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Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth would have spent many long hours talking about the mountain crossing. They would have talked about the reasons why other explorers had failed. They would have spoken of the dangers of crossing the Blue Mountains.
Blaxland's plan was to travel along the main high ridge. This ridge appeared to separate the creeks flowing to the Grose River from those flowing to the Warragamba River.
However, the explorers could not be sure of this - the main ridge could end with a sheer drop into a valley, or it could be part of a maze of ridges. James Burns, a free man who hunted kangaroos in the mountains, went with Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. The other three people in the group were convicts. Their names are not known.
Four pack horses and five dogs travelled with the seven men. The horses were not ridden. They carried equipment and six weeks' supplies, including salt meat, flour, tents, at least seven hand guns, compasses, a hoe and tools for cutting.
