Limestone Road to saddle south of Moscow Peak, The Cobberas, Alpine National Park - October 2016

Cleft Peak.

I haven’t done an overnight walk since walking the Desert Discovery Walk back in April. Since then I’ve had a reasonably serious medical operation on my leg which was meant to have stopped me walking for a month, and although I started walking after a couple of weeks I kept it to day walks. Also on the negative side Sam and I went on a cruise the Papua New Guinea which didn’t do a lot for my fat guts. So being even less match fit than normal I decided to head down to the Prom on and easy ramble to reintroduce myself to pack carrying, right. Err, actually I decided to head up to the Cobberas Wilderness Area, bag a few peaks and do a bit of off track rambling, its better to die on your feet than live on your knees I suppose. There was another couple of reasons I decided on the Cobberas and that is one, that I’ve never been there before and two, I wanted to get a bit of a lay of the land before a planned attempt on the Australian Alps Walking Track next spring.

With the access track to the trail head not due to open up from its winter closure until the Friday before Melbourne Cup Day (a public holiday in Melbourne) I decided that would be as good as any time to head up. Hopefully there would be a bit of residual snow still on the ground and at the very least it should make it easier to find water once I got up on the tops. Leaving home before 4am it was an alpine start for me, after a couple of stops for coffee and a quick breakfast in Bairnsdale I was turning onto Cowombat Track at the still early time of 10am. Now Cowombat Track is the access track to the trail head and as soon as I turned on to it I was confronted by a gate, a locked gate. This wasn’t totally unexpected as Victoria has had an unseasonably wet spring and I half suspected that some of the tracks would be a little later opening this year. So parking the ute on the side of Benambra Limestone Road I said my usual silent prayer that it would remain un-molested until my return and set off on foot.

I guess I'll be walking from here.

Looking at my topo map it didn’t appear that Cowombat Track had any huge ascents in store for me and that’s how it turned out. The extra 4 kilometres or so along the track was a nice easy way to ease myself back into it, the track gently undulating through fairly open forest occasionally giving me a look at the peaks in the Cobberas up to my right. After about a kilometre I met up with the Australian Alps walking Track coming up along Stony Creek, so now I was walking the exact route that I hope to walk next year, for a little while anyway. With Cowombat Trail closed I was interested to see in how bad its condition was, well from what I could tell the trail was in very good nick, with no trees down and no mud holes there were only a couple of puddles that Parks Vic must be concerned about. Having said that though you just need a bit of rain and some hung-ho 4 wheel drivers to cut things up badly, so I suppose they are erring on the side of caution.

Cowombat Track made for a very easy start to the walk.

The Australian Alps Walking Track joining Cowombat track, next years big adventure hopefully.

After around an hours walking I arrived at the car park that signalled the spot that I had intended to start my walk. While having a bit of a break I consulted the map, the degree of difficulty would ramp up a bit soon as I would leave Cowombat Track to start my climb up to the tops. Setting off again I was looking for a spur that ran eastwards just after I crossed Bulley Creek on Cowombat Track. Once I identified the spur it was just a matter of climbing, keeping to the highest ground and pushing through the scrub. Now as far as scrub bashes go this was pretty good, the scrub was fairly light and with the spur fairly broad for the most part it was easy to make upwards progress and avoid the worst of the vegetation.

Entering the Cobberas Wilderness Area.

I'd originally planned to start the walk from here.

After crossing Bulley Creek I headed east up an untracked spur.

The lower section of the spur made for fairly good off track walking.

The spur I was climbing actually would of led me to the top of Moscow Peak but I was heading for a saddle to the south of the peak, so the navigational trick today was to pick the spot to start sideling beneath the peak to get to the saddle. In a lot of countries you can get a bit of a visual fix to help with the navigation but in Australia more often than not the vegetation obscures any view so you need to concentrate on the map and the GPS (if you have one). I generally calibrate the altimeter on my watch at a known altitude and then pick the height with which I need to change direction off the contour lines on my map, this saves me constantly looking at my GPS. So after a couple of hours climbing and with the spur starting to get fairly rocky and rough under foot I got to the spot where I had to leave the crest of the spur and start heading for the saddle.

