We ventured out into the lower Blue Mountains for a day hike on Sat 24 Feb. The forecast was that there might be some rain. And there was. The first couple of hours were persistent – though not heavy – rain. Fortunately the canopy protected us from some direct rainfall, but all of the surrounding shrubbery was saturated, and so we all were too. Still, it was warm enough that it didn’t feel too miserable!
The leeches were pretty happy about the weather though – and they were very keen to join us on our walk. In the end, I think Lucien might have won the prize for the most leech-friendly hiker, with about 20 bites – not that it was a competition.
First, we headed down from Springwood on the Victory track (complete with crayfish!) to Perch Ponds and the turn off to Martin’s lookout. At that point, Clement and Shahnaz made an executive decision to head up to the lookout and back from there to the car. A fair call given the voraciousness of the leeches (which were quite new to Shahnaz!) and the persistent drizzle.
From that point though, the rain eased up and there were fewer leeches. Coincidence? Or not?
We crossed Glenbrook creek and headed up to Bunyan lookout for a lunch stop – and then back down and across to Perch Ponds, with the final return leg on the very pleasant Magdala Gully track. Lots of small and slippery creek crossings – which everyone handled with aplomb – and then the return to the cars without incident.
While the weather could certainly have been a little better, and the leeches less hungry, it was a nice day out!