Attempt at the Blue Gums

I'm used to an 'attempt' being that I couldn't climb high enough due to weather or some other unforeseeable obstacle. This was my first abort due to not being able to descend low enough.

This last weekend I tried to walk out to a grove or very large eucalypts known as the Blue Gum Forest. It's an incredible scenic area that's only a 2 hour train ride from Sydney. I checked the weather before I left but the weatherman failed me miserably - when I arrived in Blackheath I was greeted with torrential rain.

Not being one to walk away from the wet I made my way down the canyon and was greeted by a very spectacular waterfall: Bridal Veil Falls. It was amazing to see the water gushing over the cliff top but seeing it as the base was truly epic. The water was smashing down with so much force as the bottom that is was creating extremely heavy winds and blowing water sideways. Trees that were 50 meters from the base were being blown sideways!

But this is where my problems began. I had to cross the river near the base and managed to do so but not without getting fairly wet. I continued on until I came to the first of 4 river crossing my map showed and decided I could go no further without taking serious (and stupid) risk. So I found a nicely hidden campsite to wait until the morning. The weather never did improve and while the water level did subside a bit I decided it was still too dangerous to consider crossing and made my way back to Blackheath to head home.

But the best thing about failures is that they almost always teach you a lot more than when you succeed. First, I learned that a homemade tuna-can stove works really well and it doesn't matter if it gets wet. Second, I learned that one should be very cautious around rivers in Australia. What if I was on the other side of that river before the rain started coming down? I'd be stuck for sure. Since the trees here are almost entirely Eucalypts, there's not the option of a tree bridge. So always remember to bring extra food and your ten essentials!