First Arrow Camping Cave to Stirling Range Retreat, Stirling Ridge Walk, Stirling Ranges National Park - December 2011

Watching the sun setting on Ellen Peak from the Stirling Range Retreat tonight, once I'd finished the walk.

I woke up bright and early in my cave. Unfortunately my thermo rest had developed a leak overnight, still I had slept pretty good considering I'd spent most of the night lying on lumpy rock. With my next water source still an indeterminate distance away it meant that brekky was a couple of muesli bars washed down with a mouthful of warm water, however the view made up for the menu somewhat. Pulling on my boots I was feeling pretty stiff this morning after yesterdays effort, however I was pretty keen to try and finish the walk today as the weather was heating up.

I've just scrambled on the First Arrow summit. 

First up this morning I had to finish the climb over First Arrow, from the cave it was only a short scramble and I was on top. The descent into the saddle before Second Arrow was easy, the climb was fairly straight forward compared to the scramble up First Arrow. Once again, the descent off Second Arrow was a pleasant ramble down to the saddle before Third Arrow. From the saddle I had a short climb to the rock faces of Third Arrow, a tall chasm split the cliffs which was the ongoing route. Before climbing the chasm I followed the cliffs around to the south for 5 minutes and then climbed steeply up a gully to the only semi reliable water supply on the walk. High up in the gully there is a barrel which collects drips from the cliffs, conscious of the scarce supply I only used 1 litre, that would give me a little buffer, as I didn't expect to find any more on the walk.

The view west from Second Arrow over First Arrow to Isongereup Peak.

There is a barrel collecting rain water drops high up this chasm on the Third Arrow - back in the day it was the only semi reliable water along the length of the ridge. I'd check with the local ranger about the current situation if I was heading back now though.

After returning to my pack at the bottom of the chasm I climbed the central gully which deposited me onto the north side of Third Arrow where I was now fully exposed to the sun, and it was certainly heating up. The route then followed the cliffs, passing between east buttress and east pinnacle before meeting the summit ridge. The route from here down past Little Arrow and over the rounded summit of Bakers Knob was again easy walking, the actual summit of Bakers Knob is slightly to the south of the main pad. Basically I just headed for the saddle between Bakers Knob and Pyungoorup Peak making my way through the low scrub via the route of least resistance, once again there were a few spots along here where pitching a tent would be possible I guess.

My climbing gully that got me onto the eastern side of Third Arrow.

I was in the shade now for awhile.

Things were staring to get a bit warm now... it was around this spot where I decided I'd definitely  finish the walk today and not spend an extra night on the range.

On leaving the saddle the route got a lot rougher, I had to traverse the south side of the cliffs of Pyungoorup Peak. This involved trying to stay as close to the bottom of the cliffs as possible while manoeuvring around various topographical obstacles. The scrub was fairly anti social along the traverse and I managed to cut my hand on some sword grass which didn't improve my mood. Still, on the positive side I was now on the south side of the cliffs so at least I was in the shade. Just over half way along the traverse I passed a roomy cave which would make a good camp... providing there was no weather coming in from the south. After the cave there was a narrow section on grassy ledges with some fairly serious exposure to negotiate. Soon after the narrow ledges the route climbed up to the main ridge through some thick head high scrub to gain the ridge crest again.

The eastern end of the range is the most rugged section of the walk.

Once on the ridge it was an easy stroll down to the saddle before Ellen Peak. I now had a choice of climbing over Ellen Peak or traversing the cliffs on the north west side. The temperature was now well into the 30's and after taking stock of my water supplies I decided that it would be prudent to bypass Ellen Peak and traverse below the cliffs. The route stayed close to the cliffs, passing over rock ledges and through She Oak groves, eventually meeting the summit route on a spur leading down to the north east.

I decided to sidle the cliffs of Ellen Peak on the north side.

Ellen Peak still remains un finished business for me ... you've gotta have dreams!

The hard walking was pretty well over now although I still had a long way to go... first up I had to drop down to meet a 4wd track near that cleared land.

