Date: 22+23/11/2024
Trip leader: Adam
Party: Bill, Vincent, Vyom, Terry (Wing Chun), Bob [Guest], Kelvin [Guest]
Nothing gets you through the exam season like the promise of a night by the Coxs River.
So, on the very next day after all of our exams were over and 3 months of freedom loomed, we set off from Katoomba station for the Six Foot Track. Off we went, eager to spend the night away from any form of university commitment.
Through the heat, we began by taking what is perhaps the least adventurous option into the Megalong, Nellies Glen.
Those familiar with the Six Foot Track will know that there is very little shade and being a rather hot November day, many were tired and slowing down by the time we had reached the Megalong Cemetery ~2/3rds of the way in. The cicadas were particularly deafening and the only reprieve from the hot and humid conditions was the involuntary shower of insect urine. That’s ok though, nothing a bit of lunch can’t fix.
Well fed, we left the cemetery and continued on the final stretch to the campsite. Not long after, we found ourselves standing toe to toe with a few intrugied cows that descended upon the bridge & track we were on. With apprehension, we pressed on regardless, grabbed our videos and pretended they were not there.
Trouble emerged as the soles of Kelvin’s shoes had decided they had enough and started flapping around with each step. Naturally, we tried to tape them up but this only lasted a few hundred metres. They were ultimately completely ripped off, stowed in a bag, and on we went. Eventually, with 2 less intact shoes than we started with, we hit the river and the newly reopened Bowtells swing bridge that was to open in mid 2023, and then late 2023, and then early 2024, and then mid 2024, and then late 2024. It’s much sturdier than the old one, with capacity for five walkers at a time as opposed to one with the much sketchier (albeit more fun) old bridge.
We then reached the campsite, dumped our packs and immediately headed for the river to cool off.
A couple of hours after, we were sitting around the campsite when a very exhausted Vyom was spotted in the distance. Vyom had a job interview that day and walked in by himself a few hours later facing much the same challenges as us, including an encounter with the menacing cattle.
We set up camp and while the rest of us went to bed, Terry and I went to check out the new bridge at night. We saw an echidna along the track and did some thorough bridge testing.
We walked around the other side of the river to get back to the campsite, using the original Six Foot Track crossing to get back to the campsite, one of us who will remain unnamed but whose name starts with A dunked their shoes in the river trying to get across on top of rocks before giving up and wading shoeless.
Packed up by 6:30 the following day, away we went back to Katoomba with yet another encounter with the curious cattle.
