Son and I spent Sunday/Monday on a very pleasant walk from Victoria falls to Blackheath via Blue Gum Forest, Rodriguez Pass and the Grand Canyon. A cool and dry day made for pleasant walking along the Grose, quite a few other walkers out and about. The only disturbance was the SAR helo that spent around 45 minutes flying along the canyon, paying close attention to the cliffs on the northern side. A late start saw us unable to make Acacia Flat so we stopped at Little Blue Gum for the night. Just after dark the helo made another appearance and hung around for about half an hour before heading off. As I heard no reports of people in trouble I suppose it my have been a training flight. No rain but quite cold overnight and condensation was the worst I have experienced in my tarptent. Chris, on the other hand, had just received a new tarptent Moment for his birthday, one with a liner, and had no problems at all. I must retrofit one of these.
Away by 0900 the next morning. Blue Gum forest was spectacular. The bush was very wet, the clouds came over and it became quite cold, however the uphill walk up Rodriguez pass kept is warm. There was some confusion about the route at the base of the landslide with numerous bits of red and white tape blocking off access in some spots and indicating the track in others. We made it up and across with the aid of the newly installed wire handrail and continued up to the entrance to the Grand Canyon, where extensive trackwork has made the going much easier in spite of the steep climb.
Arrived at Neates Glen carpark at about 1535 and began the 5k slog into Blackheath through a fine drizzle . After about 1k a very nice couple stopped and offered us a lift. I remarked to Chris that a purist would refuse the lift and insist on walking all the way. He replied that bitumen doesn't count when assessing a bushwalk. With that philosophical dilemma resolved we accepted the lift with gratitude and soon found ourselves in the pub drying off by the fire with a feed and a couple of beers while we waited for our train.