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The Stirling Range Ridge walk was one hell of an introduction to hiking and I wouldn't change a second of it. Link to picture gallery
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Bluff knoll from the car park |
I've never hiked with a pack, or carried enough food/water/clothes/tents to stay out overnight. Ironic considering I've over 10 years of Rogaining behind me but you can do that with a car near. I went with nine other people, all far more experienced than me, I shared food with three others and a tent with one. I think I carried about 18-20kg in and about 10-12kg out.
Day One was shuffling cars so we had something to hike back out to and getting ourselves delivered to the car park at the base of Bluff knoll. It's an impressive sight, it goes up and up. The rocky top rises out of the greenery and even vanishes sometimes; cloaked in clouds. We headed steadily up, being overtaken by teenagers with day packs (the boys usually carrying and the girls skipping ahead), it was hard work but utterly worth it at the top, the view is incredible.
After a rest and a chance to look around we headed East to begin the approach to Moongoongoonderup Hill and eat lunch. The previous day the peaks had clouds touching them but the wind was down and the weather was beautiful. Our campsite for the night was in a saddle protected by eucalypts and the sight of the sun hitting the range as it sank was glorious.
We made hot chocolate and a tasty vegetable pasta then passed around chocolate chip cookies while darkness fell. We then spent some happy hours standing huddled together against the cold discussing the stars. I can now find Scorpius and the Emu.
Day Two saw us hiking up Isongerup Peak and doing some scary rock climbing in The Arrows. I've never done any rock climbing either and can now confirm that I'm definitely scared of heights, especially when I'm carrying a heavy pack and clinging to the side of a cliff. The group was very supportive and I inched my way up and across a rockface feeling a mixture of determination, enthusiasm and terror. It was worth it to get to the top and know I had done it.
We camped in a cave that night and some of the guys produced a magnificent polenta, mango and custard based dessert. The climbing came in handy as the cave was a good 2-3 meters up from our tiny trail and you had to really hear Nature's call before being willing to answer it. Sunset saw us sitting, cooking and watching smoke drift across the landscape from farmer's burning off, we were high enough up that eagles would sometimes soar past beneath us.
I feel asleep to the sound of some erratic singing as the more energetic hikers worked their way through an eclectic range of rounds, soft rock, musicals and christmas carols. A couple of very nice bass voices in there.
Day Three was getting out of the Arrows which involved some brisk scrambling on hands and feet and circumnavigating Pyungoorup Peak. It was hard work but the Eastern side is amazing, it gets a lot less light and has delicate mosses, grasses, tiny trees and a vast amount of sword grass. We climbed, hiked, crawled and slid through some absolutely beautiful places.
We amused ourselves singing songs, slithering down steep hillsides and trying to come up with a justification for cutting NE as we came off Ellen Peak but decided to stick with the track rather than take a 'short-cut' back to the cars. It meant quickly building a dead tree bridge to cross a creek and some inspired hilarity when it didn't quite work as intended then we all hiked back to the cars for manly chest bearing and clothes changing and less manly not-chest baring and boot removing.
I have no blisters, I *love* my boots.
There were three cars worth of tired, happy hikers so we took off to take a final photo of the ridge then convoyed to Kojonup to walk around very slowly and eat burgers
Day One was shuffling cars so we had something to hike back out to and getting ourselves delivered to the car park at the base of Bluff knoll. It's an impressive sight, it goes up and up. The rocky top rises out of the greenery and even vanishes sometimes; cloaked in clouds. We headed steadily up, being overtaken by teenagers with day packs (the boys usually carrying and the girls skipping ahead), it was hard work but utterly worth it at the top, the view is incredible.
After a rest and a chance to look around we headed East to begin the approach to Moongoongoonderup Hill and eat lunch. The previous day the peaks had clouds touching them but the wind was down and the weather was beautiful. Our campsite for the night was in a saddle protected by eucalypts and the sight of the sun hitting the range as it sank was glorious.
We made hot chocolate and a tasty vegetable pasta then passed around chocolate chip cookies while darkness fell. We then spent some happy hours standing huddled together against the cold discussing the stars. I can now find Scorpius and the Emu.
Day Two saw us hiking up Isongerup Peak and doing some scary rock climbing in The Arrows. I've never done any rock climbing either and can now confirm that I'm definitely scared of heights, especially when I'm carrying a heavy pack and clinging to the side of a cliff. The group was very supportive and I inched my way up and across a rockface feeling a mixture of determination, enthusiasm and terror. It was worth it to get to the top and know I had done it.
We camped in a cave that night and some of the guys produced a magnificent polenta, mango and custard based dessert. The climbing came in handy as the cave was a good 2-3 meters up from our tiny trail and you had to really hear Nature's call before being willing to answer it. Sunset saw us sitting, cooking and watching smoke drift across the landscape from farmer's burning off, we were high enough up that eagles would sometimes soar past beneath us.
I feel asleep to the sound of some erratic singing as the more energetic hikers worked their way through an eclectic range of rounds, soft rock, musicals and christmas carols. A couple of very nice bass voices in there.
Day Three was getting out of the Arrows which involved some brisk scrambling on hands and feet and circumnavigating Pyungoorup Peak. It was hard work but the Eastern side is amazing, it gets a lot less light and has delicate mosses, grasses, tiny trees and a vast amount of sword grass. We climbed, hiked, crawled and slid through some absolutely beautiful places.
We amused ourselves singing songs, slithering down steep hillsides and trying to come up with a justification for cutting NE as we came off Ellen Peak but decided to stick with the track rather than take a 'short-cut' back to the cars. It meant quickly building a dead tree bridge to cross a creek and some inspired hilarity when it didn't quite work as intended then we all hiked back to the cars for manly chest bearing and clothes changing and less manly not-chest baring and boot removing.
I have no blisters, I *love* my boots.
There were three cars worth of tired, happy hikers so we took off to take a final photo of the ridge then convoyed to Kojonup to walk around very slowly and eat burgers
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So glad you had a wonderful time :)
*snuggles*
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[grins]
With dive trips it's all fish, fish and coral; now I can branch out into sky, rocks and trees!
tearing myself away...
"I am SO jealous and homesick and jealous and impressed."
What an amazing trip!
It is the type of thing I've always thought I would love to do and never make the time to ACTUALLY do. Did I mention the jealous bit? Both of the fact you went and the ability to organise going!
Re: tearing myself away...
I have gotten *so* much out of joining the OutDoorClub, between the paddling, the hiking, the Ningaloo trip we're organising, the way A. keeps trying to talk me into going rock climbing and the sheer possibilities that abound every week I feel very fortunate.
Joel just emailed a link to more photos (http://odc.joelday.com/) you'll like them - he does funky landscapes.