Date: 15+16/3/2025
Trip leader: Adam
Party: Terry (Wing Chun), Theo, Liam, Eric (Shibo), Shawn (Xiaofan), Lucia, Bernat, Elena, Ivan, Javier
For many many months, bushwalkers have mourned the temporary closure of Ruined Castle.
The days of crying ourselves to sleep after viewing the NPWS alerts page are no more. Ruined Castle is back open, and what better way to celebrate than climbing it at sunset?
So, from Katoomba station at 11:11am, our party of 11 set off bound for the newly reopened track. We began by walking down to Katoomba Falls Kiosk which was celebrating its Grand Opening, complete with stilt walkers and more. Quite a spectacle for the “grand opening” of a cafe that has been around for at least 60 years. Perhaps “Grand Reopening” wasn’t as appealing. It was there we waited for Theo who had missed the train and would catch a bus to hopefully make up lost time. While waiting, some walked to the top of Katoomba Falls while the rest of us guarded the packs.
After a bit of exploration and a game of picnic table chess, Theo had arrived and we were ready to begin the descent down into the valley. At this point the temperature was in the 30s, so the sooner we could be down in the much cooler valley, the better.
Soon enough, we were on Federal Pass and well on our way to the campsite. We passed the landslide section and it was there we caught our first glimpse of Ruined Castle. The track itself is nothing too technical but being beyond the trees with the mid-afternoon sun absolutely beaming down on us was not particularly pleasant.
Once we were back under the cool rainforest canopy, we jumped off the track to have some lunch.
After lunch, I told the story of the poor little orphan boy who was used to hardships all his life (ask me!) as we bashed through the overgrown sections track. Most of the track is ok but some seems quite neglected and there are many more fallen trees than I remember from doing this track a few years ago. Walking through ferns where you can’t see your feet isn’t great from a snake safety perspective, but if you can’t see them they don’t exist so everything was well.
We set up camp and relaxed for an hour or so before trekking up to Ruined Castle in time for sunset. If you haven’t been up there at sunset, I’d highly recommend it. Perhaps it is the best viewing spot in the Blue Mountains. Watching the sun melt into Narrow Neck with the sandstone walls around you being lit up golden is a truly special experience. The scramble up to the top is pretty easy and well worth it. Definitely give it a go!
With light now fading, back down we went towards the campsite for some much needed dinner and a share of the bagnum. If you don’t know what a bagnum is, it’s a magnum in a bag. If you don’t know what a magnum is, it’s a 1.5L wine bottle. I maintain that bagnums are a tier above goon, but they’re certainly nothing special. This particular bagnum was a Squealing Pig Pinot Noir, made half-price by the mere 4 days of shelf life it had remaining. It’s no grange but it was definitely a nice way to round out the end of a day of walking and scrambling.
Noting extreme fire danger and forecast temperatures of 34, we had set a 6:30 start time hoping to get up Furber Steps before it got too hot. With relative success, we ended up leaving the campsite at ~7:15am and began the walk back. The track was much the same as the day before, only significantly cooler which made it pretty easy going. We were up and out of the valley by 10am, catching the 10:23 train back to Sydney.
