The
Stirling Range Ridge walk offers a great escape
from the typical dry and arid landscape that is
more typical for Western Australia. The walk is
more of a route than a track as is not marked
apart from some rock cairns, but is fairly easy
to follow as in most parts there is a reasonably
worn path through the vegetation. We have done
the ridge walk as a one day, three day and four
day hike, these notes are for the three day option.
The walk is probably one of the most strenuous
that I have ever done, as there is a lot of steep
climbing and scrambling combined with the requirement
to carry heavy packs due to the lack of a reliable
source of water on the ridge. We carried 7 litres
each which was barely enough for the three days.
My calf muscles burned for 3 or 4 days after the
hike, I guess due to the steepness of the climbs.
Its a great walk in its own right and while the
peaks are around 1000m only, it really felt like
an alpine environment, similar to Tasmania, such
thoughts are given away only by the flat and featureless
plains that surrounded the range.
Anyone contemplating the walk will probably hear
stories of people getting lost and losing the
trail, but with a bit of planning and by making
sure that you carefully study, and bring, AT Morphet's
essential "Mountain Walks in the Stirling
Ranges" trail notes with you, should ensure
that you stay on the right path. However, it is
a pretty tough route not to be underestimated.
We had fairly good weather when we did the walk
in October, but it was very cold - at times I
was walking with three layers of thermals, weather
proof jacket, thermal gloves and thermal beanie.
We experienced white outs in the morning, cyclonic
winds (The windiest conditions I have ever experienced
anywhere), however luckily not much rain. On the
last day we went from wearing all our cold weather
gear in the morning to shorts and T-shirt by the
time we reached the Bluff Knoll parking lot. Living
in Western Australia can lead you to think that
these types of conditions don't exist here, so
you need to be prepared for anything.
We did the walk from Ellen Peak to Bluff Knoll.
I would recommend this direction as Bluff Knoll
is a prominent objective (If you can see it through
the cloud) and it offers the possibility of getting
a lift from the parking lot to wherever your car
is. We stayed at the Stirling Range Caravan Park
on the night before the hike, they offer a shuttle
bus to drop you off at the starting point for
$40. We managed to get a lift at the end of the
hike back to our car which we had left at the
Caravan Park. The other option would be to drive
into the drop off point and walk back to it from
Bluff Knoll along the North East track. Probably
do-able, but would be a bit of a slog on the last
day.
In terms of gear to take, I took exactly what
I had taken to the Overland track in Tasmania,
and used (and needed) everything. In addition
we took 10m of pack hauling rope which we used
through the Arrows to get through a few hairy
descents which were only made difficult due to
the load we were carrying. Also carry plenty of
water. I would recommend taking a tent, although
once you are familiar with the landscape you could
probably get by without, and make use of the camping
caves which offer deluxe accommodation if you
can find them unoccupied. We ended up staying
in a cave the first night and tenting the next.
Personally, I found the She oak cols beautiful
spots to set up tents for camping and this would
be my preference.
These track notes reference AT Morphet's book
and I have noted any discrepancies from the book
to the route we followed. These track notes were
written in November 2005. You can get AT Morphet's
book from any of the outdoor stores around Perth.
Another useful reference for this trip is Wild
magazine, Issue 68 (01 April 1998). This has
some good trip notes and advice that is worth
reading. You can order
a back copy.
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