Mothers Day

Last year it was Quamby Bluff but Drew decided that we should go further afield this year and we tried for the Walls of Jerusalem (Have X-Trail, will travel). So with Fer and Ant and Ant's parents, Cynthia and John, we set off at a well prepared and steady pace.

It's probably 18 years since I last did the walk and there have been a few changes since. The first ascent up to the trappers hut is the same but where we once took a gentle path up the valley floor, we now had to climb up and over a rocky spur before we reached Solomons Jewels - the series of glacial tarns that bespangle the plateau before you reach the Walls themselves. Still, it was worth the climb. The Jewels are glorious, the reflections superb and the fringing pencil pines magnificent. We lunched at one of the last tarns but decided that we did not have enough daylight to reach Herod's gates. John had carried up 2 little fuel stoves so there was soup and tea or coffee to go with our sandwiches and the sparkling burgundy with which we toasted the occasion.

We turned and walked back and the mist started to rise up from the valleys but it was only the track that was any problem. It's quite stony and rugged and the steep downhill sections can be excruciating on the knees. However, we made it safely down and had enough time and daylight for refreshments before the trip home.