A group of 15 walkers came for a wonderful walk through some beautiful bush following creeks and passing four lovely waterfalls at Lawson in the Blue Mountains. Some came by train and others drove meeting at the end of Hughes St. for the beginning of the track. There was a few drops of rain but mostly fine, however there was a strong wind blowing making it feel cold. We took this loop track in an anticlockwise direction.
Gathering at the end of Hughes St. warmly dressed A very old sign points the way
We began on a fire trail rising to a junction of tracks then we followed a fire trail down to Fredrica Falls. There had been over 30mm of rain during the week which meant a good flow in the falls and along the creeks. We stopped here to appreciate the falls and to have morning tea.
A small fall before Fredrica Falls
Fredrica Falls
The track then followed the creek downstream through a gorge, descending many steps to Lucys Glen (although noone is quite sure of what point "Lucy Glen" refers to). There is a waterfall on a side creek that joins the main creek here but that is hard to reach with no marked track so we passed by. There had been a lot of work done on this section of the track with many large stepping stones placed over wetter sections.
Descending through Empire Pass Surrounded by by mossy greens and ferns
We continued following Empire Pass downstream till another creek came in on the left and we followed this creek upstream with some creek crossings on the way.
The tail end Creek crossing
Surrounded by beauty and the sound of running water
We took a side track up to St Michaels Falls before returning to the main track again.
St Michaels Falls
It was only a short distance from here to Dantes Glen with another waterfall. Many more photos were taken here before we climbed steeply up steps to yet another waterfall, Fairy Falls.
Dantes Glen - far too many photos being taken!
Dantes Glen Falls Fairy Falls
Group photo at Fairy Falls Epacris Hibbertia
From Fairy Falls we headed north and up to Echo Bluff where we had lunch. Peter found that we were not right at the bluff and that if we descended 50 meters or so we had a good view down into the gorge through which we had come.
Echo Bluff looking into Empire Pass Ready to leave after lunch
After lunch we went south back to Lawson retracing part of our journey to Hughes St. and then on to coffee in Lawson township.
Coffee at Lawson
It was a cold wait for the train on Lawson station with a strong wind and the BOM website saying 4.7deg. We were glad when the train arrived.
If you want to look up some history see "John's Blue Mountains Blog"
John's Blue Mountains Blog: Search results for Empire Pass
Walkers: Barbara R, Cleona, Dae, Deidre, Don B, Hazel, Kas, Leah, Louis, Nick S, Peter T, Polly, Rick, Tony and Alan.
Leaders: Polly and Nick S.
Photos: Barbara R (1, 5, 7, 9, 10, 20, 21), Hazel (2, 23), Peter T (3, 4, 8, 11, 13, 16, 19, 22, 24), Nick S (6, 15, 17, 18), Rick (12), Louis (14).