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Dave came striding through the door of the back carriage as the Blue Mountains train pulled out of Parramatta Station. He found us three-Jan, Chris and Nat hiding behind our huge backpacks studying the map. We put the map away (Dave had a GPS so he didn't need to see the map anyway!) and shared our thoughts about what lay ahead.

We were off to Katoomba to try the famous 3 peaks challenge. A gruelling test of endurance, which involves climbing three of the highest peaks in the Southern Blue Mountains-Mt Cloudmaker, Mt Paralyser, and Mt Guouogang then returning to Katoomba within 48 hours. The route is approximately 85km, a large part through trackless scrub, with an elevation change of 5000m. Definitely not easy.

Jan had brought along a selection of trip reports from other parties. The first three we read involved swimming across a flooded Cox River, a unique species of scrub "shitis guouogangis", endless days of walking and gram shaved packs (e.g. a garbage bag instead of a tent). On top of this, none of these parties even made it.

The train pulled into Katoomba and we passed each other our own gram shaved packs. Then Nat attempted to pass Jan his pack and collapsed promptly to the floor. Struggling out from underneath Jan's mini library, continental breakfast assortment, town water supply, and house-like tent, Nat gasped "How the hell are you going to carry that?". Jan shrugged heaving his pack onto his own shoulders. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger".

We had an hour before our starting time of 4 pm. Flimpy decided the best way to spend this hour was to eat solidly until the very last minute so we made a bee-line for the first pizza place. There we sat and enjoyed our last good meal while we tried to figure out Flimpy's fancy new GPS. He hadn't read the manual. It was very complicated. We put it away again.

We had decided to leave Katoomba at 4pm in the hope of reaching the Cox by midnight. The next day we were to rise at 5am to climb the three peaks and return back to camp hopefully by 9pm. On Monday, another early start, and back to Katoomba by 4pm-within 48 hours. With full stomachs, brimming with confidence, we donned our packs and strode towards the mountains.

Down through the back streets of Katoomba, then out onto Narrowneck peninsula.

The pace was blistering as we all tried to keep up with Jan who was striding expansively up the hills and Flimpy who was running down the other side.

The views around sunset were spectacular, Mt Solitary and a large part of the Blue Labyrinth course glowing orange to the West.

We reached the end of the firetrail about 7pm and made our way down the pegs of Taro's ladder by torch light. Jan pointed out a bushfire glowing in the distance. Ignoring it we continued on hoping it wouldn't come our way.

Next was a rough descent off Mt Derbert, then a brief section of firetrail through Medlow Gap before the rough track started again. It was single file along here, as we followed each other's feet. Nat's torch bulb blew and she didn't have a spare. Chris gave his to Nat, and we all continued on under a bright full moon. After a detour to see what kind of trees grew up an out-of-the-way hill, we found the track again and made it to Mt Yellow Dog (700m) by about 11pm. Halfway down the long descent to the Cox (150m) Jan's torch started to fade leaving us with only 2 torches between four. Also, by this stage Dave and Jan's feet had started to hurt quite badly - feeling the effects of heavy packs on rough tracks with sneakers. Gritting their teeth they continued down the knee shuddering track to the river.

We reached the Cox, for a freezing and foot sore crossing. Luckily it was only knee deep-so no swimming heroics for us. Jan, Chris and Nat removed their shoes, then crossed hanging off Flimpy who escorted us across. We reached Konangaroo Clearing after midnight, made camp then got to bed around 1am, leaving Dave outside trying to dry his sodden feet by a fire of old receipts and tissue paper.

Flimpyhead, the only one with a watch, gave us a wakeup call at 5am the next morning and we struggled blearily from our tent. The 5 metres from his tent to ours was enough to make him realise that while the heart was willing his feet would keep the body at bay. He opted for an honourable pike-out. It would be a long sore day for him ahead, with 30km and a 1000m climb hauling his pack on badly bruised and blistered feet back to Katoomba.

We said our goodbyes and goodlucks then recrossing Kanangra Creek, we plunged upwards into the river side scrub onto Strongleg Buttress. A long, steep and rocky climb up to Mt Strongleg was helped at times by a faint track. We took turns in the lead picking the best route through the scrub. By 7.30 we met the first walkers coming the opposite direction. It was a long weekend and many people were out doing the popular Kanangra to Katoomba walk. By 8.45am, we reached the campsite at Dex Creek where people were still packing up. They were off to the Cox where we had started for a day of swimming while we were sweating and panting our way to our 1st peak.

We made our 1st peak in good time, by about 9.15am. We celebrated with a huge bag of muesli and other delights while Jan nibbled on his black bread sandwich.

