Redledge Pass Narrowneck June 24th 2012

On the spur of the moment I was able to get away from work and meet Mike and Stef at the Woodford to Glenbrook Run. Just like last year, I had a very pleasant 25k run with Mike but coming in a bit slower than last year. That suited me as I was still nursing my right ankle.


On Top of Narrowneck above Redledge Pass.


Then I went to Katoomba for another bucket list hike. Down Redledge Pass then up Devil's Grotto. I would have only just enough time. Arrived at the locked gate at 3.30pm and started to run down Narrowneck. I had a set of track notes on my BB. After a bit of searching I found the quite well worn track marked with a small cairn of rocks. The sun was setting in a cloudless sky with a moderate westerly wind. Perfect conditions.

Looking towards Nellies Glen from redledge Pass

After a scrub bash through the plateau I crossed the creek and arrived at Redledge Pass. Magnificent views. The scramble down from the cliff line was easy but adventurous with loose scree and leaf litter. I mostly slid down. I stopped at a mine adit which was crawling with leeches. I had to spend several minutes plucking the blighters off me.

Looking along the Redledge Pass in the Cliffs

Lower down I came to what I think was a cutting for the trolley way. By now the sun had set and I found that both my torches had packed it in. So I decided to head towards Nellies Glen track rather than up Devil's Grotto which could be a bit tricky without a torch.
The weak moon provided just enough light to see, and it was in the North West so I just headed straight at it. I guessed that I had about 2 to 3k of bush bashing to get to the road. Despite the darkness, the going was pretty easy as the ridges ran in the same direction as my heading. So I just stayed on top of  a ridge. Eventually I hit a dirt road. But it was so dark that I couldn't be sure that it was the right one till I found one of the little "red hiker" markers. Yep the Six Foot Track.

The Mine Adit crawling with leeches

Now I sat down on the road to fix the torches as there was no moonlight under the tree canopy along the track. After ten minutes I got one going feebly and set out at a good speed up Nellies Glen. It took 40 minutes to go from the old settlement to Explorer's Tree. It was bloody cold on top of the plateau at Katoomba so I was sorely tempted to duck into the Arjuna Indian restaurant for a curry! But I ran on down Cliff Drive and then Glen Raphael Road to the locked gate. I arrived at the car at 7.30 frozen and famished and happy. Even better I had left plenty of food in the car including a Cadbury Hazelnut Chocolate. Yippee.