It was freezing in the mountains. The sun was still shining when I rolled in but it sure wasn’t that warm. I quickly got out the pants and jacket and made the most of the heat from the sun. I strolled around town, taking a look into some of the shops and grabbing some groceries and then it was back to the hostel to shave. I had yet this trip and my beard was getting to be a fair length, the longest I’ve ever had it. I originally had a goal of letting it go all trip just to see how long it would get but it was more annoying that I thought so the time has come. I’ll post photos soon.Outside later my face felt cold, I had gotten used to an extra layer of warmth. It would be nice to have it gone for running though, it was just too warm most of the time. Later I checked out the Edge film at the theatre there. This particular video plays on an oversized cinema a few times a day. It’s not quite Imax sized but it’s considerably larger than a regular movie screen. The movie was about the Blue Moutains, everything you can do in and on them, and how unique they are. It starts with the recent discovery of a type of tree deep in the mountains that has survived since the age of dinosaurs and is found no where else on the planet. The theme and feel of the movie definitely tugged on a thread that made me want to protect places like these for our children to see. Most of them are dissappearing all too quickly.I came to Katoomba to see these Blue Mountains so the second day I was there I headed out to Echo Point. You could be in Katoomba for days and not know that it hangs on the edge of a cliff that drops into the valleys of the Blue Mountains and offers stunning views off the cliffs and mountains on the opposite side. Due to my lack of time here, I elected to just do one of the basic trails that starts at Echo Point, follows the cliffs over to Katoomba Falls and then descends trail and stair to the valley floor then across towards the Three Sisters. The trail and waterfalls were incredible and I was off in my own little world until I hit the Giant Stairway.
It was over 300m up to the pathways along the top of the cliffs and I was at the bottom. Thankfully someone decided to put a huge set of more than 800 stairs straight up the cliff so I could get to where I wanted to go. Bless their heart. Mine sure felt like it was going to explode on the way up. As usual, I was trying to keep up the pace all the way up the metal and stone stairs that was more like a ladder in some places. Most people I passed were going down and while they were having a great time commenting on how steep it was, I could only grunt in response and try to smear the stinging sweat somewhere other than my eyes. I survived the great climb and took in the awesome sight of the Three Sisters at the top.[gmap]