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We started the hike at the crowded trailhead near the bathrooms. On this
side of the overlook, the trail is one way, with the right side heading up and the
left side coming down. We followed the herd heading uphill on the right trail.
Soon we had visions below/behind us of Promise Bay.
Promise Bay
The trail is relatively short. It says 45 minutes to reach the overlook, but it took
us less than 25. Once at the saddle, there's a short 2 minute walk to the left to the
overlook itself. From here, you can see Wineglass Bay on the other side. That,
and hordes of humanity taking selfies.
Wineglass Bay
Wineglass Bay
Wineglass Bay Lookout
We wanted to make sure our bus driver knew we were heading down to Wineglass Bay
(most of our tour group was heading back instead), so we waited a few minutes here
until he arrived. After he did, we headed down the trail toward Wineglass Bay.
We had less than 2 and a half hours to go to the beach, have lunch, and return
to the trailhead. I was a little worried we'd have to rush, but I needn't have worried.
It took us only about 20 minutes to make the steepish downhill trek to Wineglass
Bay. There, we found a large beach with lots of people. We settled near the
orange-tinted rocks to the left, away from most of the crowds. We ate lunch under
shade of a tree. Afterwards, I explored the rocks further up the coast. We probably
spent about an hour at the beach before deciding we had to start heading back.
Wineglass Beach
Wineglass Beach
Wineglass Bay
Rocky coast of Wineglass Bay
Rocky coast of Wineglass Bay
Rocky coast of Wineglass Bay
Wineglass Beach
Rocky coast of Wineglass Bay
Despite the overcast skies, I was covered in sweat on the trek back to the overlook,
as it's a constant uphill climb, often with stairs. Still, it only took about
25 minutes to reach the saddle. Then it was downhill on the one-way trail back
to the trailhead. I got stuck behind several large slow groups, then just as
I reached the bottom someone asked me to take a picture. I obliged, but then his
phone immediately ran out of battery and he had to fumble around and get another
phone. Even with the delays, I made it down in about 20 minutes. We reached the
trailhead in plenty of time to meet up with our tour group.
Stairs climbing back up from Wineglass Beach
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