Devils Hole - Robyn's first Diamond Day adventure
Shared by Robyn
It dawned sunny and unseasonably warm for the drive up to the Blue Mountains for my first day hike with the Diamonds. A quick meet and greet and handing out lunchboxes, then 12 eager participants gathered in a circle at the trail head for an acknowledgement of country from coach Lis. An informative briefing by coach Clare described the walk ahead and covered safety and the Buddy System.
I didn’t know many of the ladies, but a couple of kilometers of road walking had us chatting away and getting to know each other. We descended on an undulating forest path past a beautiful fern-filled gully, then onto a stunning lookout with two picturesque amphitheater views – one of them we were about to descend into. Time for lots of photos and Clare may have recruited two new members who took our group photo and seemed keen to join the Teal Ladies sporting their bright Diamonds tops.
Diamonds at North’s Lookout - our first clifftop view on our Devil’s Hole Diamond Day adventure
A short fire road section on the Six Foot Track and lots more chatting then our long descent into some mystical rainforest with soaring sandstone cliffs above. Dappled light filtered through to create a magical experience for those of us at the front reveling in our forest bathing.
We negotiated some steep and slippery sections that had seen a lot of recent rainfall, then diverted onto a short rock scramble to our morning tea break at a cascading waterfall where we sat in the mist for our hot cuppas and ate our delicious morning tea.
Delicious scroggin, fruit, Diamonds Slice, crackers and dip, and an enticing looking zucchini slice I had to save for lunch….
Hot spots! I had taped up my bunions with moleskin before we started, but for some bizarre reason decided to wear thin wool socks to give my bunions extra room. This resulted in unusual hot spots elsewhere that Lis helped me to tape up while we had stopped for our break – it would be a shame to carry all that first aid gear and not use it!
We packed up and continued on the forest path which began to level out with a few creek crossings requiring the use of our trusty trekking poles. We encountered views up to the sunlit sandstone cliffs we had descended from and continued on our merrily chatting way to our lunch spot with a view of a historic farm and the mountains above.
The zucchini slice was delicious….
and a nap would have been nice! But alas, the climb awaited us. We headed off onto a less used path, and walked through a small glade that felt like a fairy garden.
So then up we went, through a beautiful fern filled forest with views of the soaring sandstone cliffs above to distract me from my longing for a post-meal nap, then Clare declared “quiet time” where we enjoyed the forest in silence for 20 minutes.
We then ascended into a darker and more technical section of the climb and quiet time was over as we negotiated some slippery boulders.
And then, we heard the sound of a tree falling in the forest. A short way ahead of me, one of the group pulled on a dead tree for support. It unexpectedly snapped into three pieces and began to fall. She took a small tumble, and the falling tree narrowly missed me. Our Diamonds coaches quickly checked on her and patched a few grazes, while I sat down with a calming cup of tea, comforted by chocolate and some TLC from our very caring teammates.
It was a clear reminder that when we embark on these awesome adventures, there can be risks—and the value of being cautious, thoughtful, and prepared (with a full first aid kit available) cannot be underestimated. If anything ever goes wrong on a walk – you want it to be with the Diamonds!!
Our wise coaches decided against a little exploratory side trip to a waterfall, and in true team spirit, it was time for “Backpack Peloton.” Clare guided us up the start of a technical rock scramble, and we passed our teammate’s backpack along the group until we re-convened at the base of Devil’s Hole. Here, we split into two groups to tackle the technical rock scramble up through the gap in the cliff.
This was so much fun! It seemed to be over way too quickly as we popped out onto a flat rock section to regroup for a bit, before the final short section back to the cars. Well deserved cold drinks and salty chips were handed out by our thoughtful coaches as we celebrated our amazing adventure!
A final philosophical word.
“Trees fall in the forest... boulders dislodge…unforeseen things happen… Would we be safer if we didn’t venture into the wilderness? Maybe. But would we feel alive? No!
Those of us who hear the call of wild places heed this because we need to feed our adventurous spirit. We acknowledge the risks but we manage them. So the Devil can go back into his Hole, because we have a lot of adventures still on our list!”