The challenging section of the walk was now over however I still had 17 kilometres to go in the heat of the afternoon. Initially the track heads steeply down to the south east before swinging south, then south west. My feet were giving me a hard time on the descent although I was able to take my mind off them a bit with the view as I headed down the spur. The further down I went the higher the vegetation got, near the top there was low heath and wild flowers, towards the bottom it was more Mallee scrub. After an hour I decided to break out my GPS for the first time on the walk, to see how far I had to go before I reached North East fire track... not far was what it told me. Sure enough, 10 minutes later I met the fire track.

Ellen Peak on the left... Isongerup Peak on the right... the Arrows are in the middle and Bluff Knoll is out of frame on the right.

Looking back up towards Ellen Peak.

Dropping lower down the scrub started to get higher.

I now had 13 kilometres to go, mostly along the North East Track, a management 4wd track that heads due west along the base of the range. It was now early afternoon and I wasn't really looking forward to my afternoons death march into the setting sun, changing into my walking shorts I resigned myself to a very hot and dusty afternoon trudging along a fire track. So it was with some disbelief that when I reached the first creek I found that not only was it flowing but there was a pool of water deep enough to soak in. I spent the next hour soaking in Woolaganup Creek, coming out only to grab something to eat or take a photo before slinking back into the welcoming embrace of the cool water.

I was looking for North East Track now.

The range was receding in the distance over my shoulder.

I've just come out on North East Track, all I had to do now was to turn left and keep trudging.

Suitably cooled and rehydrated it was still with some reluctance that I eventually had to leave Woolaganup Creek however I still had 12 kilometres to go. The hot fire track was hard on my feet, the small rocks felt like they were cooking my soles. The views to the south helped to keep my mind off the pain in my feet to some degree though and I was able to tick off all the peaks that I'd spent one and a half days crossing. Once again I found the GPS useful as it helped me break the fire track into bite size chunks. After 3 hours of weaving my way along the fire track looking for shade, I arrived back at Bluff Knoll Road, my walk back enlivened a bit by big mobs of Kangaroos and Emus grazing along the way. Just before arriving back at Bluff Knoll Road I crossed Ongarup Creek and once again found some flowing water, for a walk where I was really only hoping to find water at the barrel on the side of the Third Arrow I'd actually found water in 5 different spots... that was a real bonus.

Finding water in Woolaganup Creek was a real bonus this afternoon...

... and finding enough water to soak in was even better!

The walk was coming to an end now, I crossed Bluff Knoll road to the walkers registration booth and signed out, taking the obligatory 'after' photo as well. All that was left was to hobble along the bitumen road a bit, cross over Chester Pass road and head into the Stirling Range Retreat to pick up my car. After getting a cabin for the night I headed straight for the shower. That night I kicked back in the cabin, appreciating the cold water from the fridge and re-lived the walk through my photos. I love the euphoric feeling I get after I have pushed myself a bit on a walk and I slept well in the clean bed that night.

Back at Bluff Knoll Road my death march walk along North East Track has just finished.

The Dirt.

I walked 20 kilometres and climbed around 700 metres on today's hard walk. Over the two days of my Stirling Ridge Walk I walked 29 kilometres and climbed 1950 metres on what is a tough stroll. Water today was available at the barrel on the side of Third Arrow, Woolaganup and Ongarupo Creeks with the barrel on Third Arrow being the most reliable (check with the ranger before setting off). I really enjoyed The Stirling Ridge Walk although this is not a walk for the inexperienced. There are sections of good walking and fire track, but most of the time you will need to find a route through cliff lines and scrub, often without much sign of a traditional style of track. To complete this walk you need to be self sufficient, competent with navigation, and have a reasonable head for heights. Now although I tackled the walk in summer, it would be far more comfortable in Autumn or Spring, summer is only for the experienced and even then you have to get lucky and be flexible with the weather. It is also worth noting that a lot of parties take three days to complete this walk.