Unfortunately, the log book of the past 10 or 15 years had been removed and replaced by a new one, so we didn't get to read about the highs and lows of other people's trips.

From here, we walked down "The Thunders" (Rip, Rack, Roar and Rumble knolls) to Mt Stormbreaker where we left the track and plunged down onto a well defined ridge towards Kanangra Creek. From here we could see our next climb, Mt Paralyser, and it got taller and taller as we descended down to the creek. Halfway down the ridge we had to leave the crest and descend steeply down the side of the ridge to hit the creek at the right spot Thunder Bend. It was here where we discovered the downhills would be just as tough as the ups, especially for Jan whose sneakers were providing no support or grip down these slippery, sliding slopes.

We reached the creek about 12.15pm. It had taken us 2 and a half hours to get down off Cloudmaker. Although we were now behind schedule, there was still time for a quick and refreshing swim. Each of us rehydrated with a big drink, filled up our bottles and then headed up for peak 2.

Mt Paralyser was next, the steepest of the peaks. It was here that we realised that we were slowing down and Jan was speeding up! A couple of times after Jan had disappeared up the ridge ahead we reached a small knoll, or a log in the shade ahead and we found him resting and waiting patiently for us to catch up. The steepest section was when one ridge merged with another where we literally had to haul our way up on all fours. We finally reached the summit in the hot afternoon sun, where we sat down to recoup. With Dave and the only watch gone, we had to take photos to find out the time. The camera told us it was 2.45pm. We each did our own calculations and realised that it was not only going to be a long day but a very long night ahead. Still, our spirits were high, and we did not sacrifice our breaks, for better or for worse.

Nat's point of view:

We headed off again, and almost took the wrong ridge down. Luckily Chris picked up on this and steered us around to the right one. This ridge was also a strong ridge, however as before we had to dive off and scramble down for the last 300m (vertical) or so. The steepness and the slipperiness demanded all our concentration just to stay upright. Both mental and physical fatigue was starting to set in, and each slip or fall tested our patience and resolve.

Still, Whalania Creek did eventually appear, and again we jumped in for a swim. Before we started it had been pointed out to us that this may be a possible pike out point. From here, it seemed possible to follow this creek, which would join up with Kanangra Creek later on, all the way back to camp, although we were seriously never even tempted, really we weren't! However, immediately to the right of us, there was a waterfall. So even if we did want to it would not have been possible.

It was around 5.00pm by the time we left for our 3rd peak. Guessing from the ascents of the other two we realised that halfway up this climb the sun was to set. None of us had been up this ridge and did not know what lay ahead, whether it would be clear, scrubby, rocky, possible or impossible.

The sun set about halfway up, and although the moon was full and bright, it was not enough to allow us to see more than a metre ahead. The darkness slowed us down to a crawl and the fact that the ridge was getting rockier and scrubbier did not help. Unlike the other two climbs which were mainly open gum vegetation with a lot of leaf litter, this ridge had that short, tough spiky tea tree like vegetation which was impenetrable without pain. Despite these impediments, Jan (the machine) was still going strong, clearing a path ahead. Chris was still hanging in, however (and I can now look back on this with a smile) I was discovering my limit. Somehow I just didn't have the energy to keep up the pace. Despite knowing that camp was still far, far away, my body did not want to go. Every step was now a struggle. What made the mental struggle harder too was that the physical fatigue seemed to be accompanied by emotional fatigue. Not only did I feel I was holding everyone up, but I didn't know if I could pull up the next day to make it out by 4pm. However, this was not the time to dwell, so we all plugged on ahead, up the long steep ridge.

Hours later we were finally nearing the top. Just as we were starting to gain some confidence that the top would appear we hit a mini cliff. Neither right nor left looked good. It is times like these where you are thankful you are in a group and can pull together and get each other out. After a long scout around, we decided to contour around to the right and then try to ascend. About here, the worst scrub you could ever imagine appeared. This impenetrable scrub which scratched and bruised us head to toe had been aptly named 'shitis guouogangii' by David Noble-Wollemi Pines guy. Exhausted we took a break and reassessed. It was a long way back to camp. Although it was a strong, and less steep ridge down it was going to require quite a bit of night navigation. We had made it to the summit plateau, and had reached the point at which we would have to turn down onto a new ridge to get back to camp. The actual summit, and the log book however lay about a kilometre further - at least 45 minutes out and back. Despite having made it so close, we all agreed that this was good enough for today, and that the 45 minutes would be wiser spent getting home. In the end it turned out to be a very, very wise decision.

