I headed off a little after 4am from the Grand Canyon Carpark at Evan’s lookout. I had four cans of coke, four bags of Cheezels, two bags of lollies, 10 portions of tailwind, 4 caffeine gels, 2 packets of clif blocks, 2 peanut butter and salt white bread sandwiches, 2 chia seed baby food packets, 2L of water and a salomon water filter soft flask to refill with. It was cloudy and about 15°C. I headed down the horse track, not exactly a doddle in the dark, but was at its bottom within forty five minutes of setting off. The track to Junction Rock was easy enough in the dark and clearly marked.
I headed along the next section to Acacia Flat and arrived at the base of Lockleys pylon as the sun was coming up. I had decided to do Lockleys as the first pass of the day “up”, because I find it to be the hardest and wanted to get it done early. I reached the top of Shorteudge Pass and Dafaur Head an hour or so after sunrise and was treated to probably the best wildflower display of the year in that area. The flannel flowers were in full flight, the Kunzeas, Isopogons and Dampieras brought the ridge to life with their brilliant colours and the Boronia scented the whole landscape like spring. Reaching the cairn at the top of Lockley Pylon at 7:45, I was very pleased to have one “down” and one “up” pass completed so early in the day.
It made sense to shoot straight over to Perry’s Lookdown and get that out of the way before heading all the way to the end of the Grose for the Vic Falls pass. The day was very clear and the last of the Waratahs were blooming on Perry’s. I also got a chance to see the critically endangered Isopogon fletcherii flowering as a reward as I neared the top. A quick turnaround at the carpark and I was back down by 10:45, within two hours of heading up. I was now ready to traverse half the upper Grose to the base of the Victoria Falls climb. With a couple of stops to filter water from the river, I felt lucky to be seeing the Grose River in the morning light, a treat after only being able to hear it as I followed it earlier in the dark. I sighted an eel about one metre long cruising beneath one of the iconic rocks that litter the river, presumably products of eons of landslides and rockfalls that have settled so scenically in the watercourse. I stopped to have a peanut butter sandwich and a little swim to wash some of the sweat off and feel refreshed before I headed on again.
After a few hours of enjoying the riparian flora (native raspberries!) and quite a few scratches inflicted by the lomandras and spiky pea plants that flank the trail, I arrived at Burra Korain at 1:45pm. I had some snacks and filtered more water before slowly ascending to the carpark at the top of Vic Falls. The Coachwood and Sassafras Forest here gives this pass a distinctly different feel, both underfoot with more leaf litter and in the shade it provides the pools making the whole area cooler, with softer lighting. I saw a green python on the path which distracted some backpackers so I could pass them easily. I then ascended quite comfortably (I find Vic Falls to be the easiest of the five climbs), past Victoria Falls themselves and to the carpark at the top. The Scaevola on the pass was peaking and contrasted beautifully purple against the orange of the sandstone of the escarpment. This was the last time I had phone reception for the rest of the run.
I was back down the bottom at Burra Korain at 4:20 and hoping to get up and down Pierce’s Pass before last light. It felt like it took an age to arrive at the base of the pass with the undulating trail along the river having more elevation gain than I remembered on the way out. Some more filtered water at the base of Pierce’s and then I was up the stairs with a peanut butter sandwich and Coke in hand. I was starting to fatigue but took some good advice from a friend and played my favourite song to run down the pass to. This got me down and I was back to the river with only one more climb ahead of me at 7:10.
The trip back to Acacia Flat this time felt eternal, with what was only 5.5ks taking an age. All sorts of owls were hooting and I was constantly surrounded by the thud of wallabies startling as I ran through the Blue Gum forest. It was very eerie and starting to get a little lonely. Beyond Acacia Flat I began to take slightly wrong turns and had to backtrack five or six times to find the path after getting tangled in a mess of Smilax vines more than once. Just when I was starting to wish I was done, my headlight lit up a quoll on the path who was kind enough to stand still and watch me until I’d taken a photo of her.
The trip back to Junction Rock felt like it was never-ending as I passed 17 hours on the trail and began to have small auditory hallucinations. It felt as though I were in an eternal loop and wasn’t making any ground. With one final quick stop to filter water at Junction Rock, I ascended the Horse Track. This may have felt like a long way down in the morning, but climbing out after the other four passes of the Grose was arduous to say the least. It started pouring with rain and it felt like the stairs went on forever and would never end. After putting my head down and just taking it one step at a time, I emerged at the top of the Grand Canyon at 11:00pm. Never more relieved to see my car, I checked that I still had my key (imagine if I’d lost it!) and headed straight home to bed. What an exquisite day in the Grose!