96 k – One solo weekend on the Six Foot Track

50 Shades of Green – or so it looked as the sunlight fell through leaves and ferns. But I wasn’t exactly bounding along with 7.2 kilos on my back and every step hurting after an intense speed session two days earlier.

I had gotten up early to jog the three kilometres from Katoomba to the start of the 45 kilometre Six Foot Track before it got hot, planning to do the track twice over two days.

While I had booked accommodation at Jenolan Caves and only carried a change of running gear, toothbrush and light merino clothes to sleep in, I also had a stash of emergency gear with me including a police supplied emergency beacon, compression bandages, whistle, map, emergency blanket and two torches.

Including four litres of water, trail food and 6 slices of home-made banana bread, my running pack was filled to the brim.

From Explorers Tree at the start of the Six Foot, the trail led down hundreds of steps, over rocks and tree roots through Nellies Glen rainforest and ended in a fire trail in Megalong Valley.

Temperatures were forecast to reach 29C but it wasn’t hot yet. Sometimes I was surrounded by clouds of tiny blue butterflies, then admired crickets and caterpillars or saw wallabies and kangaroos bound out of the way ahead of me.

I took it slowly. This was not racing, this was time on my feet. I walked when I felt like it, ran when I wanted to, sat down to have lunch on a hill and just loved spending a beautiful day in the mountains.

Wet Feet

After several kilometres on a single track through the woods following Coxs River, it was time to cross.

I had always thought that wet feet lead to blisters and normally avoided creeks, but in hot weather like this, the cold feeling on my legs was blissful.

Wading through, the water came up to mid thigh-level and a large fish shot off in front of me. I wouldn’t have minded staying longer.

Following a well-maintained fire trail, I made my way up two steep climbs and then followed the track through the woods, again surrounding by the most stunning colours as the light played between the leafs.

The hours flowed by and a few kilometres from Jenolan, the narrow trail looked so peaceful in the evening light that I no longer felt like running, even though it was all downhill.

The heat had dissipated and there was a slight breeze in the warm air, the soft light of the late afternoon sun gleamed through the trees and lit the track with dancing patches of light.

Bellbirds filled the forest with their calls and a couple of wallabies watched me pass but didn’t move. In ten hours, I’d only twice passed hikers, once a group of trail bike riders and trice some cars.

The slow speed had paid off. Instead of feeling sorer, the pain in my hamstrings was gone.

Making my way into the valley towards the Jenolan Caves village, I saw Caves House and the backpacker lodge through the surrounding trees – my home for the night.

The Jenolan Caves are limestone caves estimated to be the world’s most ancient open cave system dating back to around 340 million years ago.

I love visiting them, but right now, I could only think of the breakfast menu I’d studied online – I was already looking forward to the morning.

The Bat

As I checked into the hostel, I was told I had the room to myself – but not so. A bat already occupied the upper bunk.

I’d seen it flying in the hallway and had unsuccessfully tried to direct it outside. Then, suddenly, it was gone.

Inside my room, the bat greeted me in bed. The tiny animal had crawled through the gap under my door and now it sat on one of the pillows, partly covered in cobwebs.

I felt honoured to have such a room mate, but didn’t liked the idea of it potentially wanting to cuddle at night, so I wrapped it in a bed sheet to carry outside.

The bat complained with loud squeaks and, worried I was hurting it, I opened the sheet to look inside. Out came the bat in a flash and once again fluttered in the hallway. I finally caught it once more and released it under a bush.

After a good-night’s sleep, I thought I’d better make the most of the breakfast buffet to strengthen myself for the long way back.

Only when I tried to stand up after a large pile of scrambled eggs, baked beans, toast, croissant and a heaped bowl of musli, I realized I had completely overdone it.

Being upright was so uncomfortable that I went straight back to bed. When I finally got going at close to 10am, I was still so full that every time I tried to run, my stomach just wouldn’t have it. So I walked very slowly for the next three hours.

Could I have known better than stuffing my face until I couldn’t move? Of course, I’ve done several ultras, marathons and many long training runs. But I hadn’t wanted to know better, I’d wanted to have a giant breakfast.

Gluttony comes before the walk. I was well prepared for a late arrival with two flashlights and spare batteries.

