Mount Solitary by Golden Stairs

Mount Solitary by Golden Stairs

Once upon a time, four women set out to conquer a solitary mountain. They battled the raging winds across the Narrow Neck, spiralled down Golden Stairs and scrambled over a Ruined Castle. Led by arrows shining bright in the midday sun, they scaled the Korowal Knife to the mountain’s peak. Across its length they travelled, from summit to The Col, then down into the valley below — where their gallant friends awaited with tents ready and glasses lifted high.

Quick Details

Length: 26.3km

Elevation: 1325m (across the full hike)

Grade: Hard

Best season: Autumn, Winter, Spring

Suitable for kids: Young kids no. Teens: yes, if they’re comfortable with the distance.

Starting the Trail

A few months ago Sam joined a hike to Mount Solitary by the Kedumba Pass. We knew then we wanted to hike more of this beautiful mountain and with the Golden Stairs reopening, we decided to take on the trail from the Katoomba side and camp in the Kedumba Valley. We were joined by Annie and Edna from the Ask Roz Blue Mountains team. As the weekend drew nearer, the weather forecast was looking cold and windy, but we were determined not to let that stop us.

We set out from Cliff Drive in Katoomba along the Narrow Neck fire trail. The strong winds were like ice, and it was a fight to walk straight and not get blown sideways — but the sky was blue and the forecast said the wind would ease up around lunchtime, so we tightened our jackets and pressed on. To the northwest there was a beautiful rainbow over the valley.

I think we were all feeling a bit apprehensive about the wind as we walked along the fire trail. Even though it was meant to ease up around lunchtime, that was still hours away and it would make for a difficult morning. We could see across to Ruined Castle and to Mount Solitary above — a reminder of the long trail ahead. It took us around half an hour to reach the Golden Stairs turn-off.

Golden Stairs

As we turned into the treeline away from the fire trail and began walking down into the forest, we instantly noticed the drop in the wind as the trail was somewhat protected by the cliffs around us. This was one of our favourite sections of the day. The Golden Stairs have been closed on and off over the last few years, and we’re so glad they’ve been reopened — they really are a beautiful corner of the Blue Mountains.

As we followed the trail further down into the valley, we could see the Three Sisters in the distance. The views across the valley were incredible, but the sight of the cliffs and forest around us were equally amazing. One of the things we love about the cliffs in this area is the deep red colouring you often see in the stone — apparently caused by oxidation of the iron in the sandstone.

We soon reached the junction with Federal Pass and turned to the right. The trail from here winds through an ever-changing forest. From open sections with views out to the valley, to fern-filled hills, to tall trees with thick vines hanging from the canopy.

Ruined Castle

“Do you girls wanna go up to see Ruined Castle? Come on, it’s only 600 metres and the track joins this one again on the other side,” said Annie before she jogged up the stairs. Annie is an ultra-marathon runner, and taking her on a hike is a bit like taking Road Runner out for a Sunday stroll. The rest of us followed at the (Coyote) pace of a walk.

Once at the top of the stairs, the trail wanders through heavy scrub to the base of the sandstone tors that form Ruined Castle. It’s a bit of a scramble to get up there — and it certainly wasn’t made any easier for us by the howling winds — but we made it. We stood as high as we dared in the wind to take in the views, adding it to our list to return on a day with kinder weather.

Meanwhile, on the Other Side of the Valley

When we came up with the plan to camp in Kedumba Valley, a few of the Ask Roz Blue Mountains team offered to meet us in the valley with our camping gear, so that we only had to take our day packs on the hike. Rob and Michael set out from the gate at Kedumba Pass at 9am with our gear packed in two trolleys to push down the fire trail.

As we were battling the wind atop Ruined Castle, the boys were facing their own battles — a tyre on one of the trolleys was falling apart. They were too far down the trail to turn around, and the only option was to press on, hoping it would hold together long enough to reach the valley (spoiler: it didn’t, and they lost two more tyres before the end). A young hiker named Justin found them on the trail and graciously offered to help them reach the campground.

Back to the Trail

As we made our way back down from Ruined Castle — and blessedly away from the wind again — we walked through the beautiful section called Cedar Gap. A staircase marked the beginning of the trail up to Mount Solitary, and here we paused to fix Edna’s pack. “Wait, Edna, where are your glasses?” — “I don’t know. I put them down and forgot to pick them up.” Thankfully she could still see without them.

The sun was shining and the day was warming up. Despite the wind, we all agreed we had picked a good day for the hike — this would be a real struggle in summer. The trail wound up the hill, lined with blooming wattle bushes and purple flowers on either side of the track.

Korowal Knife Edge

As we reached the top of the hill the wattle and scrub bushes fell away. What lay ahead was the Korowal Knife Edge — a rocky scramble up the edge of Mount Solitary. “Korowal” is the traditional Gundungurra name for Mount Solitary, meaning “strong one.”

The trail is marked by arrows on the rocks to guide the way. This section of the trail felt like a real adventure as we scrambled up through the rocks and worked as a team to help each other up to the next section. Annie led the way, and screamed out “Arrow!” each time she worked out which way to go.

One of the great things about this section is all the lookouts over the valley. With each section we climbed there was another lookout. Was each one the same view, only slightly higher? Yes. Did I still stop and look at each one? Also yes.

After an hour of steady climbing we reached the edge of Mount Solitary and the wind disappeared. A stranger passed by heading back towards Ruined Castle, and we asked him to look for Edna’s glasses on the way if he could. A little further along for us was the peak — it wasn’t marked by much, just a small white post in the ground.