On this walk I carried a PLB and a GPS as well as a map and a compass, I used a Telstra mobile which had coverage most of the time (I was able to call my wife while relaxing in my cave). I carried 9 litres of water and had to ration it carefully, the surface water I found cannot be relied upon. I also wore old work clothes to protect me from the scratchy scrub and some canvas gardening gloves (which I wasn't wearing when I cut my hand on the sword grass). Depending on your confidence on steep ground some parties may need a length of rope for pack hauling around First Arrow (5 meters should be enough). I also used two sets of route notes for the walk, Bushwalking in Australia by John and Monica Chapman, and Mountain Walks in the Stirling Range by AT Morphet. Both these books are highly recommended.

The cabin at the Stirling Range Retreat was pretty basic but it did have a good shower, a clean bed and cool water in the fridge and that was all I really needed to make me happy tonight.

Before attempting this walk you need to get approval from the ranger in charge of The Stirling Range National Park. You can organise transport to and from the walk through the Stirling Range Retreat, and it is well worth spending a night or two there before or after the walk as the owners are extremely knowledgeable on the Stirling Ranges and they run a very friendly resort. Finally remember that these are my recollections of a walk that I did almost ten years ago so expect things to be a little different on the ground now.

Relevant Posts.

Bluff Knoll Carpark to First Arrow Camping Cave, Stirling Ranges National Park, 2011.

Sunset over the Stirling Ranges National Park, I'm looking forward to coming back here one day.

Bluff Knoll Carpark to First Arrow Camping Cave, Stirling Ridge Walk, Stirling Ranges National Park - December 2011

Tomorrows first objective.

Alright, with the Corona Virus hanging around and pretty well all travel still off the agenda, I've decided to go retro again. This walk was first written up on my Crazy Guy Journal before I even had a blog, now those old journals were my first attempts at writing and publishing anything on the web and they were pretty rudimentary affairs. So whilst I'm sitting home getting fatter and fatter as the virus wrecks it's havoc on the world I figured I might revisit some of those old walks. At the same time I've dug out my photos to see if I've got anything half decent that wasn't in the original posts. Now there is good news and bad news on the photo side of things - I have indeed got a lot of unpublished photos, however to be honest most of them are pretty crap, yes it seems like there is a good reason I left then out initially! Still not to be deterred by mediocrity (it's never stopped me before) I've fixed some of then up a bit to slot them into these retro posts while at the same time I've also fixed up a bit of the writing. Hopefully this will stop me going insane during these interminable Corona lockdowns... and maybe someone else will gain something from them?

 

The night before the walk I stayed in one of these rammed earth cabins at the Stirling Range Retreat - it was pretty cheap and cheerful accommodation but perfect for me.

After checking in I took a drive up to the Bluff Knoll Carpark.

With Christmas coming up back in 2011, I decided to get in a walk in Western Australia before Sam and I headed off for a planned trip to Mauritius. Leading up to the trip all was going good, annual leave had been approved, flights had been organised, and all the logistics were sorted. I'd planned a week on the Cape to Cape Track and in my mind I could already see myself slowly making my way down the coast from beach to beach. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other idea's though and a month before I was due to leave there was a massive fire in the Margaret River area, the bushfire wiping out a large section in the middle of the walk...bugger. So with a month to go I had to find a plan 'B'. The Stirling Ridge Walk had always appealed to me, however I knew from previous experience it can get very hot in the Stirling Ranges in December. Anyway after consulting with the local ranger, I decided that I would head over and if the forecast looked OK, I would go for it.

 

Bluff Knoll from the car park - I was hoping that the weather would be so nice tomorrow morning.

Bluff Knoll from the carpark.

After a fairly quick trans-continental drive I arrived at the Stirling Range Retreat where I had a cabin booked for the night. This place provided not only a comfortable spot for the night but I'd also organised a shuttle up to the Bluff Knoll Car Park with them the next morning. I spent the rest of the afternoon here testing out the swimming pool before heading out into some farm paddocks to watch the sun setting on the Stirling Ranges, my whole ridge walk being laid before me. Next morning I woke up nice and early and stumbled out of my cabin, I was anxious to get a look at the range and make sure the weather looked OK. Luckily it looked fairly clear on top, with a forecast high in the 20˚ today and in the 30˚ tomorrow all was looking promising. So now everything was set, I went back and had a big brekky, finished my orange juice and presented myself at the retreat's office for my lift up to Bluff Knoll carpark.

