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Today is the 3 month anniversary of my knee sprain. To celebrate, I walked through the Grand Canyon of the Blue Mountains. This Grand Canyon is 250 million years old. It is Jurassic. It was here long before the Arizona Grand Canyon was a mere divot in the rock.
We parked at Neates Glen, walked along the road to Evans Lookout, then began our three hour walk. We descended into the valley through a lush canopy of Eucalypts. The further we progressed, the more verdant and primordial it became. We followed a stream winding through the valley, crossing the water several times, passing through misty waterfalls. At one point, I heard a rustle in the ferns ahead. I strapped on my camera and fell into full stealth mode. I reconnected with my ancestral hunter-gatherer and began the chase. At first, I wasn't sure what I was following, but I eventually caught sight of my quarry... a Superb Lyretail bird. I followed it through the underbrush until I was able to draw a clear line of sight, then, I shot it repeatedly with my Minolta! Actually, when G caught up to me, he was the one with the snazzy camera able to manage the difficult lighting through the underbrush. Still, I am the Great Vegetarian Huntress! Grovel before me! Tee hee!
It was a lovely, shady walk. The last part, the ascent of the loop to the Neates Glen parking lot, was pretty much all in the noon-time sun. It wouldn't have been too bad if I hadn't run out of water and been dehydrated. (Actually, before anyone starts to lecture me, I know how much water I need, but G didn't bring any for himself, so I had to share mine and I couldn't ration my water intake.) This made the last half hour less fun. A dehydrated MiLady is a headachey MiLady. A headachey MiLady is a cranky MiLady.
Nevertheless, it was great fun. We stopped in over-priced, way-too-touristy Leura for lunch and then drove back to Koaladu.
The Knee Report: The last 15 minutes or so of the ascent, my left knee was a bit sore along that ligament I sprained. I'm not sure if it was partly due to the dehydration or if it was the impact of the hike itself. Maybe a bit of both. The rest of the evening and into the next day, I could feel every movement of the ligament when I climbed stairs. I suspect it was largely because this is the first major hike I've taken since the accident. Since it is now fine a couple days later, I'm very pleased with both my knees performance. I'm not sure of the elevation difference between the valley and the parking lots, but it was a 5km (2.27mile) hike of medium to steep grade.
We parked at Neates Glen, walked along the road to Evans Lookout, then began our three hour walk. We descended into the valley through a lush canopy of Eucalypts. The further we progressed, the more verdant and primordial it became. We followed a stream winding through the valley, crossing the water several times, passing through misty waterfalls. At one point, I heard a rustle in the ferns ahead. I strapped on my camera and fell into full stealth mode. I reconnected with my ancestral hunter-gatherer and began the chase. At first, I wasn't sure what I was following, but I eventually caught sight of my quarry... a Superb Lyretail bird. I followed it through the underbrush until I was able to draw a clear line of sight, then, I shot it repeatedly with my Minolta! Actually, when G caught up to me, he was the one with the snazzy camera able to manage the difficult lighting through the underbrush. Still, I am the Great Vegetarian Huntress! Grovel before me! Tee hee!
It was a lovely, shady walk. The last part, the ascent of the loop to the Neates Glen parking lot, was pretty much all in the noon-time sun. It wouldn't have been too bad if I hadn't run out of water and been dehydrated. (Actually, before anyone starts to lecture me, I know how much water I need, but G didn't bring any for himself, so I had to share mine and I couldn't ration my water intake.) This made the last half hour less fun. A dehydrated MiLady is a headachey MiLady. A headachey MiLady is a cranky MiLady.
Nevertheless, it was great fun. We stopped in over-priced, way-too-touristy Leura for lunch and then drove back to Koaladu.
The Knee Report: The last 15 minutes or so of the ascent, my left knee was a bit sore along that ligament I sprained. I'm not sure if it was partly due to the dehydration or if it was the impact of the hike itself. Maybe a bit of both. The rest of the evening and into the next day, I could feel every movement of the ligament when I climbed stairs. I suspect it was largely because this is the first major hike I've taken since the accident. Since it is now fine a couple days later, I'm very pleased with both my knees performance. I'm not sure of the elevation difference between the valley and the parking lots, but it was a 5km (2.27mile) hike of medium to steep grade.