Another walk from Blackheath, but the other side of the highway from Porters Pass (see NQLW3): this one is on the western side, with views over to the Kanimbla and Megalong Valleys.

As usual, there was a long downhill scramble first, down a zig-zag “road” down which pack-horses were led to carry goods down to the Kanimbla Valley, and produce in return up the (very steep) hill.  Poor horses.

Near the bottom is a cave where in the 1850s someone found an old piece of newspaper printed in the 1820s, with an article about prisoners escaping from a local prison.  So with a leap of imagination it became an outlaws’ lair.   A “Bushrangers Cave” in local parlance.

Not a comfortable home, I suspect, and @#$%&* cold in winter, no doubt.

A beautiful view to wake up to, though.

After admiring the real estate, we walked on through Rienet’s Pass.  Another of these beautiful paths which essentially go from no-where to no-where else, made to attract Victorian (Edwardian?) tourists.

They remain a tourist attraction now, of course.  The waterfalls are tremendous and the streams through the gumtrees are lovely.

I think that in many countries each one of these walks would be regarded as a major drawcard for an area.  Here there are simply so many spectacular walks/views/waterfalls/rock formations.