In the middle of the "shitis guouogangii" scrub on Mt Guouogang 1260m after having climbed Nooroo Buttress. We were so tired that Chris and Nat did not have the energy to turn around for the photo (9.26pm).

So off we plunged again, however this time into the unknown and the darkness. Unlike in the day when you could see and pick out your ridges, now, we literally had to plunge off ridges, following our noses, and hoping that the right ridges and knolls would appear in front of us. Someone was looking out for us that night, as each time we took a plunge, somehow our landmark appeared.

The descent from the third peak was the longest and hardest. Mentally we were exhausted, wanting to fall asleep even while we were walking. Breaks were well needed and getting up was extremely difficult with every part of the body protesting especially the feet. The soles of our feet were definitely walked out by now, and every step was painful. As always in the bush though, we were stuck in the middle of nowhere and stopping would have got us nowhere. By this stage Jan had become the natural strongman and leader - even with his badly blistered feet, and although we were navigating and stopping regularly to consult the map, it was Jan's instincts and sense of direction that really got us through.

Somehow in the dark all distances get longer. Coming down our final descent, it felt as if we never made any progress. Just as our exhausted and battered bodies were about to pack it in, we reached the bottom. To our dismay though, we were still a little way upstream from our camp. Patiently, we hobbled along the nettle lined creek to find out tents and bed.

Back at base camp on Kanagra Creek (150m) still clasping our trusty sticks.

It was 3.30 am when we reached our tents - 21 and a half hours since we had started. Before bed we tried to discuss our plans for the next day however no one wanted to talk or even think about it. We decided to go to bed and see what tomorrow would bring.

Chris and Nat's view again:

To our surprise we woke quite early. Even better we actually felt quite awake. With our bodies stiff and sore, we woke Jan and packed up camp in preparation for the day ahead.

We took our time, eating breakky and struggling painfully into boots and shoes. To our surprise, our setting off photo showed the time as 7.30am, which meant we'd had only 3 hours sleep! We hoisted our packs, and crossed the stony Cox River again. This time was much more painfully, as the stones pushed their way into our bruised and blistered feet. After was a steady ascent back up to Yellow Dog. We knew the trip down from Katoomba to the Cox had taken 8 hours. This time we were tired and going uphill. We had 10 and a half hours to make it within the 48 hour limit. If we pushed it there was a faint chance we could make it.

However, by the time we reached Mt Yellow Dog, we realised our bodies could not be pushed and that long breaks were to be the order of the day. We hobbled along the track alongside Mt Warrigal and Mt Dingo, everything looking quite a lot different in the daylight. We stopped at Mobb's swamp to fill up at a small creek however it was only just trickling, looked stagnant and stunk. We filled up a few emergency litres and carried on. The track on the way back seemed a lot longer than it did two nights before, however eventually we came to Medlow Gap and could see the cliffs of the end of Narrowneck towering above. Powering on we passed over Mt Derbert to reach Taro's ladder.

Taro's ladder - more fun with a decent pack on your back.

Lunch at the top with magnificent views of all yesterday's peaks. From here you can even see to Kanangra Walls. The dynamics changed here too as Jan started to find his stride and we started to lose ours. We reached the top of clear hill and had about 16km of firetrail and road ahead. It was around 2.30pm and we realised finally that we had no chance of making the 48 hour cut off. By this stage however, we didn't really care. All we were worried about was how on earth we would force our bodies all the way to Katoomba. We didn't even care that we had done the 3 peaks we just wanted to be home in a hot bath.

The firetrail stretched on and the hard surface really took its toll on already swollen feet. Hours later we reached the locked gate and were dismayed to see two empty vans pull away just in front of us. However we had decided having made it this far there was to be no piking. We limped all the way back to Katoomba, emotional fatigue making even the final steps painful and difficult. Mentally, it didn't feel as if we had finally finished until we had reached another pizzaria, ordered and were sitting down.

Almost 51 hours later, 44 of which were spent walking, we are back at 'Pizzaro"

We got large and delicious take away meals, (despite having carried a stove, fuel and 2 dinners all the way down and back) the first hot food we'd had since we'd started. Jan set off on an immediate search of the area for his favourite Ice Coffee Milk of which he'd been dreaming verbally since morning.

We struggled to the station just in time for the 7.30 train, found a carriage and collapsed. Overall it was a successful trip.

Although we swore we would never, ever do the 3 peaks again, a day later we were already planning another attempt for next year. All fatasses are welcome, however it is recommended you bring boots.

Want some advice? Don't wear runners when bushbashing. Your feet will love you for it.

Thanks Dave and Jan for coming along. We couldn't have done it without either of you.

Chris and Nat. Photos and captions by Jan.

Natalie Chan