On August 18, 1853, Amelia Stewart Knight began the ascent of the Blue Mountains on a lovely morning, with travelers delighted to be near timber again after weary months on dry, dusty sage plains and shouting to hear their echoes ring through the woods. Yet despite pleasure at the change in scenery, emigrants found little time to enjoy these forested slopes as they began the climb, which David Maynard on September 2, 1850, portrayed as a punishing stretch.