Tag Archive for 'Grampians'
Prior Posting: The High Point of the Grampians, Mt. Williams
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After walking up Mt. William we proceeded to continue driving down through the southern Grampians. Highway C216 goes through the center of a narrow valley dominated by rocky peaks on each side that sticks out into the surrounding farm land like the tail of an animal.
Our plan was to take the scenic route home by driving the length of the highway to the city of Dunkeld than taking Highway B160 to the east in order to go to Ballarat and return to Melbourne via the Western Freeway. The southern portion of the park was almost entirely scorched by the January 2006 bushfires yet it still was quite a scenic ride despite the bushfire damage.
The regeneration of the forest from the bushfire was evident all throughout the drive through the southern Grampians:
As the road reached the southern most portion of the Grampians the trees and bush became less and less thick:
At the very tail of the Grampians is Mt. Abrupt:
Mt. Abrupt received it’s name from Major Mitchell due to the fact that the mountain rised abruptly 825 meters from the surrounding farm land. The mountain would also be the first peak in the range that Major Mitchell climbed during his exploration through the Grampians.
Near the base of Mt. Abrupt is the city of Dunkeld where we headed back home after a fantastic tour of the Grampians. Here is our last look of the Grampians as we are heading back to Melbourne:
The Grampians are truly one of the scenic wonders of Victoria. If you are in Australia and plan on touring the Great Ocean Road, I highly recommend on the way back to Melbourne after completing the drive to at least stop by for a day to drive through these wonderful mountains. You won’t be disappointed that you did.
Prior Posting: McKenzie Falls and the Jaws of Death
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Next up during our camping trip to the Grampians National Park, was to walk up to the summit of the highest mountain in the range, Mt. William. Mt. William, named after the King of England at the time by Major Mitchell, towers 1167 meters above the rest of the Grampians. Reaching the mountain is only about a 30 minute drive south of Halls Gap. The drive south to the mountain is dominated by rocky peaks and scorched trees from the January 2006 bushfires that burned down over half the park:
Amazingly in such a short time the scorched bush has turned very green:
The trail to the summit of the mountain is easy to reach by just following the signs off the main highway to a road that winds steeply up the side of Mt. William and provides outstanding view looking towards the north of the park:
The road eventually stops at a parking lot where the path to the summit begins. The path is actually a road that is locked by a gate that provides access to a large radio tower on the summit of the mountain:
The road is very steep even though it is paved, so give yourself an hour to get up it if you are of moderate fitness. A short walk from the radio tower leads you to this monument comemorating British explorer, Major Mitchell’s 1836 summiting of the mountain:
The views from the mountain’s summit are absolutely spectacular. Here is the view looking towards the east:
About 250 miles over the horizon in the above picture is where Melbourne is at. This next picture is a view looking directly north:
If you look closely in the above picture; off in the distance the far northern peak is actually Mt. Staypylton that I had climbed earlier during my trip. Finally here is an iconic Grampians view looking towards the northwest:
Mt. Williams is an easy summit to access with great views thus making it a definite must see for anyone thinking about checking out the Grampians.
Next Posting: Exploring the Southern Grampians
Prior Posting: On the Taipan Walls & Mt. Zero
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After seeing a good portion of the north of the Grampians National Park my wife and I decided it was time to check out what the center of the park had to offer. We woke up early, had some cereal, and proceeded to pack up our camp site. We were the only ones in the campground at this point so the kangaroos were quite sad to see us go. Our next destination would be the McKenzie Falls & the Jaws of Death in the Central Grampians:
- 1. MacKenzie Falls & Lake Wartook – MacKenzie River Walk
- 2. Reid Lookout & The Balconies
- 3. Mount Zero, Flat Rock, Hollow Mountain, Mount Stapylton, Gulgurn Manja Shelter & Ngamadjidj Shelter
- 4. Golton Gorge
- 5. Beehive Falls & Briggs Bluff
- 6. Buandik Picnic Area & Falls, Manja Shelter & Billimina Shelter
To reach the central area of the Grampians we had to drive through the pleasant Wartook Valley, which is filled with grazing sheep and bed and breakfast hotels:
Once at the end of the valley we began to drive up a steep and narrow road that took us into the heart of the Grampians. The central Grampians features many steep rocky peaks and thickly forested hillsides:
It is in the central Grampians that the beautiful MacKenzie Falls are located. This waterfall should be on everyone’s shortlist of must see attractions in the Grampians. To reach the falls requires about a 15-20 minute walk, but it is well worth it. This area of the Grampians was devastated by a massive bushfire in January 2006 that actually destroyed nearly half of the park. Along the trail to MacKenzie Falls it is amazing to see how quickly the forests in Australia can recover from bushfires. All along the forest’s floor new trees are coming to life:
The gum trees in Australia need fire in order to reproduce and the same is true for the fern trees that occupy the forest’s floor:
These fern trees only sprout these long stems when they come into contact with fire. These stems are filled with seeds that are spread by the wind and allow the ferns to reproduce. They reproduce quickly because the forest’s floor is already filled with new ferns.
