Currently Reading: Patrícia Melo – The Lost World | Peter Matthiessen – The Snow Leopard | Philip Roth – The Human Stain | Herta Müller – The Fox Was Ever the Hunter
I was lying in bed yesterday having a very lazy Sunday when the lads texted to see if I was keen to do the hike out to Lockleys Pylon. I hadn’t been that way since my descent to Acacia Flat and the Blue Gum Forest via Du Faur’s Head (also with Kevin and Lee) in 2016. I was thankful to be roused from my somnolent state. And what looked set to be quite an overcast walk turned out to be a stunning blue sky day.
View down the beautiful Grose Vallley from the rock platform at the base of Lockleys Pylon
Looking back along the track toward the Pinnacles and Mt Hay Road from the base of Lockleys
Lunch time perch
This cairn-spire was moving about a little in the breeze – I imagine it took a tumble in last night’s storm. (We added the three at top left.)
Kevin pointing towards the lovely rock shelf that runs along the next line of ridge, situated out of shot to the left of the pinnacles
The Pinnacles
Colour-tampered sky atop those undulating valley folds
Jay and I also hiked the Grand Canyon on Saturday, taking in a couple additional side trails, which brought us to the naturally carved wonderlands pictured below. We had intended to hike the Porters Pass / Centennial Glen / Walls Ledge circuit but the day started out so misty and overcast I thought there would be no chance of any views. Turned out it was a perfect day for the Grand Canyon as we ended up having the trail almost to ourselves, a rare treat in that neck of the woods.
Main Grand Canyon trail
One of the offshoots
Looking skyward
Lovely lines
Last weekend I descended to the valley floor in Katoomba by way of the Furber Stairs (one of the prettiest passes into the Jamison) in order to see the sculptures that are currently on display along the length of the Scenic World boardwalk (until May 13). Sculpture at Scenic World, now in its 7th year, is the Blue Mountains’ answer to Bondi’s annual Sculpture by the Sea.
This groovy looking thing is made entirely of used fluorescent tubes
“All owls have large forward facing eyes giving good stereoscopic vision, vital for judging distances. Indeed, owls have the most forward facing eyes and hence the best stereoscopic vision of all birds. In smaller species the head often appears flattened so that the eyes can be as widely spaced as possible to increase the stereoscopic effect. This is often further enhanced by bobbing or weaving the head to give a differing perspective known as the parallax effect.” (World Owl Trust)
Glass balloons
Magic Lantern (one of many) – the woven outer layer is composed entirely of cinema film
“Throw out your gold teeth
And see how they roll”
Dream home…
Some weird cross between Teletubbies and War of the Worlds
Booknboot 