MountainSphere Adventures | Navigation Weekend 24-25 May 2025

The week leading up to this navigation weekend brought heavy rainfall to the Blue Mountains and devastating floods to other parts of NSW. But miraculously the forecast for the weekend was for fine and sunny weather. And so, as the rain eased off during Friday, and as all went quiet during Friday night, it was indeed looking great for the weekend. And so the trip went ahead and the group gathered as planned on Saturday, on a quite cold and windy morning but with the promise of improving weather to come. The usual morning briefing at Bell was shortened so that we could start walking sooner to get warm. This we did, and after finishing the briefing after a 2km walk to warm up, everyone was ready to navigate the rest of the way to camp. Lunch was had at a spectacular viewpoint with panoramic views of the wilderness to the north and east. The group learned to use their maps and compasses to identify the natural landmarks around them, an important part of the skill of bush navigation. Thus the group navigated capably to the campsite for the night, and the river crossing was straightforward as by now the water level had dropped significantly since the rain of the past few days. Choosing the campsite for the night was a little challenging due to one being taken by another group and another campsite partially inundated after the rains. So we headed to an alternate location on a ridge where we camped under the stars and enjoyed a peaceful evening of clear night skies, a vivid panoply of stars, and a wind which had abated to only a light breeze. Next day dawned sunny and still, our camp was a great spot to watch the sunrise. We explored the area a bit more and planned how to navigate a new route back to the start point. The route today included a variety of landscapes including fire trails, unmarked tracks, and a little off trail wilderness hiking. Our lunch spot was a wonderful viewpoint with 360 degree views of the surrounding area, so of course the compasses were put to good use again. After quite a long and active 2 days of hiking the group arrived back where it all began by about 3:30pm. The group parted company tired but happy, new friends made, many happy memories, and a huge amount of bush navigation skill learned for when they next head out.