The sun was shining and the sky was blue as we set off from Hughes Avenue Lawson to walk the 9 Km Empire Pass circuit. The Empire Pass Track was
constructed in the early 1900s, and improved and opened on Empire Day, 1913, hence the name.
We had a party of twelve walkers: Robyn M (leading), Kurt, Don W, Christine C, Dawn, Mary, Elaine E, Maurice, Susan, Chris B and Ray, with Rex at the rear as tail-end Charlie.
The track descended to Frederika Falls, where we had morning tea.
We then passed through a beautiful gully of temperate rainforest (Lucy’s Glen). The ferns were magnificent. It was a medium walk, with a few difficult spots (such as large tree trunks we had to clamber over) and several creek crossings.
As usual in the mountains there were lots of steps down and up.
Underneath Echo Bluff we met the creek coming from Dante’s Glen..........The track followed the creek along the valley until we reached Dante’s Glen.
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We then made our way back up to the ridge above. The students from Blue Mountains TAFE have been working at repairing the steps along this path (to a very high standard). The signage was excellent – greatly improved since the last time I walked along this track two years ago.
We then crossed over the top of Fairy Falls and then saw the full drop of the falls from the lookout further down the track.
We proceeded along the ridge, through bush full of beautiful wattle until we reached Echo Bluff, where we had lunch. After lunch we went to the end of the Bluff and tried out the echoes. Christine had the best results with her yodel.
From Echo Bluff we made our way back to the cars parked in Hughes Avenue. We crossed the Highway to Lawson shopping centre and had coffee at Ben Roberts Cafe - behind Lawson pub. This was a lovely end to an excellent day.
Words by Robyn, photos by Ray (1&2), Don W and ?