At the end of the trail is a magnificent view of MacKenzie Falls:
It is amazing to see this much water in the middle of western Victoria which is being adversely effected by a debilitating decade long drought.
After checking out the waterfall we then headed over to Reid Lookout which provides an amazing panoramic view looking towards the southwest of the central Grampians:
I put three pictures together using Microsoft Paint (I really need to invest in Photoshop) so the quality isn’t to good, but should give everyone an idea of the sweeping view from the lookout. Additionally, if you look closely you can see the whole vista was consumed by last year’s bushfires, but just like around MacKenzie Falls, the forest is recovering.
From the lookout there is a trail to a well known lookout known as the Jaws of Death. Along the way there is a fabulous view of Lake Wartook off to the east:
Additionally, along the way you can see the slow recovery of the forest from last year’s bushfires as well:
The walk to the lookout takes about 25 minutes to get to, but once again the view from the lookout is worth the effort:
Before people could sit on the Jaws of Death to take pictures, but currently it is sealed off to allow the bush around the rock formation to recover from the fire. I walked back to the car park and then proceeded to drive up to another lookout across the valley from Reid’s Lookout. This lookout provided an outstanding view of the surrounding plains and the small village of Halls Gap:
I really think this image best gives viewers an idea of how the different ranges of the Grampians look like waves of rock rising from the surrounding plains. Just a great view of the park from here that hasn’t been altered by last year’s massive bushfire.
After we finished checking out the view from the lookout, we then proceeded to head back to the main road and drive down the mountain to Halls Gap. The road passes through a valley that goes right by the mountain you see pictured to the far right in the picture seen above. Here is view of the mountain as seen from the road:
By looking closely at the rock face we could make out the small figures of people climbing up the rock face:
This rock face is part of what is known as the Wonderland rock formation and is very popular with climbers because it can be so easily accessed from Halls Gap. This mountain is literally on the outskirts of the city and within easy walking distance. I was tempted to try to climb up the mountain, but decided not to because my legs were pretty wore out already from all the bushwalking I had already done in the park. I also figured this gives me an excuse to come back here again as well.
Anyway we continued down the narrow winding road and pulled into Halls Gap. The very first thing we did once we got to Halls Gap was to look for hot food and we found a pizza joint. The pizza like many pizza joints in Australia, really wasn’t all that great (what I would give for a Papa John’ down here) because it was more like a casserole than a pizza:
It beat eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Pringles again, so I really couldn’t complain. The wife and I spent the rest of day checking out the various shops in Halls Gap looking for trinkets to send to friends and family. For being a small town Halls Gap does have a certain charm to it and I was just reading in this month’s Outdoor Australia magazine that Halls Gap was voted as one of the Top Ten Adventure Towns in Australia. I tend to agree because Halls Gap is definitely a great gateway to the scenic Grampians.
Next Posting: The High Point of the Grampians, Mt. William
Prior Posting: The Mt. Stapylton Trail
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As I began to climb down the summit of Mt. Stapylton, I dropped into another valley, but this valley was quite possibly the most spectacular in the whole park:
These multi-colored rock walls are called the Taipan Walls. A taipan is one of the world’s most venomous snakes, found here in Australia of course, and their color is some what similar to these rock walls:
The walls became more and more impressive the closer I walked towards them:
After passing through the valley I had to climb up another hill where I was rewarded with these view looking back on the Taipan Walls:
From the top of this hill I had to climb down one last massive rock face. After getting to the bottom of the rock face I once again had to break a bunch of brush and then popped up in the Mt. Zero campground. From the Mt. Zero campground I then proceeded to head for the trail leading up Mt. Zero:
As I started walking up the trail I surprised an echidna that was walking up the trail as well. Once the echidna saw me it took off into the brush and then curled up into a ball to defend itself:
The echidnas are one of Australia’s most unusual animals because they are one of only two mammals in the world that lay eggs. The other mammal that lays eggs is the platypus and together these two animals are known as monotremes. Interestingly enough both of these monotremes also have poisonous stingers. The echidnas stinger isn’t usable anymore because it is located so far within its quills while the platypus still can use its stinger, but the poison in both animals is not fatal. These echidnas are actually great to have around because they eat nothing, but ants. I wish one of these guys would move into my backyard where it would find a never ending buffet of ants.