Higher up the spur the ground got a bit rocky which sometimes made it a bit awkward with the overnight pack on.

At around the 1500 metre contour I got into an area of house sized boulders.

Now while the scrub had been fairly friendly there is always a sting and in the Cobberas it’s the rough ground, there are a lot of rocks littered over the ground just under the light covering of ground litter which makes for fairly slow going, particularly with a big pack. The traverse under Moscow Peak was particularly rough going (well for an old bloke!) and I spent a fair bit of time climbing and descending my way around house size boulders. While the traverse was a bit rough it was fairly short and before long the ground to my left started to level out and I found myself on the saddle. Now there appeared to be a few options for pitching my tent up here, a small clearing near the crest of the ridge or a large flat grassy area near a spagnum moss swamp. After checking out both spots I decided on the ridge top in the snow gums, the grass bordering the swampy area was very damp and with the amount of frogs that I could hear I suspected it would also be home to a few snakes.

The sphagnum moss swamp that is the headwaters of Moscow Creek had been spoiled a bit by the brumbies.

My camp in the saddle south of Moscow Peak.

After setting up camp I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out in this beautiful spot. Water wasn’t an issue here, I just descended a little below the swamp and picked up the headwaters of Moscow Creek, the only real issue was that the brumbies had spoiled the sphagnum moss swamp somewhat so I decided to treat the water just to be safe. Returning to camp after collecting my water I spent a relaxing couple of hours reading in the sun before an early dinner, retreating to the sleeping bag to rest my old bones just as the sun was setting and the night time chill descended.

Cleft Peak in the late afternoon sun.

The Dirt.
I walked 10.8 kilometres and climbed 488 metres on this leg of my trip. I’d rate this as a hard days walking if only because of the off track stuff. Like I mentioned there are a couple of options for camping around the saddle, in the drier months the better option would be the grass near the sphagnum moss but in the wetter months the top of the ridge was the better option, although there is not a lot of room in between the snow gums. I had Telstra coverage at the saddle, but only just, I had to move around a little to get a signal. The other issue to consider up here was the amount of brumby tracks around, while they prove handy sometimes in the off track stuff you need to make sure you don’t camp somewhere that they are likely to come through in the middle of the night.

Relevant Posts. 
Mt Bogong, Alpine National Park 1991
Mt Bogong Twice, Alpine National Park 2016
Mt Feathertop, Alpine National Park 1990
Mt Buller Traverse, Alpine National Park 2015
Day 2 of this walk.
Day 3 of this walk.

Snow gums in the saddle near my camp.

Tomorrows objective.

Spit Bridge to Manly, Sydney Harbour National Park - September 2016

Looking out to Sydney Heads.

Before jumping onto a cruise ship and heading up to Papua New Guinea Sam and I had a few days in Sydney. Once we settled into our hotel at Circular Quay we decided to head out and do the Spit Bridge to Manly walk. Like the Bondi to Maroubra walk we did a few years ago the Spit Bridge to Manly walk is a fairly popular walk so we didn’t think that we’d be on our own today. Grabbing a taxi at our hotel we got dropped off on the Balmoral side of Spit Bridge and soon had our bearings and were on our way.

Middle Harbour near Spit Bridge.

It didn't take long until we are enveloped into the bush.

First up though we had to get across the bridge, crossing underneath the road we picked up the footpath on the west side of the bridge and from here on we would be following a signposted track all the way to Manly. As the traffic whizzed past us over the steel grate of the bridge we took in the boats bobbing on the beautiful blue water of Middle Harbour, coming up from a grey winter in Melbourne the beauty of the harbour city was on full display this morning. The other thing that we noticed straight away was that the air had a warm feel to it which couldn’t help but bring a smile to our faces.

Fisher Bay.

Middle Harbour near Sandy Bay.