We decided to stop for lunch. Jess pulled the jet boil out of her pack to cook a hot meal — she’d never used it before, so Edna helped her to set it up. “OK, now where are your matches to light the gas?” We all looked up at Edna with blank faces, realising that none of us thought to bring any. Jess had a flint in her bag, but as hard as she tried she couldn’t get it to catch. So it was a cold lunch instead.

Meanwhile, in the Valley

As we reached the peak of Mount Solitary, Rob and Michael, with the help of Sir Justin, knight of Kedumba Pass, reached the campground with the trolleys. They took a well-deserved rest before setting up camp and starting dinner to wait for our arrival.

Mount Solitary

As we ate lunch, I looked at the map and estimated around an hour to The Col on the other side of the mountain. I was wrong — the problem was that I thought the trail was fairly flat when actually it’s not. The trail over Mount Solitary is a series of short, steep hills, making it longer and slower going than I expected.

As we made our way up and down the hills, through campgrounds and forest, I began to notice a slight pinch in one knee whenever I went downhill. It’ll be fine, I thought. I probably just twisted my knee the wrong way, it’ll stop soon. Wrong again.

A lot of the trail across Mount Solitary runs close to the edge facing Katoomba, and it was great to see that cliff line — normally those are the cliffs we’re standing on to look out at Mount Solitary. We hadn’t realised until we were up here just how much there really is up here — we could spend days up here exploring.

As we got closer to the end of Mount Solitary, the pain in my knee had progressed to a searing pain that stabbed with every downward step, though it was fine on flat ground. Nothing like a new challenge to add to the day’s adventure. We reached The Col and took the time to rest, sign the log book, and strap my knee.

The trail down to the valley is long and steep. It’s difficult even on a normal day, but the pain in my knee had me seriously questioning if I was going to make it off the mountain. It wasn’t long before I sat down, tears in my eyes, needing to rest. You know you have good friends when they instantly jump to help you. Annie took my pack, Jess (only half-jokingly) offered to carry me down the hill, while Edna massaged my knee and gave me some Panadol. I’d love to say the massage helped, but I’m pretty sure it was the painkillers.

Eventually we made it down the hill, and the sight of flat ground almost brought me to tears again — finally, ground that I could walk on pain free. It didn’t take us long to make our way through the short bush track to the fire trail on the other side that would take us into the campground.

The hike along the fire trail was quick, with easy slopes that my knee seemed fine to handle — or maybe that was the painkillers. The late afternoon light lit up the sandstone cliffs in the distance, and the trail was lined with silver gums and pink grevillea.

We crossed the Kedumba River and into camp, where Rob and Michael were waiting to greet us with dinner and congratulations on our achievement of making it there.

Camping

Nothing makes dinner taste as good as hiking 17km to get to it. There were plenty of laughs around the table as we recalled the events of the day from both sides of the valley.

Thankfully Rob and Michael had set up our tents for us, so after dinner and a little sitting around the campfire looking at the stars, we could head straight to bed. As the rest of the campers in the valley turned out their lights and we lay in our tents waiting for sleep, we heard a noise in the distance — was that… howling?

As the sun rose and melted the frost off our tents we got up to the sounds of Michael brewing coffee for us all on his jet boil. We may possibly have ruined camping for Annie on this trip, as she’s never been and may now think this is what camping normally is. Rob cooked bacon and egg rolls for everyone and I wandered off to stretch my legs.

I wandered over to Maxwell’s grave. The Maxwell family used to live down here, and there are still remnants of their time in the valley. As I walked along the trail, a print in the ground caught my eye — was that a paw print? I made my way back to camp and passed a sign warning of dingoes in the area. Was the sound we all heard the night before coming from dingoes?

We packed up camp and put everything in the good trolley. The sun was shining and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. Originally the plan of taking everything out of the valley in the trolleys was meant to be easy — with one trolley now having three busted tyres, this was going to be a tough trip out.

Kedumba Pass has more than a few steep hills, but it’s a well-maintained fire trail the whole way. Annie roped herself to one of the trolleys and hauled it like a sled, while the rest of us put as much as we could in our packs and took turns helping to push it uphill, with Jess doing the most. We met a few kind strangers on the trail who helped us with the trolleys to give us a break.

It took us close to four hours to reach the top of Kedumba Pass. Despite carrying the heaviest pack and dragging the full trolley, Annie still made it to the gate first. We were all exhausted. It was an epic adventure — full of unexpected challenges, but one we’ll always remember for the friendships, the laughs, and the achievement of making it from Narrow Neck to Kedumba Pass via Mount Solitary.

Getting There

Our starting point was Narrow Neck, just off Cliff Drive in Katoomba. Alternatively, you could start from Kedumba Pass, which is at the end of Tablelands Road in Wentworth Falls.

Tips, Tricks, and Thanks

Despite the rock scramble, we found Korowal Knife Edge the easier ascent to Mount Solitary than the track to The Col.

You can book a campsite in the Kedumba Valley through the NPWS website. The only amenities in the campground are toilets, fire pits, and a water tank.

Thanks to Annie and Edna for joining us on the trail, for the laughs, encouragement, and teamwork.

Thanks to our gallant friends Rob and Michael for meeting us in the valley, setting up camp, and taking care of everything for us.

Thanks to Ask Roz Blue Mountains for being our ground control and staying in contact throughout the weekend.

Finally, thank you to the kind strangers who helped us along the way. We may not know your names, but we won’t forget the help you gave us.