Walks In The Blue Mountains & Beyond

30/08/2026

A big shout out and congratulations to my friend Annie from Wentworth Tiles & Bathrooms who ran in the UTMB held at Mont Blanc in the French Alps over a 173km course that went up/down the mountains with elevation up to 9,700M and she completed it in 41.52hrs 🤯

29/08/2026

😢

“Preliminary reports indicate Hooper suffered a fall and died on the first day she went missing”

Preliminary reports said Lily had a fall, she had an accident that first afternoon, she died the day she went missing and was found lying peacefully in dense bushland, her mother, Kirrily Hooper, told The Daily Telegraph.

In hindsight we now know she passed quickly and she didn’t suffer in the cold.”

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1F5XfnC8Sy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The 18-year-old never returned from what was meant to be a day hike, prompting a massive eight-day search.

28/08/2026

Go Annie!… you got this 💪🏼

IT STARTS TONIGHT: Tonight, AU time, Annie from Wentworth Tiles & Bathrooms starts her run at Mont Blanc, where she'll run in the 174km race at the UTMB® - Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

The race starts on Friday, August 28, 2026, at 5:45 pm local time in Chamonix, France. In Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST), it will be Saturday, August 29, at 1:45 AM.

The race starts in Chamonix, France: w3w.co/fasten.reissued.footsteps

You can follow Annie's progress here: https://live.utmb.world/utmb/2026/runners/228

https://montblanc.utmb.world/races/UTMB

Be sure to follow Annie on Instagram: www.instagram.com/annie.hand08

26/08/2026

Track closures

HEADS UP: In addition to other closures in the Wentworth Falls area of Blue Mountains National Park, the following tracks and trails will be closed for a helicopter operation on Thursday 27 August:

• Wentworth Falls top and mid crossings
• Queens Cascade track
• Darwins Walk - south of Fletcher Street – follow pedestrian detour via Fletcher Street and Falls Road
• Undercliff track – between junction of Princes Rock track and Wentworth Falls top crossing
• Rocket Point
• Chester Road fire trail
• Little Switzerland trail

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/blue-mountains-national-park/local-alerts

20/08/2026

Sadly not found alive after all 😢

The body of a woman, believed to be that of missing teenage hiker Lily Hooper, has been found during a search in the NSW Southern Highlands.

The 18-year-old was reported missing in Nattai National Park last Wednesday, with Defence Force units joining search efforts.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

01/08/2026

Yesterday (01/08/26) it was our monthly Ask Roz Blue Mountains sunrise with the Ask Roz Blue Mountains “At Large” group of contributors, it was at Govetts Leap at Blackheath.

We then headed to Mt Victoria to the Victoria and Albert Guesthouse for our group breakfast 🙌

30/07/2026

Open Glenbrook Tunnel

EXTRA Lapstone Hill Tunnel Open Day sessions added

Blue Mountains City Council has added 600 extra places for walkers to experience Lapstone Hill Tunnel THIS WEEKEND in response to overwhelming community demand.

Council is undertaking the works on behalf of Crown Lands NSW under a licence that expires at the end of 2026.

Council is seeking further government investment to continue essential works and transform the precinct into a safe, accessible destination for walking, cycling, recreation, heritage interpretation and managed events.

MORE info: https://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/lapstone-tunnel

Places for the additional session are limited; book now: bmcc.nsw.gov.au/lapstone-tunnel
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Photo: BMCC

11/07/2026

So for the past few years since finding them in the bottom of a box, I’ve been meaning to get digitised some super 8 films I filmed on a silent camera I bought when I was doing a paper run in Penrith and got a little bit of money from doing that.

Each film only ran for 3 mins and you had to send them away for development and as they were relatively expensive I didn’t do that many.

This is one of a camping trip from as best as I can estimate 1980, when I was about 13 with a friend Scott who lived up the end of my street and we walked up along the Nepean River to Glenbrook Gorge from Leonay and camped on the slope under Mount Portal.

I dabbled a bit with special effects as well, look out for me falling off the cliff on Mount Portal 🤣

Wow just wow so many memories.

03/04/2026

Time to go back in time tomorrow ⏰

20/03/2026

Fantastic video of the history of the sandstone gate keeper cottages across the Blue Mountains.

I’ve known about many of them such at the one at Emu Plains which is opposite where Mitchells Pass meets the old highway that I’ve visited the ruins of and photographed as well as some of the others.

Along the early Blue Mountains railway line, small sandstone cottages once stood beside level crossings, home to the gatekeepers who controlled the movement ...