Once on the north side of the bridge we picked up the route described by Mr Chapman, almost immediately we left the expensive houses behind and disappeared into the bush. The country around Sydney is sandstone country and soon we were walking along rock slabs and under beautiful overhangs of rock as we passed Fisher Bay and Sandy Bay, the whole time getting numerous glimpses out over the water. The track along here to Clontarf Reserve is a series of board walks, stairs and as I’ve mentioned, rock slabs and it makes for great walking, and like I suspected we weren’t the only ones who thought that it would be a good walk to do today. We were sharing the track with numerous other groups out walking, occasionally having to wait our turn to climb some steps or take on a particularly narrow section of the route, not something that I normally enjoy too much on a walk, but really what do you do? The crowds today never really annoyed me that much, maybe I was just happy to be out and about with some sun above me.

A few of the locals were out enjoying the view over Middle Harbour today.

Reaching Clontarf Reserve we headed across the busy parkland before taking the low tide option along the sand towards Clontarf Point, this section of the track is squeezed between the beautiful water of Sydney Harbour and some encroaching flash houses. When we strolled along there was only a couple of metres of dry sand to walk on so try and avoid high tide along here, the inland alternative through the suburban streets wouldn't hold as much interest I wouldn't have thought. Once at the end of the beach the track climbs again, passing Clontarf Point and heading towards Castle Rock Beach.

The beach after Clontarf Reserve is a little on the narrow side, there is a high tide detour if you need it though.

Heading towards Clontarf Point.

On the stroll so far we'd been leap frogging a young girl who was busy taking as many photos of the walk that I was, eventually I struck up a conversation and found out her name was Marie-Laure. Marie-Laure was from France and like us she was out for a walk and enjoying a bit of early spring sunshine. We would end up spending the rest of the day with Marie-Laure as we slowly made our way to Manly, Marie-Laure had a fascinating story to tell of working and volunteering in some of Australia's most remote country and Sam and I loved hearing of all her adventures travelling our country. Passing above the boats bobbing in the aqua marine water just off shore at Castle Beach we once again climbed up through the heathland a little to get to an area of indigenous rock engravings, there were a lot of people milling about here so I struggled to get any good photos. With all the caves, fresh seafood and fresh water, all easily accessible this must of made for a bountiful spot for local aborigines to live before European settlement.

Castle Rock Beach is just around the corner.

The aqua marine coloured water looked stunning today.

Indigenous engravings.

The next section of our stroll stayed up fairly high passing through extensive coastal heathlands, every now and again the track would cross an extensive sandstone slab which would give us great views down over the sparkling water of Sydney Harbour. Reaching a track junction we headed up the short sidetrack to check out the view from Arabanoo Lookout, named after the first aboriginal man to live among the Europeans. The lookout looks down over North Harbour towards Manly in one direction as well as out to Dobroyd Head in the other, with the lookout accessible to cars and with extensive manicured parklands around it we were soon happy to head back down into the scrub and be enveloped by the bush again. 

Sam and Marie-Laure heading towards Arabanoo Lookout.

The walk now drops slowly back down to sea level again and when we arrived at the tiny Reef Beach we witnessed what is probably a unique Australian scene, an ice cream vendor selling ice creams off his small boat. The walk now alternates a little between bushland and some quiet suburban streets and while that wouldn't really make for great walking normally, here it just works. Maybe its all the fancy houses but walking quiet streets around here wasn't too much of a hardship at all. Arriving at the large North Harbour Reserve we stopped for a bit of a break, chatting to Marie-Laure about life in France and enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

That's where were heading, Manly.

The Sydney Heads.

Buying an ice-cream at Reef Beach.

Leaving North Harbour reserve the route continues along its journey, more often than not traversing a thin strip of public land between the houses and the harbour. After checking out the tidal swimming pool at Fairlight Beach we continued on our way to Manly, now very close at hand. Our first mission in Manly was to grab a coffee and a bite to eat, before we jumped onto a ferry for our twilight journey back to Circular Quay. If there is a better way to finish a walk than with a nice cruise across Sydney Harbour I'm yet to find it and the best thing is that the commuter ferry journey costs bugger all.