The Stirling Ridge Walk traverses that ridge line - it all looks pretty easy from down here!

I drove out into the paddock to get the sunset view back to the mountains - looking back I'm not sure on the legalities of this?... I'm thinking that someone must have told me that it was OK however it would probably pay to check with someone at the retreat if this is still OK, as it is on private property.

The Stirling Range Retreat is just inside the tree line. That's Bluff Knoll towering overhead in the late afternoon sun.

The first section of the walk follows an excellent tourist track to the top of Bluff Knoll. Even though it is a very well graded track it still involves a climb of around 700m over 2.5 km so it got the heart started, especially when carrying 9 litres of water (which was the bare minimum that I thought that I needed to survive if I couldn't find water on the ridge). Ironically about 30 minutes into the climb I came across a small waterfall, this was a good sign since normally all watercourses are dry, especially over summer. After having a good drink at the waterfall I ground my way up to the top of Bluff Knoll which at 1094m is the highest mountain in the south of Western Australia and normally sees snow a once or twice a year.

Alright...it's time to head off. I was using my work clothes on this walk as I hoped that they'd handle the scratchy scrub a little better than my more hi tech walking clothes. Similarly I was lugging around my old canvas Macpac pack as it is pretty well bullet proof.

I was lucky that there had been a little rain in the area recently.

Climbing up the tourist track towards the Bluff Knoll summit I was soon out of the trees.

Looking southwest as I climbed Bluff Knoll.

After a stop on top of Bluff Knoll for the obligatory photo it was time to push on to the east. From here to Ellen Peak the track is vague to say the least. I would class most of the route as a bushwalking pad, however there were stretches where the pad disappears altogether. The first aim was East Peak and to get there I had to bypass The Chasm, luckily the scrub was OK and the navigation was easy and I was soon on East Peak taking in another grand stand view, the huge north facing cliffs of Bluff Knoll looking particularly impressive from here. 

Well that's the heart started!

Time for my second breakfast on Bluff Knoll.

Bluff Knoll is the walks high point - so it should be pretty easy from here on, hey.

Heading off from East Peak it was important that I found the correct ridge heading north. From here the route drops down to around 600m and does a big gentle arc to the north before climbing again to Isongerup Peak. Initially the route drops very steeply but after awhile the gradient eases off and my knees stopped screaming. Apart from the patches of scratchy scrub the walking was fairly easy and I soon reached a small clearing in the Mallee trees just before the route starts to climb again towards Moongoongoonderup Hill (I'm not making these names up!). As it was now early afternoon I decided it was time for lunch - salami and cheese, washed down with luke warm water, yum! This spot is also one of the few flat spots along the ridge where it is possible to pitch a few tents, although it was way too early for me to pull the pin today. 

Heading east from Bluff Knoll I passed above The Chasm.

This is a fragile area so practise the leave no trace principles.

The view back towards the cliffs of Bluff Knoll are pretty sweet from East Peak.

Dropping off East Peak the scrub wasn't too bad.

I dropped down this grassy ramp...

... by passing a few of these rocky knobs on the eastern side.

While the scrub wasn't too bad the initial descent from East Peak was steep.

I was dropping down towards that band of Mallee Trees (in the middle of the photo) in the saddle below Moongoongoonderup Hill.

After a bit of a nanna nap under the trees it was time to commence the climb up Isongerup Peak. The route arcs to the south before heading NNE above the cliffs of Isongerup Peak. Apart from small sections of scrub the route was a straight forward grunt. I had the added bonus of finding a small rill of water running beside the pad so I was able to drink to my hearts content. As I had been rationing my water on the assumption that I wouldn't find any on the walk then any extra water that found was a big bonus.

On reaching the saddle below Moongoongoonderup Hill it was time for a break in the shade.

This clearing in the Malle Trees is one of the few big open spaces to camp on along the length of the range.

