Six foot down under

Jakob is always trying to coax me to go on trail runs. Except between moving and acquiring every single cold Canberra has to offer I am usually too beat to schedule a run in. So, when I mentioned I wanted to do the six foot track in a day he was very supportive. While I usually run solo, I haven't done many trips of this length on my own. These days I rarely get to spend any time alone so this was both an extra appealing and challenging aspect.

The Six Foot Track was created to connect Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains, to the popular Jenolan Caves. They wanted a luxurious path that could accommodate two horses side by side, so they made it six feet wide. It is no longer six feet wide along its entirety but pretty close. The trail is 44.8 kilometres long which always struck me as a perfect one day trip even though it is usually done over three. It gets mixed reviews, with some saying it is incredible and others saying it is silly to walk a road when there are other better single tracks. Everyone is in agreement that the trail excels at PUDS (pointless up and downs). 

I felt I could easily walk the track so decided to run some of the track and see how it went. For the first 30 kilometres I ran downhill and walked uphill. There was a lot of steep downhill and after about 10 or 15 kilometres of it my body had had enough and I walked the rest. Think I was probably not in good enough shape given that my training mostly involved carrying a baby and moving furniture. I was much more sore and tired for having run but am glad I did it. It was nice to just up my speed whenever I felt like it. I was swooped by a magpie twice and had to flee a third swoop at high speed. I saw one monitor lizard and one snake. I crossed over a river on a swinging chain link bridge. It took eight and a half hours. 

So having done it where does my opinion lie? It was a great trail to do solo as with such wide paths I didnt have to worry as much about snakes and it is popular enough that if I got into trouble someone would eventually find me. It was nice to be alone in nature. That being said, it was a lot of dirt road, probably around 30 kms of it. I am really glad to have done it and enjoyed it but don't know that I would rush to do it again. 

Blue mountains all to myself

Farewell Jenolan Lodge

This beautiful tree

This bridge was worth the detour