Toolbrunup Peak and Bluff Knoll, Stirling Range National Park - January 2010

On our road trip home from Western Australia a few years ago we made our way back to Melbourne via the scenic route. One place I'd been wanting to visit for a long time was the Stirling Range National Park about 330 kilometres to the south west of Perth, with only one day to spare I decided to do two walks to get a bit of a taster of the range. My walks of choice were Toolbrunup Peak and the well known Bluff Knoll, being January in Western Australia it was rather warm so I was guaranteed a fair work out. Sam, having the brains in the relationship, decided to stay in the big smoke of Albany for the day instead of climbing mountains in the heat.

I've just finished climbing up the scree onto the main ridge.

With the forecast in the 'bloody warm' range I made one wise decision and that was to head off early in the morning, even so it was still pretty warm when I pulled up in the dusty car park that marked the trail head for Toolrunup Peak. The walk up Toolrunup Peak actually starts off fairly easy however when I got to a long section of scree the easy walking finished, from here it was up, up, and up. The route was marked by stakes on the sections that crossed bare rock, I climbed until I got onto the main ridge that runs east, west  and from there I easily scrambled to the top. The summit was furnished by some nice flat rock slabs that provided a great spot to dry out my sweat soaked shirt while I took in the extensive view.

The final scramble up Toolbrunup Peak.

From the summit of Toolbrunup Peak.

The descent from Toolrunup Peak required care, especially on the loose scree slope, but I made reasonable time and emerged at the car park less than an hour after leaving the summit. From here I headed over to the Bluff Knoll car park munching on a bit of lunch on the way. After parking the car in the almost empty car park I set of towards the summit. By now it was early afternoon and the asphalt car park was blisteringly hot, the walking track itself is also asphalt for a while so I was happy when I got into a section of trees which provided some shade and a bit of respite from the heat.

On top of Toolbrunup Peak with Bluff Knoll in the distance behind me.

The view to the north from Toolrunup Peak.

Heading over to Bluff Knoll, that's Toolbrunup Peak on the top right side of the shot.

The climb was well graded but relentless, I first tracked under the cliffs protecting the summit before rising through a break in the cliffs and climbing onto the broad summit ridge, it was now that the days effort caught up with me and I started to cramp in the Quadriceps, now cramps are never pleasant and with my thighs being the size of a decent tree trunk it was an eye watering experience. After numerous stretches, vigorous rubbing and more liquid I once again resumed my walk to the summit, only to get about 100 metres before cramp hit again, shit! The ironic thing was that I could almost see the summit and I could tell that this bit of the route was actually the easiest of the whole climb. After more rubbing and stretching I headed off again and after quite a few more stops to iron out my spasming muscles I eventually got to the summit, I definitely didn't set any speed records on my climb.

The start of the track up to Bluff Knoll is asphalt.

This was about where I started to cramp up.

Looking towards the west from Bluff Knoll, Toolbrunup Peak in the distance.

Looking along the range towards Ellen Peak, this is the route of the Stirling Ridge Walk.

The view from the 1073 metre summit of Bluff Knoll is extensive as you would expect, my eyes were drawn to the east and the craggy ridge line, this is the route of the famous (well in some circles) Stirling Ridge Walk. I would be back sooner than I thought to do that one and I have done a post about it here. The Stirling Ranges are smack bang in the middle of pancake flat wheat country which only accentuates the ruggedness of the mountains, the cliff lines dropping dramatically to the wheat fields and salt pans. With my leg muscles slowly recovering I started back down towards the car, happy to have all the climbing for the day out of the way but conscious that I only had a few hundred millilitres of water left. Obviously I made it down in one piece and was reunited with Sam that night in Albany, but the Stirling Ranges had left their mark on me and I know that I'm going to spend many days in the future exploring them on foot.

Looking back down towards the Car Park from the summit of Bluff Knoll.

The route of the ridge walk is just visible in a couple of spots.

Ellen Peak.

It was a hot day, notice the salt stains on my shoulder.

The Dirt.
The first walk I did was the Toolrunup Peak walk, at 4 kilometres with 600 metres climbing its a relatively grunty walk. The next walk I did was the Bluff Knoll walk and at 6.2 kilometres and 634 metres climbing its an easier walk, but still no walk in the park. If you have masochistic tendencies like me and want to do them both on the same day it'll make for a hard day, especially if you cop temperatures pushing into the 40 C range as I did. The Toolrunup walk requires some easy scrambling near the top, the Bluff Knoll walk is just a solid climb on a good track. Both walks are in the Stirling Range National Park. I used the notes out of Lonely Planet's Walking in Australia, 4th Edition.

There are plenty of small salt lakes on the flat agricultural land surrounding the Stirling Ranges.

Time to head back down to the little green car.