Anyway I continued up Mt. Zero and here is a narrow rock passage I had to pass through:
I continued up to the summit of Mt. Zero and was rewarded with this spectacular view of Mt. Stapylton:
You can see the big rock face I had to climb down to get to the Mt. Zero campground. On the opposite side of the rock face is where the Taipan Walls are located plus in this picture you can see the summit of Mt. Stapylton an kind of get an idea of the path I took to get to Mt. Zero. This picture is really great of example of why the Grampians is the top rock climbing capitol in Australia. Just fantastic rock climbing not only on Mt. Stapylton, but across the entire range.
Here is a view looking towards the west:
The field directly below Mt. Zero is actually an olive farm. The terrain for about another 4 hours of driving west of the Grampians looks exactly what you see here in the distance. Nothing but range land and farms. The terrain really doesn’t change until you reach the Murray River area an hour outside of Adelaide where you have to cross some steep mountains in order to reach Adelaide.
Here is view looking towards the southwest:
In the distance you can see the last peak of the Grampians, Mt. Arapiles which is the singular premier rock climbing destination in Australia. I didn’t have a chance to drive out there on this trip, but I will definitely visit the place at some point.
After checking out the view I headed back down the mountain and back to the campground. Instead of climbing through all the rocks and bush I had to go through on the way here, I decided to take a dirt road back to the Mt. Stapylton campground:
I made excellent time on the road and even had a chance to give directions to some lost Chinese tourists. After walking for a couple of hours I was back at the Mt. Stapylton campground and who else was there to greet me? No not my wife, but the kangaroos:
The wife did have a dinner of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Pringles waiting for me again which was nice. All in all, on this hike since I deviated from the Mt. Stapylton loop trail and also climbed Mt. Zero I figure I probably covered over 20 kilometers on this hike. I definitely felt it in my legs, not so much the distance but the climbing up and down the rocks, however it was worth it. Just a spectacular day out in the Grampians. Fortunately I still had a couple more spectacular days to enjoy.
Next Posting: McKenzie Falls and the Jaws of Death
Prior Posting: Victoria’s Grampians Mounains
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Mt. Stapylton is named after the second in command of Major Mitchell’s expedition to explore the Grampians. CPT Stapylton as the second in command was in charge of the base camp while Major Mitchell led expeditions to explore the Grampians. CPT Stapylton was a bit jealous about the exploring party getting all the glory of exploring the mountains while he stayed at base camp. Sensing the tension Major Mitchell named the most prominent mountain in the north of the range after his second in command, Mt. Stapylton.
The main trail that leads from the Mt. Stapylton campground, where my wife and I were camped out at, is of course named the Mt. Stapylton loop trail. This trail is 12.2 kilometers long and classified as hard trail that takes 5.5 hours to complete.
The trail begins by crossing a field of high bushes towards a rock formation known as the Mt. of Olives:
As I was crossing the field the amount of flies became quite apparent. I had to take out my fly net and put it on around my head. My fly net is one of the best things I have bought here in Australia. It doesn’t matter where you go in this country, there are always flies. Anyway after crossing the field the trail began to climb up the mountain:
As soon as I got up to the top of the mountain, I was treated to a fantastic view towards the south of the park:
Halls Gap is on the opposite side of the far ridge line you see picture above. This is what the view towards the north looked like:
I continued heading up the trail and dropped into a valley of thick trees and then had to climb up another rock outcropping:
Here is the view looking towards the south and over the valley I had just walked through:
Here is the view looking towards the north:
Notice the flat farmland. The Grampians are literally an island of mountain wilderness in the midst of the surrounding farm land. As I continued up the trail I began to reach the lower slopes of Mt. Stapylton:
At about this portion of the trail it became increasingly rough and tough to find. After a while I was breaking a lot of brush and climbing many rocks because the trail was non-existent. This picture gives you an idea how rough the terrain in front of me was:
As I continued along I dropped into a valley with steep walls on each side:
The opposite side of the valley was colored a bright orange and black:
Once I passed through this rough valley I then began to climb up the side of the steep slopes of Mt. Stapylton:
I continued up Mt. Stapylton and here is a view looking towards the south from the upper reaches of the mountain:
The summit is within sight:
On the way up to the summit I passed right by an old Aboriginal cave:
I continued climbing up the rocks and here is a view looking towards the south from the summit of Mt. Stapylton:
Notice the massive rock face pictured. I would later have to climb down this rock face to get to Mt. Zero. Also notice the amount of trees covering the plains. This is all national park land which has saved the trees from being cut down and turned into grazing land. Immediately outside the park boundaries the farming and grazing land begins for as far as the eye could see. Just imagine before the arrival of European settlers this entire land was covered with trees.
