This was a pleasant walk to the cliffs above the Grose Valley, mainly to photograph the spectacular Hanging Rock.
Hanging Rock
I caught the train to Blackheath, arrived around 1:30 pm, and then started on the walk. It took about 20 minutes to reach the barrier on Ridgewell Road, and then about another hour to reach the end of the road at Burramoko Head. On the way out, there were quite a few others walkers around – some walking back, some walking out. There was also a lot of wildflowers out – including many waratahs.
I left my pack at the top of the head, where I intended to camp (and where I had camped before), and then made my way down the spur to the north to reach Hanging Rock. It was as spectacular as it always is, but the light was no good for photography. But I knew things would improve. The weather was not too bad – fine and calm, with a fair number of afternoon clouds. There were the sort of clouds that slowly build up and then evaporate in the evening. They often mean a nice sunset.
But I was really hoping for a good sunrise. That is when Hanging Rock is at its best.
Quite a few people were about. The people I had seen walking out left but others came. Two – on mountain bikes were friends Rob and Rik. We chatted on the lookout.
As the afternoon drifted into the Golden Hour- things did indeed improve. The mighty cliffs of the Grose Valley became a lot more dramatic. Hanging Rock also looked a lot better. Time to get out the camera.
Later, more parties arrived, some well after the sunset. They took a few photos and then left to walk back.
As the sun set, the clouds did vanish. It was a calm evening. It was quite cool and despite a nice fire, I went to bed fairly early. During the night, I woke up around 1 am and ventured outside for some astrophotography. The sky was dark, the moon was yet to rise, but the milky way was in the wrong place for good photos. I did see a couple of bright meteors flash past overhead, so I though I would try and capture and image on one. It took quite a few tries – and I did manage to get a rather faint track.
Sunrise was nice in many ways, but a little disappointing. Good lighting, but no atmosphere. Valley mist or some haze would have been nice but this morning there was none. It was cool (1.6°C) and calm.
I took quite a few photos of Hanging Rock and the Grose Valley and then headed back to camp for breakfast. After breakfast, I packed up and walked back to Blackheath. There, I met another friend, Roger and we had a coffee and second breakfast at a cafe.
This was a pleasant walk in the Blue Mountains. The road walking out to the Head was made a lot more interesting by all the wild flowers that were out.
More photos from the trip are online on my website here.