I woke with a start, thinking I had overslept.The room already seemed quite light so I quickly got ready, then glanced at my watch and realised it was only just after 4am! Oops. I’d intended to make an early start, but with sunrise still three hours away I decided to go back to bed for a little while.
After dozing briefly, I rolled out of bed at a slightly more respectable hour. It was still very dark when I arrived at the Mt Banks carpark at 6am, with the temperature hovering just above zero. In the darkness I decided to head out along the fire trail that circles around the base of Mt Banks, and save the summit walk for the return trip.
It was nice, easy walking in the semi-darkness, with the road gently winding around the small gullies below the summit. Shortly before sunrise there was a brief touch of pink in the sky above Mt Hay, but this was soon swallowed up by heavy cloud and a very dull, grey morning.
Having never walked in this area before I was quite excited to arrive at the exposed rocky outcrops of Frank Hurley Head, with wonderful views of the upper Grose and straight down into Blue Gum Forest, and the junction with Govetts Creek.
There are lots of interesting caves and rock formations in the Banks Wall sandstone. This small grotto struck me as unusually straight and perpendicular.
There was an extremely icy wind blowing down the valley, and as much as I wanted to sit and soak up the view it was simply too cold to linger long. As soon as I was again on the leeward side of the hill it was a very pleasant walking temperature and I was able to strip off a few layers.
I continued along the fire trail a bit further, finishing at an unnamed lookout, not far from David Crevasse. After a quick bite to eat I turned around, retracing my steps to the junction with the walking track that goes over the top of Mt Banks.
The leptospermums were particularly glorious on the way up the hill. I spotted a couple of lyrebirds scratching in the undergrowth, and heard the thump of wallaby feet not far away. The bellbirds were also making a beautiful chorus.
As I climbed onto the basalt cap of Mt Banks, the vegetation grew more lush. The fertile soils support a taller eucalypt forest with an undergrowth dominated by ferns, but not the tree ferns I was expecting. The final little climb to the summit brought me to the King George trig station. From here there are only filtered views through the trees, but the forest was quite lovely, so I didn’t mind at all.
For me, the most enjoyable part of the walk was the descent from the summit back to the carpark. Finally I was off the fire trail, and the views all the way are stunning. The track meanders nicely through forested slopes, and then brings you to a flat saddle with wonderful views into the valley.
I love all the sculpted rock formations of this exposed and windswept area. And there is so much beauty to be found in the heath vegetation of these cliff-top regions. The harsh conditions and poor soils mean that the plants are highly specialised and have evolved to take advantage of any small opportunity. Even on these exposed rocky platforms there are wonderful little moss gardens with stunted shrubs and a variety of small plants nestling in the slightly more sheltered hollows.
I arrived back at the car just after 9am, so it was a pretty fast three hour walk. I wasn’t carrying a GPS, but according to Tom Brennan’s excellent track notes it is about a 15km loop. The last section, on the north-western slopes of Mt Banks is especially beautiful and easily accessible as a family walk.
