Wentworth Falls

On Saturday 26 July we hiked Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains National Park. It was predicted to be 0 degrees centigrade in the Blue Mountains in the morning. That was plenty cold for us. We tried to dress warmly with layers but somehow I was still cold. We started out at the top of the trail at 9 am and finished 4 hours and 45 minutes later. The scenery was beautiful.
It was a hard hike with many steps down, down, down, and of course what goes down has to go up so we had many steps up. There were three water falls along the way, the largest of which were the Wentworth Falls. After passing the Wentworth Falls we began the climb up. There were many, many steep steps cut out of the shear face of the rock with handrails. We would have had a hard time making it up those steps without walking sticks. They were about 16-24 inches steep. We would go up, up, up and then the trail would wind down again. This continued until we finally reached the Conservation Hut where we started. There were no rest rooms along the way which made us not want to drink anything.
We survived. My knee hurt for a few days but my legs did not bother me at all. Jay thought he had died. When we got home he had cramps in his upper legs into the evening. All week he has complained of sore muscles and swears he will never do it again.
The group with hats made by Sister Bartholomew for the occasion. And to keep our heads warm.
View of the valley as we started out.
Elizabeth on the walk down, down, down.
First set of falls. Not Wentworth. About 1 hour into the walk.

A lot of pictures were taken by all. Claudia Clark and Elizabeth shooting up a storm.
2nd set of falls - not Wentworth.
A view of the above falls and people below from the top.
Jay and Platte Clark bringing up the rear.
Wentworth Falls.
Wentworth Falls
Shear rock face around Wentworth Falls.
Wentworth Falls. Lower half.
Claudia Clark barefoot in Wentworth Falls. She is crazy.
Wentworth Falls.
Steps were carved out of the shear face of this rock which we had to climb up for a very long time.
Steps up, up, up, up. Very steep steps.
Jay climbing the stairs carved out of the rock face.
The group plugging along - 3 hours into the hike.
Beautiful vistas.
Blue Mountains National Park.
Blue Mountains National Park.