BLUE MOUNTAINS WALK - Ikara Head wildflowers & epic views - 8km moderate grade

Be prepared to pick your jaw up off the ground when you see this very impressive scenic place! Ikara Head is a stunning walk on the sandstone plateau between Blackheath and Mt Victoria, free of crowds for true peace, a nice easy flattish track (the only walk in the Blue Mountains with no steep bits?!), and truly breathtaking valley views. Best of all, as it is spring there are billions of beautiful flannel flowers covering the landscape in dense swathes of white.

This day is part of our Blue Mountains adventure weekend on September 20 and 21:

• Sat 20 Sep – 10.45am Blackheath/Ikara Head wildlflower bushwalk
• Sat 20 Sep – 5pm Mt Wilson easy car camp & dinner under the stars
• Sun 21 Sep – 9am Mt Wilson spring gardens tour & Mt Tomah gardens

These events are designed to flow easily one into the next, so join us for some or all of them as you please for a big wonderful weekend away.

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THE PLAN
Meet at Blackheath train station (in the Station Street carpark) at 10.45am. If you need to contact us for any reason, the leader is on 0411 600 717.

If you arrive early in Blackheath, there is a supermarket, grocer and bakery for supplies, and the Altitude Cafe is fantastic for breakfast.

We'll use the cars present to move everyone on a 15 minute drive to the trail: 5km along the Great Western Highway, turn right onto Victoria Falls Rd, and proceed another 4km on the unsealed road (hard packed dirt and gravel) to the start of the Ikara Head Trail.

The walk will be out and back, following a small bush trail along a rocky cliff line with big vistas across the mountains. We thread between pleasant eucalypt forest with waratahs and bottle brushes, around mysterious stone pagoda formations, out onto the open ground of the promontory covered in flannels flowers, and stop at the cliff line huge plunging views of the Grose Valley before us. The only thing you will be able to say is 'wooowwww'.

After a relaxing lunch at this lookout, we'll double back along the same trail to our cars by about 3.30pm.

You can head home directly from here if you drove, or if you came on the train we will drop you at either Mt Victoria station or Blackheath station for a relaxed trip home.

If you are staying with us after this to walk for the rest of this weekend's Blue Mountains program, we'll pause at the truck stop in Mt Victoria to grab a cold drink (and hot food if you want some easy takeaway instead of cooking dinner at camp), then continue from there for the 20 minute drive to Mt Wilson for the car camp at cathedral reserve, and sunday's walk around Mt Wilson.

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IS THIS ACTIVITY OK FOR ME?
The Ikara Head walk is rated as EASY as it is largely flat with a very gentle ascent in the furthest section to the lookout, and a total walk distance of 7km out and back.

The trail is a narrow unformed rocky path with gentle undulations, but is not very rough (no scrambling over boulders or ledges) and can be handled quite well by beginner walkers with basic fitness.

The pace will be relaxed, we will take a substantial lunch stop, and you can take as many pauses along the trail as you need to catch your breath and enjoy the huge scenery.

At the Ikara Head lookout there are unfenced cliffs - everyone must take care not to approach the edges.

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GRATUITY
Please contribute $15 to help offset the group's operating costs.
You can either

• bring cash on the day, or
• make a PayID bank transfer to the organiser's phone number 0411600717 in the morning before you arrive to the event.

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TRANSPORT

Arriving by car:

• Blackheath is 112km (1 hour 40 minutes) from Sydney.
• Take the M4 motorway, and continue on the Great Western Highway all the way to Blackheath, then turn left at the railway crossing, and right right into Station Street and the carpark.
• Allow some extra time for Saturday morning traffic through the mountains.
• Once we meet up at Blackheath Station to car pool, it is 5km further along the Great Western Highway, then another 4km along the unsealed Victoria Falls Rd (hard packed dirt and gravel) to the walking trail.
• The section of unsealed road has some potholes and ruts, but is ok for a 2WD city car - we'll drive together at low speed to the start of the walking track.

Arriving by train:

• Take the Blue Mountains Service from Sydney Central at 8.24am, passing Strathfield at 8.37am, Parramatta at 8.50am, Blacktown at 9.00am, and Penrith at 9.16am, arriving at Blackheath at 10.40am.
• See the trip planner at www.transportnsw.info for all connections and times.

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BRING

• Opal card for public transport
• your lunch, snacks for the day
• drink bottle (at least 1 litre, no refills on the trail)
• sturdy walking shoes
• hat, sunglasses, sunscreen
• insect repellent
• walking stick (not mandatory, but helps alot with ascents/descents)
• warm clothes for later in the day
• rain jacket, just in case
• towel or pad to sit on at lunch time

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DISCLAIMER
By your RSVP to this event you agree to the conditions of membership and participation which you can read in the "WHAT WE'RE ABOUT" section HERE.