The view back towards Mt John Roberts from Wildflower Saddle.
Once again I slept very well last night. The long range weather forecast had been for rain overnight and today, so I was pretty happy to wake this morning and find things still dry... although the gun metal grey sky suggested we wouldn't be dry for long! Our plan today was to walk over into the South Branch of Italowie Creek via Wildflower Saddle with a side trip to Cleft Peak if conditions allowed, although the low, grey clouds were already putting that side trip in doubt. The good news was that we managed to pack up camp and enjoy our breakfast in the dry - the bad news was that as soon as we were ready to set off on the walk it started to rain....bugger.
The walking up Wildflower Creek starts off pretty easy really.
We even had some nice creek side flats to walk.
Wildflower Creek.
Initially this morning Jo and I followed the open country beside Wildflower Creek as we made our way up stream towards Wildflower Saddle, however it wasn't long before the valley got more constricted and we were pretty well creek bed walking again - this time on wet uneven rocks! After just under an hour we passed by the entrance to Cleft Creek on our left and from here on Wildflower Creek got fairly rough and we started climbing reasonably solidly. The rain now was fairly persistent but thankfully fairly light, still it was enough to wet all the vegetation and make the rocks slick, although thankfully the gortex was hanging in there and not wetting out.
Once by passing Cleft Creek on our left Wildflower Creek got a bit rougher and started climbing a little more seriously.
Wildflower Creek.
With Wildflower Creek slowly arcing around to the south-west we arrived at a fairly open slope that we were able to climb west up to Wildflower Saddle. While the climb was steep and loose it really wasn't too bad as the open country allowed us to zig zag a bit, which not only eased the gradient a bit but also allowed us to miss any of the thicker sections of spinifex. It was a fairly short climb from the creek to the saddle and we soon found ourselves standing on the watershed between the south and north branches of Italowie Creeks - in the rain and the wind! It was obvious that the side trip from here to Cleft Peak was off the afternoon's agenda now, so as Jo huddled beneath her umbrella trying to stay a little warm and dry I rock hopped around a bit trying to do some justice to the scene with my camera - in the rain. Needless to say most of today's photos are taken on my phone with the DSLR mostly staying within it's dry bag.
The climb out of Wildflower Creek was a solid one.
While the climb needed a bit of grunt at least it was fairly short.
Wildflower Saddle.
I'm still looking pretty happy with life up on Wildflower Saddle.
We've just climbed out of that valley.
Wildflower Saddle.
Looking in the Cleft Peak direction from Wildflower Saddle.
Wildflower Saddle.
With hypothermia a real chance we figured that we'd better get off Wildflower Saddle, although that required a bit of caution too. For the first time since setting off on this walk there was actually something that kind of resembled a track as we dropped off Wildflower Saddle, although in reality it was probably just an open area of scree really that the local wallabies and goats use. To get off Wildflower Saddle we dropped extremely steeply down the wet scree / track, hugging the sheer walls of the gully most of the way. Like the climb into the saddle the descent was pretty short though and we were soon both down safely. With the persistent light rain still falling we decided to give Rover Rockhole a miss today and instead rock hopped our way downstream for ten minutes to arrive at the South Branch of Italowie Creek. After a little scouting around we found ourselves a nice flat camp 50 metres from a beautiful rock pool and camp was sorted. Now I'd like to regale everyone with tales of and afternoons spent adventuring... but I'd be bull shitting you! Most of our afternoon was spent lying on our backs watching the rain drops slide down our tents - still a bad days walking is still better than the best day at work!
We dropped down this steep and loose pad off Wildflower Saddle.
We had rock beside us for a fair bit of the descent.
Once off the saddle we arrived at the creek to find it gently trickling.
With the rain still coming down it was time to find somewhere to get the tents up.
The Dirt.
According to my map we walked around 4 kilometres and climbed about 250 metres on what was another fairly hard days walking. While the day was once again very short and the metres climbed suggest a fairly easy day, the rough walking and the rain kept us honest today. Once again we found water in numerous spots today with the creek leading down from Rover Rockhole actually flowing for long lengths and the South Branch of Italowie Creek featuring numerous big water holes. We used notes and maps out of both Chapmans Bushwalking in Australia book as well as Adrian Heard's A Walking Guide to the Northern Flinders Ranges. We also used our GPS topos, an Alltrails map that I knocked up and the third edition of the Illinawortina 1:50,000 topo.
Relevant Posts.
It was a pretty relaxed afternoon once camp was sorted.
Once the rain did stop a bit the view from the tent wasn't a bad one.
Our South Branch of Italowie Creek camp.
The moon was poking through the clouds...maybe the weather would be more favourable tomorrow?
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