This week I got work done to the car in preparation for my wee trip south in a couple of weeks. Front brakes serviced, including a disc skim and brake fluid flush. I also replaced the rear springs and shockies. It’s a notable difference when driving. I’ve got one more thing to do and that’s a coolant flush and I’ll also replace the thermostat.

I’m hoping to do a few walks in the Blue Mountains when I get there and so today I tried a walk that I’ve never done before. I went to Flinders Peak which is around 30 km west. According to AllTrails the trail is deemed hard and should take around three and a half hours to complete.

To get there you need to travel on a dirt road for about five K’s or so and then you come to a small rest area. The path is easily accessible and is very gradual in incline. The peak is 649 meters and the climb is just under 600 meters. However it’s not long before the path begins to become rougher and steeper. As it zig zags up the mountain the trail becomes more intense. The rain began making it slippy underfoot just to add to the fun.

We leave the trail through the Bush and climb over a spine of large sandstone rocks which are difficult to traverse. The higher you go the rocks are covered with lichen making it even worse. There is a respite from them as a new path opens up through the black boy trees.

All of a sudden as the mist descends you come across a large vertical rock face which is very challenging indeed. I climbed up the first face and did not feel at all comfortable. Its raining and as I look up at the razor back of stone blocks I made the decision to turn around, a thing I would not normally do.

As I descended I couldn’t find the way I came and found myself in a very precarious place, my shoes just could not find any grip.

After a few heart stopping moments I climbed back up and found a safer path down. It took just about an hour to get back to the car and I was very happy about that. I got within 50m of the summit and will give it another go when it’s dry. I just did not expect it to be so wet or difficult for that matter.