This walk will involve a descent off Narrow Neck near Katoomba down the Golden Staircase and upon meeting the main walking track at the bottom, you will have the opportunity to perhaps pickup the very old "Stairway to Heaven" cache.
We will then start our walk around the base of the cliffs on a mildly undulating, but well defined walking track towards the Giant Landslide. On the way, those who are feeling adventurous, have the right gear and don't mind getting a sore back, wet and muddy legs and feet can venture into the bowels of the earth to chase a classic Blue Mountains cache called "Daylight". A video of this cache can be found on youtube here. (Helmets are required).
If people are going to do Daylight, (Not led by the Association) then the group will be split into two so that those who have already done it, or do not wish to do it, are not waiting around for your return.
The walk will continue around to the Giant landslide, an interesting area of cliffline that came away in 1930. People had knew the cliff was going to break away at some point and had been flocking to watch the event for weeks, but, the mother nature had other ideas and decided to do her work in the very early hours of the morning when all were asleep.
Once past this section of the cliffs, it is not far to where you can do the rainforest walk on the heavily forested slopes of the valley floor. This is all done on raised wooden walkways, and is quite interesting.
From here, there are a number of options for completing your walk, those so inclined can take the aerial scenicender up from the valley floor to the tops of the cliffs. (Costs involved)
You can continue the walk a bit further and there is an Earth cache "Katoomba Torbanite" you can do as you get closer to the Scenic Railway station. For those now not wanting to do the walk out, you can take the thrilling Scenic Railway up and out of the valley. (Costs involved)
Lastly, you can make your ascent out of the valley via Furber Steps picking up another cache - "Point To Sisters" or two on the way. This is a very steep ascent in places, quite safe, but small children may find the going hard. But, the views on the way up are worth it.
According to walking track websites, if you leave your vehicle at the Scenic World carpark, walk to the Golden Staircase and come up via either the Railway or Scenicender, you are looking at around 6km's. Come up via Furber steps, add on another 1.2kms approx.
We will meet at the Scenic World Carpark, next to the old yellow Skyway Cable Car which is in the grassed area to the left as you drive in to be ready to leave at 9am on the dot. So from 8:30am would be great. At this point, your hosts will be Neil and Greg from Geo NSW.
Some things to keep in mind. The entire walk is fine for children of most ages, the Golden Staircase can be steep in places of course.
Leeches: Leeches are in plague proportions at the moment in the Blue Mountains, especially at the base of the Golden Staircase. There are a number of options to minimise the possibility of leech bite. Bushmans 80% DEET, Aeroguard Tropical strength (Also with 80% DEET) sprayed onto shoes, and jeans and legs can "usually" reduce the chance of them attaching. Ladies, believe it or not, stockings stop leeches in their tracks. Please come prepared for the possibility of Leech bite. A small tube of antiseptic is a good idea and the usual bandaids in your first aid kits.
Daylight: If you are going to do Daylight, you do so at your own risk, bring torches, bike helmets and old shoes if you want to keep your walking ones in good condition. The water is cold and knee deep in places, plus it stains everything, including skin orange for days. You cannot stand up fully for at least 150-200mtrs in the mine tunnel. Your back will be sore.
What To Bring: Please bring the usual gear, sunscreen, hats, water and snacks and of course cameras and a good pair of walking shoes. Our route from our starting place will actually be bypassing the array of caches on Cliff Drive, but you will have plenty of time to nab those on your return.
Attending: Please post your intention to attend with how many adults and how many children, then put a watch on the event so that you don't miss any announcements we make about this event. This walk is very much weather dependant, if it is raining, the official event will be called off, we will make an announcements leading up to the event.
For those who do not wish to do the actual walk and would like to just attend the actual event, we will be re-meeting near the starting co-ordinates, there is a reasonable grassed area near the meeting point which will be suitable for this. If you are NOT doing the walk, I would suggest you arrive from around 1pm onwards, with luck, the associations banner will be on display somewhere here.
The walkers, depending on what they have ended up doing and how they left the valley should start to arrive back at the start from 12-12:30ish and the event will finish around 3pm, again, weather dependent.