Isongerup Peak... my next objective.

I take any excuse to stop and get my breath back.

Taking in the view back over my shoulder towards Bluff Knoll as I climbed Isongerup Peak... progress was still being made.

I found a rill of water in that shallow gully to the left of the pad as I climbed Isongerup Peak.

It was probably only in the mid twenties today, although with little in the way of shade on offer up here on the range, combined with the rough walking meant that I was feeling it a bit, so finding a rill of flowing water was a real bonus.

By the time I got to the summit of Isongerup Peak I was getting pretty tired so I decided to head for a cave near the top of First Arrow for the night. The walk across Isongerup Peak towards the She Oak Col before the First Arrow was very pleasant. I was walking through a garden of windflowers and I had a couple of Wedgetail Eagles soaring on the thermals around me. She Oak Col is a beautiful spot where you can rest before tackling the Arrows. From here until Ellen Peak the trail gets pretty rough and scrambly. The ascent of First Arrow is probably the crux of the traverse I guess, I found it OK without a rope but some people may need a rope for pack hauling. The main problem that I had was that of my pack hitting rock above me as I was climbing up ledges, which meant I had to crawl on hands and knees for small sections before staggering to my feet again.

Isongerup Peak also features some fairly formidable cliff lines.

Once on the summit of Isongerup Peak the walking was pretty easy as I dropped into She Oak Col below The First Arrow.

Looking back west towards Bluff Knoll from near Isongerup Peak.

Late afternoon heading towards the First Arrow on the Stirling Ridge Walk.

I'm thinking Spring in the Stirling Ranges must be pretty impressive as far as wild flowers go.

It was with some relief that I reached the small saddle high on the First Arrow, from here it was only a few metres to my cave. The cave had an awesome view north of the farms on the flat plains below, the same plains that I'd been taking in the sunset view of the range yesterday afternoon. After I made myself comfortable in my little cave I enjoyed my usual bushwalking meal of freeze dried while taking in the extensive view. After giving Sam a call to let here know all was well I settled into bed to do a bit of reading although the reading didn't last long as I was fairly well exhausted. My last conscious thought that night was "I hope I don't sleep walk".

The only company that I'd had all day were the Wedgetail Eagles soaring on the thermals around me.

The easy walking is pretty well over for awhile. I'm about to drop into She Oak Col.

First Arrow from the She Oak Col... from here until I dropped off Ellen Peak tomorrow the walking  would be very slow.

My camping cave on the side of the First Arrow. Mr Chapman suggests that up to 6 people could be accommodated here... I'm thinking no more than 3 would be comfortable.

The Dirt.

I walked around 9 kilometres and climbed around 1250 metres on today's hard walk. The stats don't really tell the whole story today though. Once leaving the tourist track on the top of Bluff Knoll the going is pretty rough and slow. While The Stirling Ridge Walk is promoted as an off track walk for the most part today there was a pad, it was only really while scrambling up the First Arrow that there wasn't really a pad to follow, although there were cairns. Speaking of scrambling the ascent of First Arrow will require the use of hands as well as feet. The scrambling itself is fairly strait forward although I found my pack snagging on rocks above me as I scrambled up some of the ledges. Some people may have to pack haul this bit - I find different peoples tolerance for scrambling can vary wildly though. There were camp sites in the Mallee Trees at the saddle below Moongoongoonderup Hill as well as in the She Oak Col below the First Arrow. The cave at First Arrow where I stayed could sleep two or three at a pinch although one was more comfortable. I got water at a small waterfall beside the track on the climb up to Bluff Knoll as well as from a small rill of water just north of the pad on the climb to Isongerup Peak - I wouldn't rely on these sources though.

Relevant Posts.

Toolbrunup Peak & Bluff Knoll, Stirling Range National Park, 2010.

Nancy Peak & Devil's Slide, Porongurup National Park, 2010.

The view north from my cave on the First Arrow.

Looking east along the range from my cave on the First Arrow.

Ellen Peak from First Arrow ... tomorrows objective.

Day 1 is over and it's time for bed.