Forty Baskets Beach.

There are some fairly flash houses backing onto Forty Baskets Beach.

Fairlight Beach tidal pool.

Sometimes we were walking a fairly thin strip of land between the houses and the water.

The Dirt.
According to my notes we walked around 10 kilometres and climbed 220 metres today, these stats are from the Chapman's Day Walks Sydney book, its walk number 37 in the book. I'd rate this as an easy walk, although there are quite a few steps involved. There was a cafe at Spit Bridge and a kiosk at Clontarf Reserve, but then nothing to eat after that although there are a couple of spots that you can top up your water bottles. Try and time the walk to avoid high tide near the start to make sure the beach walk at Clontarf Reserve is do-able and maybe pick a week day to avoid some of the crowds.
Relevant Posts.
Bondi to Maroubra, 2013 

Rounding Federation Point, the Manly Wharf is in the distance.

The ferry ride back to town is quite a pleasant way to end a days walking I think!

Stapylton Amphitheatre, Grampians National Park - October 2016

James, taking in the view from inside Hollow Mountain.

A couple of months ago I'd taken my mate James up to the Grampians to walk the Hollow Mountain - Mount Stapylton traverse, as it turned out due to some dodgy weather we never actually did the traverse. So with slightly better weather forecast for this Saturday we decided to head back up and have another go. The start of our adventure played out as if it was a carbon copy of our first, we left Melbourne in the early evening in the pouring rain, arrived at the camp around 11:30 pm and then listened to intermittent showers falling on the tent fly overnight. Next morning when we headed into Halls Gap for breakfast we had to wait while the SES cleared a fallen tree, the low cloud blanketing the mountains around us didn't fill me confidence that we would actually be able to do the traverse on this trip either.

It wouldn't be a feral walk if everything ran smoothly.

Over breakfast the weather gods smiled on us a little though and we headed off towards the Hollow Mountain Carpark under a blue sky. The first part of todays walk was the exact walk that James and I did last time in the Mount Wudjub-Guyun (Hollow Mountain) post. Having walked this recently you would probably assume that there wouldn't be a lot to hold our interest however I think you could walk this bit every month for a year and still find something to hold your interest. Initially it was the bright green regrowth as we made our way up to the rocky ramparts of Hollow Mountain, and then once on the rock there is an endless collect of wind scoured rocks to try and to justice to in a photo. Climbing up rock slabs to the base of the first cliff line we hooked around and scrambled up a rocky undercut ledge, this section of the walk is the tourist route to Hollow Mountain so navigation wasn't an issue we just followed the yellow painted arrows.

The Grampians are incredibly green at the moment.

The first easy scramble.

Once up the first step we bypassed what would be our ongoing route to Mt Stapylton and instead continued to follow the tourist route to the top of Hollow Mountain. We were a little earlier in the day than on our last visit so the boulderers were still climbing up carrying their mats on their backs like some kind of human turtles, this also meant that the cave where the route loops back towards the summit was empty so we used the opportunity to check it out and get a couple of photos. With so many caves and over-hangs on this walk they'll be a few photos taken with the walls or roof of different caves framing my photos. We didn't linger too long on the summit of Hollow Mountain today, just long enough to get a couple of photos and to show James the route to Mount Stapylton, now spread out in panarama mode in front of us. Back tracking we retraced our route back down to the cave at the top of the first scramble and headed off on our days adventure to Mount Stapylton.

Its a rare thing to find this cave not occupied by Boulderers.

Thats Mount Stapylton in the distance, our route runs left to right along the ridge.

The two halfs of Hollow Mountain, Echoes Block is on the left.

First up though we had to negotiate the narrow slot that would give us access to the honey comb like insides of this half of Hollow Mountain (this half of the mountain is sometimes called Echoes Block), I was relieved to see that my fat guts still fitted through the tight gap, three weeks on a cruise ship hadn't done me any favours. Once we were both through the slot we started climbing the centre of the mountain. Now there is always a little bit of graffiti in here, normally stuff written on the sandstone in charcoal or something similar but since our last visit some f#*kwit has deemed it necessary to spray paint directions inside the mountain with blue paint, I wondered how I'd react if I came across these idiots in the act.... Luckily the tools with the spray-can don't seem to have made it to far up as the paint soon stopped and we were able to enjoy the ambience of this beautiful spot. With my limited vocabulary I struggle to do justice to this spot, sitting inside a hollowed out mountain gazing out over more rocky turrets, everything framed by the cave it is a special spot.

