trickle towards us from the east then south against a light westerly wind, covering 200m over a period of 4 hours with 1m flame height...

Burra Korain has a couple of unknown slots, that have never been used for either ascent or descent. One optionally requires a rope, the other is a walk in the park - this describes the 2nd....

Last time I descended Govetts Leap and located the track to the Jungle Circuit, it was overgrown and strewn with obstacles - finding the loop itself was nigh on impossible.

The usual route from Leura into the Grose is via Lockleys Pylon and then steeply descend Shortridge Pass to reach the junction of Govetts Gorge and the Grose. A rough alternative takes a more south westerly ridge to the valley floor.

The long cliff-lined ridge from the south east end of Mt Solitary is Point Repulse - a long day with much ascent and exactly the same amount of descent.

There area couple of passes on the Western side of Narrowneck that I haven't done

There's a little known slot that is negotiable without a rope that leads off the end of Burra Korain Head

Most photos of Hanging Rock are taken from Baltzar Lookout

Much of the Blue Mountains is characterised by a flat sandstone plain at around 900m

a short around the cliffs below the Hydro Majestic a few weeks ago intending to visit the historic Colosseum.

A hot day after Christmas, so we needed a short walk. Landslide Gully was a goods candidate, but we didn't want to walk down into the valley, across Federal Pass and then try to find our way up the gully with the risk of having to turn back at one of the trickier sections. So we approached from Cliff Drive intending to bounce back up it once we hit Federal Pass.

Drive down Kedumba Valley Rd to the gate and car park - it's mostly good dirt road.

Ethereal Canyon - more of a short bush-walk through the ferns - easy to get into, easy navigation

the mountain is a labyrinth of pagodas, canyons, ramps, slots and gullies

Another scrub bash, some moderate scrambing and a steep descent saw us in the cave.

Our local canyon was pumping after 45mm of rain over the past few days

We left the Tiger Snake car park at 9:45AM - it was fairly slow getting there

Today we took the much trickier Eastern Route, and returned up the nose from the South.

An overnight walk down to the Grose Valley via two remote passes.

We used to live on Sublime Point, so the Copeland Pass and Lindemans Pass are familiar territory.