Here is the view looking towards the north overlooking Mt. Zero:
Now that I had reached the summit of Mt. Stapylton my next goal was to summit Mt. Zero as well. However, before I could do that, I would have to climb back down Mt. Staplyton and pass through the Taipan Walls just to get to the bottom of Mt. Zero.
Next Posting: Through the Taipan Walls and On to Mt. Zero
One of the top holidays my wife and I have taken here in Victoria is without a doubt a trip to the Grampians National Park located in western Victoria. Western Victoria is mostly flat farm country and the Grampians are literally an island of beauty in the middle of the endless rolling farm land. To reach the Grampians only takes about 3.5 hours from Melbourne and this easy access makes the Grampians one of Victoria’s most popular national parks.
The Grampians were first settled by Aboriginals 5,000 years ago, which by Aboriginal standards is quite recent when compared to areas in northern Australia that were first settled 35,000-50,000 years ago. The Aborigines called the mountains the Gariwerd mountains and it became the heart of the Aboriginal culture in Victoria. Due to this Aboriginal heritage the Grampians are filled with Aboriginal art sites which make up 80% of all Aboriginal art in Victoria. The Grampians were first visited by Europeans when Major Thomas Mitchell led a British expedition to explore the area. Major Mitchell was so impressed with these mountains that he named the area after the Grampians mountains in his native Scotland.
The reasons the Aboriginals and Major Mitchell were so impressed with these mountains is easy to understand once you visit the place yourself. The mountains are spectacularly rise from the surrounding farmland in three distinct ranges that look waves of rock in an ocean of farmland. In between each range is thickly forested land with lakes, creeks, and waterfalls. Only the town of Halls Gap which you see pictured above and below is located within the Grampians:
Halls Gap is a very small town, but includes all the necessities you need for a great time in these mountains. Just outside of Halls Gap, make sure you visit the Grampians Visitor Center and the adjacent Aboriginal cultural center. Both facilities are outstanding and worth visiting. If you are not into camping Halls Gap does make a great base to explore the Grampians from. Many hiking and climbing trails begins from inside the small town. As you can see below the white dot represents Halls Gap, which is perfectly located to explore the Grampians from:
- 1. MacKenzie Falls & Lake Wartook – MacKenzie River Walk
- 2. Reid Lookout & The Balconies
- 3. Mount Zero, Flat Rock, Hollow Mountain, Mount Stapylton, Gulgurn Manja Shelter & Ngamadjidj Shelter
- 4. Golton Gorge
- 5. Beehive Falls & Briggs Bluff
- 6. Buandik Picnic Area & Falls, Manja Shelter & Billimina Shelter
My wife and I prefer camping and we set up camp in the remote far northern portion of the range at the base of Mt. Stapylton. At the Mt. Stapylton campground there was a trail that led to an easily accessible rock art site:
This rock art site is called the Ngamadjidj shelter. Ngamadjidj means white-person in the local Aboriginal dialect. The rock art at the site depicts the first European settlers who came to the area.
The first settlers in the area began to log trees and clear the land for farming. Much of the Aborigine land was lost which made hunting and grazing for food more difficult. Aborigines began to starve while others began to steal sheep for food. This gave many settlers the excuse they needed to shoot the Aboriginals. This early colonial history was not good for the Aborigines though things are better now, but still it is sad to see this rock art having to be protected by bars due to vandals:
The Stapylton campground was quite good and had good restroom facilities and even running water. It wasn’t busy either. There was only one other camper in the entire campground with us. However, we had plenty of visitors though, because the campground is filled with kangaroos:
Since we were one of only two camp sites at the campground; we became quite popular with the kangaroos. The kangaroos came right up to our camp site looking for food. This one kangaroo actually unclipped the clips on my rucksack and began digging through my bag throwing things out of it looking for food.
I approached the kangaroo to get him out of my bag and look at this innocent face he gives me:
If you ever wanted to get up close and personal with the kangaroos the Stapylton campground is definitely the place to go. They are everywhere and are very tame. We would have no shortage of kangaroos during our stay at the campground; especially around meal times.
Speaking of meals make sure you check the fire restrictions. When we went there was a total fire ban, which meant we couldn’t use our gas stove to grill with. We were stuck with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the other non-cooking food we had available, which kind of soured our visit to the park a bit. Good thing we brought plenty of wine though. You can’t beat peanut butter and jelly with wine for dinner. 
Anyway, I knew the next day was going to be quite exciting as I was set to climb one of the main peaks in the park Mt. Stapylton, which towered over our camp site.
Next Posting: The Mt. Stapylton Trail
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