Jerusalem Bay from near the bottom of the fire trail
With a cool 8-degree morning at Cowan, 5 walkers set off down the Jerusalem Bay track. Descending this eroded track took an hour to get to the bottom where we were offered extensive views of this calm bay at high tide.
Group ready to get going 
Views of the Bay 
A blue mood...
Reflections
A long day was ahead of us as we crossed the side creek and started our slow ascent up “that” hill. Big steps, rough in places and a 200m climb took us to the top where we enjoyed a quick stop on the seat. Heading off, we quickly came to our junction. One of Hazel’s navigational tasks was to confirm our location and the correct turn-off. No problem, this was it! The once dense bush on this first section was now quite open as we followed the ridges until we came to our morning tea spot at the first lookout with wide views over Jerusalem Bay.
I think it is this way! 
Bit of a climb to the top 
We made it this far
Glorious view from the top
Continuing along ridges with several saddles and short hills as well as the two old Trig Stations, we eventually came to the tessellated rocks. Here Jenny turned around due to her sore heel now telling her it was time. Instructed to send Peter regular status updates, the remaining 4 set off. Following ridges to the east then turning north, we soon made our final short climb up to Taffys Rock. This is an area of open sandstone slabs with simply magnificent views from the Hawkesbury River, Lion Island and Broken Bay in the north and West Head to the east, all the way around to the Bahai Temple in the south and then west to Berowra and Cowan.
Tessallated Rocks 
Lion Island from Taffys Rock
After a little searching, we found the memorial plaque to Taffy beyond our lunch spot and halfway down the steep slope of flat sandstone facing Lion Island. Dorothy (Taffy) Townson, a member of the Rucksack Club, died in Tasmania in 1948, after being bitten by a snake. After lunch in the sun with these magnificent views, we picked up the pace for our return walk along the same track.
The memorial plaque to Dorothy Townson had to be viewed from below 
Starting ascent to Brooklyn
With constant updates from Jenny, we realised that we could make it back in time for the Cowan “Shoppe” well before 5pm for coffee and wonderful cakes as described by Jenny. The climb back up from Jerusalem Bay was steady and we returned to the cars at Cowan at 3:50pm. A short 300m drive to the Shoppe, found us chatting to the very friendly owner and a colleague of Jenny who lives about 3 doors up. The coffee was excellent and the cakes even better. Highly recommended for future walks, they are open 7 days a week from 7am till 5pm. An excellent walk for those able to negotiate the extensive rock, the climbs and the distance over an 8 hour day. Many thanks to our walkers for making it enjoyable.
More lovely reflections 
Low tide in Jerusalem Bay
Walkers: Hazel, Rick, Louis, Jenny C & Peter T.
Leaders: Peter & Hazel.
Words: Peter
Photos: Hazel, Rick, Louis, Peter T
