Mt. Grose Walk

I rarely ventured into the Blue Mountains for bush walking, mostly due to its infamous reputation of easily getting lost. Though this weekend I decided to try a track, in a part of the mountain I've never been to.
I read some good things about the Grose Valley, but I decided to take a look at the valley from high above. It's called Grose Head South, or Grose Mountain.
I drove off to Winmalee via Richmond, through Hawkesbury Rd, which prove to be a much more enjoyable drive than M4. The autumn colors were lush and vivid.
The track started with Shaw Ridge Fire Trail, which lasted for more than half of the one way distance, and it was a bit boring.
Turned right after the junction of Shaw Ridge Fire Trail and Blue Gum Swamp Trail, the track became quite steep, and my heart started pumping hard. Luckily this section was quite short, then I turned right onto final flat section of the fire trail until hit vehicle turnaround point. A large rock platform was on the left hand side, which provided an unobstructed view of the valley and undulating mountains stretching toward the horizon.
Jumping from rock to rock, I followed the foot path and reached the bottom of a very steep slop. That must be the way to the summit, I decided and pressed on.

After some tough climbing, I finally reached the summit, however the view was totally obscured by the bush. I fumbled back and forth, then eventually identified a very vague path to the left hand side, which led to a large rock platform, which provided unobstructed grand view of the Grose Valley. I didn't bring my SLR, and the photo taken with iPhone seemed to erect the Grose River to be a waterfall.

After resting on the platform and enjoying the magnificent view, totally by myself, for about an hour, I headed back. I veered right to the Blue Gum Swamp Track, which was in parallel to the Shaw Ridge Fire Trail and formed a loop back to the starting point.