Stirling Ranges
Mount Trio Bush Camp on the northern edge of the Stirling Ranges National Park was near empty when we arrived. There was only one tent and a swag in an area the size of four footy ovals and not a person in sight. We wondered if we'd picked a dud camp. But, our solitude lasted only one night. When school holidays started the following day the campers came rolling in.
At 1096m, Bluff Knoll is the park's highest peak and it was our objective for day one. It seemed all the rage, at least for less encumbered climbers, to ascend pre dawn and watch the sunrise from the top. Not us, we started just before 10am. The trail was well marked and well trod with foot traffic to rival Adelaide's Mount Lofty. And for good reason. It's a very impressive peak and a beautiful walk. Hugh was on good form but it was a tough climb with lots of steps and as we got higher and more exposed the wind gave him the willies. I was still confident we'd make it to the top but during a lunch break at the 3/4 mark Hugh took a tumble, head-butted a rock and it was game over. I started straight for the bottom with a near hysterical Hugh while Matthias pressed on with Claire to the summit. Matthias made it up quickly and was able to catch me and the then much calmer Hugh on the way down leaving me enough time to turn back and make a solo bid for the top. I received reports from ascending climbers of a happy trio making their way to the car park, Hugh apparently well recovered. We marked Bluff Knoll down for the win.
The kids slept for the full 1.5h drive home via the scenic circuit marking me wonder whether Hugh’s bump to the head was indeed something serious. But they woke restored and full of beans again. Hugh was overjoyed to find a troup of school aged kids had arrived in camp, though I don’t think they quite shared his enthusiasm. Claire did her darndest to join in too. Partly to give the other kids some respite from my two joiner-inners, we took a twilight family wander through the camp’s nature trail to round out a very full day.
The next day we somehow managed a double header, scaling Mount Trio in the morning and Mount Hassell in the afternoon. Mount Trio was a relatively easy climb but made challenging by wind and rain which came in while we were on the summit. On the contrary, we had beautiful weather for Mount Hassell but the climb was physically tough. Not tough enough for Hugh though apparently who insisted on carrying rocks half way up for fear that there wouldn't be any for him to play with at the top. Mount Hassell for me was the highlight of the Sterling Ranges. Getting to the summit as a family felt like a huge achievement and the views east and west along the range were incredible.
The following day was a shocker; very much the trough of the previous day's peak. We set out to climb Mount Toolbrunup with inflated confidence but right from the word go Hugh wouldn't have a bar of it. It was to be the sixth big walk in five days straight and I think we'd hit the poor kid's limit. We should have admitted it sooner and turned back but we pushed on and got hotter and grumpier. Eventually we stopped halfway up a scree slope, had an angry lunch then picked our way down the mountain defeated. In a huff we packed up camp and headed onto the Dryandra dragging that back cloud all the way with us. The kids were awful in the car and when we stopped for a play at the "big" Numbat in Williams Hugh chucked a doozy of a tantrum, admittedly reflecting very much how I felt. Our rotten day ended with cold baked beans eaten straight from the tin!