Lyrebird Chase

As I came up the narrow serpentine walkway from Caves house, a lyrebird saw me approaching and fled around the bent. There weren’t many places to go on either side, so every time I came around another bent, the lyrebird was still ahead.

We played catch for a while until the path opened up and the lyrebird could have taken the wider walking track ahead. But instead, it chose to take the stairs following the Six Foot Track, looking back at me from the top.

When it AGAIN saw me taking the same direction, it flapped its wings in protest. On spotting me one final time as I reached the top of the stairs, it had enough and made a scene, fluttering towards a lyrebird mate down the hill.

I could only imagine its complaint: This woman has been following me all the way from Caves House! She’s not leaving me alone!

A few kilometres down the track, I came across an echidna that was busily looking through leaves and twigs.

Curling up at first, it soon stopped worrying about me and starting roving through the undergrowth again, coming up to just a few centimetres from my trainers. They mustn’t have smelled so good, as it then turned around and walked off into the forest.

The Thunderstorm

As the day went on, I heard rumbling behind me. While the sky got darker, I could still see a stretch of blue ahead and picked up my speed.

A storm had been forecast, but perhaps I could get away! I imaged the weather chasing me, as it seemed to rumble behind me every time I was particularly slow.

The first front moved past quickly, but the storm couldn’t quite decide what to do that day. An hour later, it was back, this time with a bang.

The sky turned black and it looked like late evening instead of mid afternoon. It started to bucket down, lighting flashed above me and I anxiously counted the time to the sound of thunder to see how close it was.

What would it be like to be hit my lightening? I probably wouldn’t notice, it would happen so quickly. I was happy whenever I made it over a bare hill unscathed.

Already on edge, I jumped when a bellbird rang out right next to me and then laughed about how easily I had worked myself into a fearful state.

I just hoped it would be over by the time I had to cross Coxs river. I didn’t want to stand in thigh-high water when lightening was close by.

Finally, patches of blue sky returned as the dark clouds rushed off. I crossed the river and munched the rest of my banana bread as I trotted through the forest.

Soon, I could see the cliff faces of some mountains ahead – a view that always stuns me. Somewhere on top of those mountains was Katoomba.

The Long Way Home

As I was hopping from stone to stone over a shallow creek, a strange feeling suddenly overcame me. I remembered coming this way yesterday. But yesterday seemed incredibly long ago.

Two days away from mobile and computer screens while being immersed in the Blue Mountains had stretched my perception of time to such a degree that I could hardly believe that as little as one weekend had passed.

By the time I was making my way up the steep section of Nellies Glen it was completely dark. A light drizzle had returned, but the headlamp gave plenty of light and the air was still warm.

I had told police that I would return late, but once I reached the top of the climb, an officer called my phone to check that I was alright in the dark.

This service Katoomba police offers to hikers has always impressed me. When borrowing a free emergency beacon for a hike, which is strongly recommended as most trails in this area have no reception, police keep information about the intended route and expected time of return. If they are worried about someone’s safety, they call.

I assured them I was fine and I ran the last three kilometres into town to drop off the beacon before treating myself to a warm dinner at a nearby restaurant that tolerates guests in runners’ clothes.

I had been out on the trail for 22 hours over two days.

When I closed my eyes to sleep that night, my whole body was buzzing with a sense of aliveness, and I felt complete contentment and peace of mind.

People who, like me, work on computer screens all day sometimes ask me “why do you do that to yourself” when I talk about trail running. I do it because I like feeling this alive, I say.

About Nicky Redl

Nicky worked as a radio reporter, presenter and producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for five years - in Sydney, the Outback in Broken Hill and the Tropics in northern Queensland. In Germany, she worked for a couple of years as a financial reporter for Dow Jones, contributing to the Wall Street Journal. She is now a freelancer living in Mexico. Nicky has degrees in communications and international relations and is also a qualified sports injury therapist.
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2 thoughts on “96 k – One solo weekend on the Six Foot Track

  1. Hey Nicky
    Just read your blog, amazing stuff, you did great…..I am doing 6ft soon too, just Katoomba to the Caves tho on the 14th March. Four others from Mackay are too, should be great, are you still around, be very nice to see you again.
    Janelle Tilse
    Mackay
    0400 99 7432

    1. Hi Janelle,
      Thanks for reading, I’ll be here and it will be great to see you and others from Mackay again. Martin already got in touch. Happy training and talk soon
      Nicky

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