Stirling Ridge Walk WA in October
Posted: Wed 03 Oct, 2007 5:08 pm
Inspired by our walk in July we went back to the ridge last week end. We again attempted the track from east to west - this time the way seemed a little clearer - navigation-wise I mean.
We drove down from Perth to the Stirlings on Friday night - around 400 kilometres - not many windy roads here! We were shuttled out to the Ellen Peak end of the track by Tony from the local retreat - a great service.
The weather was much kinder and being a long weekend, the beginning of WA's school holidays and spring there was a cast of thousands up there - compared to last time when we met not a soul until we reached the summit of Bluff Knoll. We met up each day with two other parties - all of whom were great company. We shared pack hauling and walking tips galore.
We met several parties of walkers going west to east. We took three days to enjoy our walk, as did the others. Only one group tackled the ridge in a day - you would really need to be super fit and not wanting to look around!
The whole walk is fabulous but the most difficult section is through the Three Arrows. Main draw back is lack of water but fortunately there was water in the barrell at Third Arrow.
Again the wedge-tail eagles were a highlight, accompanying us all the way. The wildflowers were fabulous at all levels of the ridge.
We can feel our fitness level increasing which is reassuring as we are planning to come to Tasmania in Feb/March to tackle the Western Arthur Range.
We drove down from Perth to the Stirlings on Friday night - around 400 kilometres - not many windy roads here! We were shuttled out to the Ellen Peak end of the track by Tony from the local retreat - a great service.
The weather was much kinder and being a long weekend, the beginning of WA's school holidays and spring there was a cast of thousands up there - compared to last time when we met not a soul until we reached the summit of Bluff Knoll. We met up each day with two other parties - all of whom were great company. We shared pack hauling and walking tips galore.
We met several parties of walkers going west to east. We took three days to enjoy our walk, as did the others. Only one group tackled the ridge in a day - you would really need to be super fit and not wanting to look around!
The whole walk is fabulous but the most difficult section is through the Three Arrows. Main draw back is lack of water but fortunately there was water in the barrell at Third Arrow.
Again the wedge-tail eagles were a highlight, accompanying us all the way. The wildflowers were fabulous at all levels of the ridge.
We can feel our fitness level increasing which is reassuring as we are planning to come to Tasmania in Feb/March to tackle the Western Arthur Range.