Climbing the inside of Hollow Mountain.

Climbing out onto the ledge.

Climbing out of the cave system we were once again on the ledge that provides access to the top of this bit of Hollow Mountain, the hard walking was about to start. First up we had a fairly easy but fairly exposed climb up onto the summit, once on top we stopped for awhile while I had a look at my notes, I'd done the traverse from Mount Stapylton to Hollow Mountain before but I'd never walked from Hollow Mountain towards Mount Stapylton. It might not sound like a big difference but with no track or cairns and plenty of cliff lines, chasms and ravines to negotiate it was like I'd never been there before. Well I tell myself it was because last time I was walking in the opposite direction but it may also have a bit to do with the fact that my ankles, knees and hips are fifteen years older than the last time I was here so everything now seems a little more daunting as mortality slowly catches up with me!

The final exposed scramble onto Hollow Mountain.

Leaving Hollow Mountain (Echoes Block) we were faced with one of the obstacles that I hadn't been looking forward to, a negative two metre step across a chasm. Giving my pack and camera to James I gingerly lower myself off the top of the step, once I was close enough that I figured that my ankles and knees would survive the drop I let go. Happy to survive the first obstacle I got James to pass the pack and camera down before helping him down. Scrambling along the ridge we were soon at a spot where we had to descend down through a gully and then climb onto a parallel ridge, now I don't remember this being particularly hard fifteen years ago when going in the other direction, but today it certainly got my attention.

The first jump, doesn't look that high does it....it was enough to test my joints though.

Alright mate pass it down.

James looks a bit unsure....

A few more metres and this ridge effectively ended meaning we had to cross to a parallel ridge.

After checking out a couple of likely looking spots to climb into the gully it became apparent that it was going to be another climb down, this time a fair bit higher than the last one. The good thing with this one though was that even though it was higher there were a few decent hand and foot holds to use. Once again I left my pack and camera with a very dubious looking James and eased myself off the edge, there would be no jumping on this one though instead I had to feel around with my foot to get some purchase, peering down trying to see the next spot that might give my boots some grip. Once back on level ground again James passed the gear down before I helped him place his feet as he eased his way down.

Peering down to check my foot placement as I descended into the gully to cross the the next ridge.

I think its easier climbing these than descending them.

Crossing the small gully we easily climbed onto the ridge that would take us to Mt Stapylton. The easy walking didn't last long though, we now got to the what is probably the crux of the walk, a one metre jump across a twenty metre deep chasm. It is not the jump thats hard though, it's the landing. You can almost step across the chasm but you only have a very small jagged piece of rock to land on and regain your balance, if you don't nail the landing you face a twenty metre face plant down jagged rocks, yep nothing could possibly go wrong here! I made the jump and got off the landing site but James wasn't looking happy, with a little encouragement he too launched himself across the chasm, landing the jump perfectly, the colour slowly returning to his face. Incidentally there is meant to be a way around this jump, apparently you can climb down off the ridge, pass through a small hole in the rock, cross the chasm and them climb back onto the ridge, I can't vouch for this route as I've never used it but both Mr Thomas and Mr Tempest have mentioned its existence.

You can bypass this jump apparently if you descend down off the ridge far enough.

You'd think I'd be old enough to know better.

In between scrambles the scenery continued to impress.

