My Hike to Winjin Falls

Today was the toughest hike yet, folks... but it was worth it! Round trip it was about a 12k hike up to Winjin Falls and with all the rain we had last week, the trail was a little rough going - slower steps finding firm footing as we climbed the mountain; and though I never flopped onto my keester, I came dang close a few times.

And when we arrived at the falls, the view fabulous!!! After taking a few pics, we all took a swim in the very cold river (for those Seinfeld fans out there - "There was shrinkage!") and then settled down for a lunch break before beginning our descent. We had to climb back up to the peak before heading down, and by the time we got to the top a storm front had formed.

So the first hour of our 3 hour return was spent trudging through a downpour that made our descent become a matter of avoiding the water flowing downhill. But nobody complained... I mean c'mon, we were hiking through a rainforest and it was all worth it :)

Again... the pictures don't do justice for actually being there - but here they are in order from top to bottom.

1) A picture of some of the members of the Cairns Bushwalking Club standing on the rockface at the top of the falls. They're great folks and I learned a lot about "Lawyer Vines" (aka: Wait-a-While Vines... no, I'm not making that up Kevin and Cristina :). It's a vine armed with oddles of thorns that hangs down along the path and if you get caught up in them, it gonna take a while to cut free of them. Luckily, I only got a few holes in my shirt sleeve from my encounter with one of them.

2) I made few folks nervous taking this pick because I was leaning out over the edge of the rockface to take a pic of the water landing about 300 feet below. It looks a little awkward, but imagine me laying on my belly and looking down to snap the pic of the falls and white water cascading downhill.

3) A pic of the water flowing away into the valley. Again, no justice in the pic - the view was awsome!!

4) A view of the valley while sitting on the cliff of the waterfall.

I hope everyone is doing well and it's not too cold :)

Cheers, Matt