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After soaking up the incredible views at Govett's Leap Lookout, Jean and I headed
north along the trail to Pulpit Rock. The entire trail sits on the edge of the cliff
above the green valley floor. Steep sandstone cliffs rim the valley.
Valley as seen from Govett's Leap Lookout
Valley as seen from Govett's Leap Lookout
There are lots of fenced-in lookouts along the way, many of which we stopped at to
soak in some of the views. Shortly into the hike we descended a series of rock
steps -- steps made big enough for the Jolly Green Giant. Our trekking poles
definitely helped at this point, keeping us from slipping.
Originally I had wanted to start at Pierces Pass and descend to the valley floor
to visit the Blue Gum Forest. That's another term for eucalyptus trees, many of
which we saw on this hike. The leaves were the same, but the trees generally
looked different than what I'm used to seeing in the Bay Area. The trees in the
Bay Area are taller, straighter, and wider. The ones here are thinner and
slanted in varying directions. That could be partly due to gusting winds
in the area.
It was mostly sunny during the hike, though the sun would hide behind the
occasional cloud. Rain was expected that night, but it never came. We crossed
a few muddy patches on the trail -- probably not due directly to rain, but to water
seeping down the hillside.
The trail flattened out and we came upon a display sign describing the Popes Glen trail.
That wasn't what we wanted, so we backed up a few feet and crossed Popes Glen
Creek to continue along the path to Pulpit Rock. It turns out we had completely
missed a trail intersection sign (like a street sign) labeling the trails;
lucky for us we saw the display sign.
Falls tumbling down from the plateau
After we crossed the creek, we climbed some steps on the other side until
we were back up along the rim. We now had a view of two waterfalls leaping off
the face of the cliff we'd started the hike on. The cliffs in the area are
all almost completely vertical. I've never seen so many sheer cliffs before.
I wondered if they were formed by glaciers or simple erosion from wind and
water. I didn't see any evidence of glaciers, as the valleys were V-shaped, not
U-shaped. We paused at one point to examine small rocks embedded in a narrow band
in the rocks above us. It looked like it used to be a sea floor at one point
in time before being covered with more layers of dirt. Total speculation on
our part, of course. It would be nice to find a book describing the geological
history of the Blue Mountains.
Jean taking a break
The forest below us
The trail winds and winds seemingly forever. At one point we were so close to
Pulpit Rock I probably could have picked up a rock and thrown it there. But
it would be another half hour or so before we got there, because the trail snaked
its way, following the edge of the cliff, which undulated back and forth like
a ribbon in the wind. Along the way we stopped and saw a huge lizard slithering
underneath a log. Well, huge for us anyway -- it must have been as thick as my
arm, and about 2 to 3 feet long. No Komodo Dragon, but probably the biggest
lizard I've ever seen on a hike. We pointed it out to two other hikers, but
they didn't seem as impressed as we were. I guess it's not "Australian for
lizard".
Pulpit Rock from afar
When we finally reached Pulpit Rock, we didn't stay long. Like one of the
Three Sisters, Pulpit Rock stands
naked, baring itself to the wind. I didn't think to check out my Brunton Sherpa
at this time, but I'm pretty sure the gusts must have reached close to 50
miles per hour. We descended the metal stairs with caution, hanging onto the
railings for dear life. At times I felt like I was going to be blown off into
oblivion. Besides the wind, there's the matter of the gut-wrenching views.
Looking over the edge, there's nothing between you and the trees far far below.
The staircase above Pulpit Rock
Jean above the treetops
We were very hungry by this point, but this was no place to have lunch. We started
the return hike. We passed hikers going in both directions (there's a parking
lot near Pulpit Rock), many of them looking ill-prepared for the hike. Perhaps
some of them were going one-way with a shuttle. We didn't have that luxury. We
found a small cave next to the trail and stopped to eat.
Clouds casting shadows on the valley
The wind continued unabated. It wasn't nearly as windy as it had been at Pulpit
Rock, but my Sherpa still measured wind gusts of up to 24 miles per hour. On
the return journey, it wasn't much different, other than that the trees were now
on the right and the cliffs on the left, rather than the other way around. As for
the vegetation, we passed one or two bright red flowers which I'd later learn
are waratahs. It was so windy, however, that I couldn't get any good pictures of
them.
Pulpit Rock from afar
We also saw graffiti everywhere on the hike. People love to leave their mark
on nature. On rocks, on trees. We hiked on through the wind, making it back
to the parking lot in good time. There were more tour buses. Jean and I still
marveled at how relatively few people hit the trail, however. Their loss,
our gain.
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