Cycling the Fire Trails at Kanangra May 2011
Kanangra is better known for its spectacular views, waterfalls and hiking tracks to Katoomba, down to the Kowmung River via the Uni Rover Trail and into the wilderness areas of the Kanagra-Boyd National Park. But leading up to the weekend of May 7-8, we had a different sort of experience planned - riding some of the fire trails on the Kanangra Plateau.
Despite heavy rain only a week before, the weather on this weekend turned out to be just perfect and not anywhere as cold as everyone expected. Our base was the Boyd River camp site and we soon had tents up, fires lit and some great food cooking. The following morning we were up early and planning our day's ride over a leisurely breakfast. Tony decided to change his tyres to something more chunky and ready for whatever adventures the trails might have in store for us.
We decided to do the loop down the Morong Creek Fire Trail and back up the Boyd River Fire Trail. We would then have an easy 5km or so ride back to the camp along the Kanangra Walls Road at the end of the ride. Total ride about 20 km. The trails turned out to be mostly dry and in surprisingly good condition. Cycling through the forest was quite pretty, with the sunlight casting mottled shadows along the track. We only had to take off our shoes at one of the ford crossings. Just as well as the water was very cold.
We had a most enjoyable and unhurried ride of about three hours, including of course boiling the billy along the way for morning tea. A rather different ride to our usual onroad rides around Windsor.
After lunch, we still had a couple of hours to explore some of the walking tracks at Kanangra Walls. We were particularly interested to see the site of the old dance floor built in a large rock overhang right at The Walls back in the 1890s. Hard to imagine the locals congregating at such an apparently remote spot for a bit of a musical hip hop on the edge of such wild valleys. But congregate thay did, coming from as far afield as Oberon and Bindook. Nothing left of the old dance floor now but a lovely piece of local history all the same.
Thanks Sandra for organising a most memorable couple of days away.