by Jackie W.

Mt Solitary – What a day!!!

Surreal, beautiful, challenging, scary, long, awesome teamwork and camaraderie, tiring but rewarding are the first words that come to mind when trying to describe this day.

On Saturday evening, 28th October, 14 diamonds (2 coaches and 12 ladies) gathered at the Katoomba YHA in readiness for our adventure planned for the next day. After a very detailed and thorough briefing we headed to Aunty Ed’s Restaurant and Bar for an enjoyable dinner, then home to recharge for the day ahead.

Very early Sunday morning we awoke to a beautiful crisp Blue Mountains morning and clear skies, we were in for a cracker of a day weather wise. When we arrived at the Narrowneck Plateau Trail shortly after 5.00am we were in for a treat, that’s where the first word surreal comes to mind.

As we walked down the fire trail to the Golden Stairs we had the beautiful double of the full moon setting on one side of the plateau and the sun rising on the other. Simply stunning and surreal, I had not seen this before and I won’t forget it.

Sunrise on the aptly named Golden Stairs!

After lots of quick photo stops to try to capture the beauty around us we arrived at the Golden Stairs, gathered for a quick group photo and headed down the stairs into the unknown for some of us Mt Solitary newbies.

I knew there would be lots of stairs and that we would have to climb up them on the way out but I didn’t pay attention to how many there was as I was blown away by more beautiful views of the stunning sunrise, the expanse of the valley below us and glimpses of what lay ahead. Some of us were also lucky to see some lyrebirds on the track.

After about 2 hours of hiking through the beautiful valley full of tall trees and tree ferns we arrived at a campsite near the Ruined Castle. We were greeted at the campsite by a gentleman who was aware of the Diamond’s and had worked with coach Clare, it’s definitely a small world. He and his companions were surprised we were doing Mt Solitary in a day hike.

Refreshed after a lovely morning tea, thank you Jacq and Kalina, we headed to the spur of Mt Solitary for the scramble to the top.

Wow, what a challenge!! It was a daunting task for some (me) and appeared easy for others. This part of the hike cemented in my mind why I love being a part of the amazing Diamond community.

The scramble was steep in sections but the coaches assessed the best approach and guided us through the big, narrow slots and in some parts, narrow edges to ensure we safely arrived at the top. The great teamwork, support, patience, flexibility and compassion which I have come to know and love as being part of the Diamond community was on display in abundance.

After a massive effort getting up the scramble we had a more ‘leisurely’ hike to Melville’s lookout for a very yummy lunch. Again we were treated to more amazing views.

Lunch over we started our hike out with a very different perspective of the views on the reverse trip but still breathtaking.

The scramble down the Spur was a lot quicker and easier as I spent most of it on my bum 😊.

The descent! Passing packs to make the scramble safe.

We stopped again at the campsite for a quick recharging afternoon tea which we needed for the climb out. On the final trek to the stairs I enjoyed the quietness and cool of the forest around us and the beautiful songs of the many birds in the area, nature is amazing.

I also felt every heavy step of a very big but rewarding day as I slowly climbed those ‘golden stairs’ to the top. I don’t know why they are called that, I can think of other words to describe them.

Approaching the final section of the stairs I had a big WOW moment when I stopped with Kalina to look back at what we had tackled. I am in awe of what we achieved together on Sunday and the teamwork and friendship of the Diamonds. I was glad I did the day with you amazing ladies.