Hike Report: Blue Mountains 3, Duntroon View ,Singhampton,Standing Rock & Caves and Pretty River Access Side Trails

Section: Blue Mountains 3,  Duntroon View,  Singhampton,  Standing Rock & Caves and Pretty River Access Side Trails. marker 36 - 47.2

Hike Leader: John N

Hikers: John N, John G, Rudi, Jim, Ann, Shirley, Anita

Again we had three cars to stage and did the now considered cool “hot pursuit.”  The threes ladies with John N lingered around happily in the warm sun before entering the bush and meandering slowly along the shiny Pretty River admiring the sprouting young ferns among interesting tree trunks and root formations.
John N made sure that our hiking team was reunited for the long muddy and slippery uphill battle. We bragged about healthy transpiration and got our cameras ready for the Standing Rock.

Wow! But this was only the beginning of the wondrous 630 m Cave Side Trail of awesome rock debris. We marveled at every turn at another new amazing cave.

This crevice caves are open to the sky and were created when huge blocks broke away from the cliff face. Mosses and liverworts form a moist green carpet on the crevice walls, and apparently 27 species of fern have been recorded within this incredible area.  These deep and narrow crevices were still packed with snow and ice. Yes, icers would have been most welcome. However, we managed to clamber through the slippery tight fissures with creative techniques and great team work. Thank you all for the support! Even the seasoned End to Enders among us were awestruck and surprised how they could miss this astonishing section when they were concentrating on the White Trail.

It is only meters away from the main trail and I think it could be the poster child for how it is well worth exploring the Blue blazed trails. 

 We enjoyed lunch on long logs surrounded by white trilliums. Fortified and invigorated we continued briskly our hike with more trilliums and lush bush to an open green field already showing off the new crop.

For the “cool down” our leader enticed us all to revisit the short pretty hike on the Duntroon View Side
Trail which ended in a field of happy yellow dandelions and brought us directly to the
staged cars. We met up again at Pete’s to settle our accounts and reminisce about the awesome experience.