Six Foot Track: Conquered...Finally.
Back in March you may remember that in my 'Shoe Business' post I mentioned a little thing called the Six Foot Track. You may also remember in the post after that, 'Happy Anniversary, Pilgrim', that I mentioned that I had to postpone it due to foul weather. Well I'm happy to report that my mate Karl and I finally conquered this amazing track in late October. I can also report that it was the toughest three days of hiking I've ever done. It seems that we were never on flat ground. It was either uphill or downhill, no exceptions, for three days, over 45 kilometres. Because of this, it made for a perfect testing ground for my new Salomon XA Elevate trail runners! I picked up a pair of these bad boys from Kathmandu after I came across Trail to Peak's article that listed them as the second best trail runners for the Camino. The fact that they also happened to be on sale at that exact moment was the clincher.
Thankfully I'm here to say that these are great shoes. Very comfortable, handled all terrain well and left me with only one blister on the inside of my left heel. This probably could have been avoided had I taken other blister-fighting precautions however. I wore only my merino wool socks, no liner socks, no Vaseline, no changing socks midway through the day's hike, nothing! And only one blister! Pretty good result I'd say. They also had plenty of room in the toe box and the quick laces secured the shoe well and didn't need tightening at any point. All in all, I'm very happy with them and definitely recommend them.
As for the Six Foot Track, I can definitely recommend this walk, with a proviso however. Do not walk from Jenolan Caves to the Explorers Tree like we did. Start at the Explorers Tree and walk to Jenolan Caves like every other sensible soul that we passed. The ascent to the Explorers Tree via Nellie's Glen is an absolute killer. It's extremely steep, very humid and, having just walked 42 kilometres, it is the last thing on earth that you want to be tackling.
With that caveat out of the way, the campsites are extremely well maintained with water tanks at each (may not be available after a long period without rain and requires treatment/boiling before using) and a drop/pit toilet (BYOTP). My favourite campsite was easily the Coxs River Campsite. It's a lovely little spot, right on the river, with cool flowing water and rapids where we sat and cooled our tired feet while sipping on a well earned scotch and coke. The wildlife was amazing throughout the trip but moreso at this campsite, where a large mob of kangaroos grazed in the evening and would ford the river in the early morning. We were even lucky enough to spot a Kingfisher that afternoon. Being a bird nerd, this was definitely a highlight for me.
If any of the above piques your interest, check out the excellent Six Foot Track website for more information and also at the NPWS website for information and alerts. I'm also happy to answer any questions so feel free to give me a yell. Happy trails, y'all :)
Thankfully I'm here to say that these are great shoes. Very comfortable, handled all terrain well and left me with only one blister on the inside of my left heel. This probably could have been avoided had I taken other blister-fighting precautions however. I wore only my merino wool socks, no liner socks, no Vaseline, no changing socks midway through the day's hike, nothing! And only one blister! Pretty good result I'd say. They also had plenty of room in the toe box and the quick laces secured the shoe well and didn't need tightening at any point. All in all, I'm very happy with them and definitely recommend them.
As for the Six Foot Track, I can definitely recommend this walk, with a proviso however. Do not walk from Jenolan Caves to the Explorers Tree like we did. Start at the Explorers Tree and walk to Jenolan Caves like every other sensible soul that we passed. The ascent to the Explorers Tree via Nellie's Glen is an absolute killer. It's extremely steep, very humid and, having just walked 42 kilometres, it is the last thing on earth that you want to be tackling.
With that caveat out of the way, the campsites are extremely well maintained with water tanks at each (may not be available after a long period without rain and requires treatment/boiling before using) and a drop/pit toilet (BYOTP). My favourite campsite was easily the Coxs River Campsite. It's a lovely little spot, right on the river, with cool flowing water and rapids where we sat and cooled our tired feet while sipping on a well earned scotch and coke. The wildlife was amazing throughout the trip but moreso at this campsite, where a large mob of kangaroos grazed in the evening and would ford the river in the early morning. We were even lucky enough to spot a Kingfisher that afternoon. Being a bird nerd, this was definitely a highlight for me.
If any of the above piques your interest, check out the excellent Six Foot Track website for more information and also at the NPWS website for information and alerts. I'm also happy to answer any questions so feel free to give me a yell. Happy trails, y'all :)
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| @caminoagogo |