Soon after the chasm we did have to leave the crest for a little while, passing along a sloping ledge on the north eastern side of the crest before once again climbing to the top. Once we regained the ridge top here we now had some fairly easy walking for awhile, the looming bulk of Mt Stapylton now suddenly very close. What was also very close was some crappy weather, black clouds scudding across the flat plains towards us. Now I knew that there was a good cave on the side of Mt Stapylton but I wasn't sure if we'd make its before the rain hit, and this isn't a walk that you can just crank up the pace. After passing a beautiful section of the ridge that featured quite a few nice tarns we came to the ravine that separates the ridge we were on and Mt Stapylton, with the rain imminent we found a spot were we could climb down with the help of a dead tree. Once in the gully I was back in fairly familiar territory, this is only a few metres from where the normal route up Mt Stapylton heads. Pushing our way down the scrubby gully we did indeed soon intersect with the marked track which we then climbed for twenty metres to the cave, making it just in time to sit out the worst of the rain squall while we had our lunch. 

That's James climbing back up to the crest for the last time.

The closer we got to Mount Stapylton the easier the ridge walk became.

Finally we got to this ravine, it separates the ridge from Mount Stapylton. 

If you scout around enough you'll find an easy way down.

The cave on the side of Mount Stapylton provides excellent shelter in dodgy weather.

With perfect timing the rain had gone by the time we finished our lunch, leaving the resident swallows to the cave we headed back down to our scrubby gully. Climbing up a few metres we picked up a steep shelf that climbed up the side of Mt Stapylton, after passing an exposed corner it was a fairly straight forward climb to the top. Being almost at the extreme northern end of the Grampians the top of Mt Stapylton provides for a grand view. What draws the eyes for me though is the view along the rocky ridge line of the Mt Difficult Range, you can trace the range all the way along to Boroka Lookout near Halls Gap. This is going to be part of the route of the new Grampians Peaks Trail when its finished, something of a conflicting emotion to me because up until now this range has been a place that I could go for some wild walking and camping and generally be on my own. With another rain squall heading our way quickly we decided that it would be a good time to get off the exposed summit, I was pretty keen to get down soon as we were going down the marked route and this is actually more exposed than the route we had used to climb the mountain. The crux of the descent back to the cave is a three metre down climb and while there are plenty of hand and footholds it is still steep enough to get your attention, you definitely don't want to be doing this in the rain.

The thing with the weather today though was as quick as it arrived it disappeared.

This is probably the dodgiest scramble on the alternative route up Mount Stapylton (our climbing route) after this it is a very easy scramble.

This is what all the effort has been for.

Looking back along the Mount Difficult Range.

The top of Mount Stapylton has a few tarns.

Scrambling down the marked route (you can see a red painted arrow under James' foot) before the rain arrived.

Once again our big cave provided a dry haven to sit out the weather, sitting there watching the light and shade created by the clouds project onto the surrounding rocky mountains. After the rain had passed we set off again, now back on a track that I'd walked numerous times over the years there was suddenly no navigational challenges. Fire has ripped through here since my last visit and the country is now starting to look fairly good again, in fact the re-growth is tarting to crowd the track in a few spots. Passing the first turnoff to Stapylton Camp (the track still closed), we started to descent a long rocky ramp with the Taipan Walls towering above us. Stopping to take a photo of Bird Rock halfway down I resisted the urge to climb up onto the bird of a photo, maybe I a starting to grow up after all! Our descent down into the amphitheatre below the Taipan Walls was enlivened by the sight of a couple of groups of climbers on the walls, their tiny bodies helping to give my photos of the majestic cliffs a bit of scale.

Another tarn, this one on the shoulder of Mount Stapylton.

The wind has scoured the rock around here into amazing shapes.

Give your eyes a minute to adjust to this one!

Bird Rock.

After tracking around the base of the cliffs the route started the short climb up to Flat Rock, progress only halted when I started to get cramp up, yeah I'm getting old. With my cramp under control I hopped around the top of Flat Rock getting one last view of the ochre coloured Taipan Walls, making a mental note to come back here late one afternoon as I think the setting sun would make these cliffs really light up. We were on the homeward stretch now though, first up descending down the huge sloping Flat Rock to the Mount Zero Car Park before wandering along the quiet Mount Zero Road towards the Hollow Mountain Car Park. The road was actually a nice easy finish to the walk and after picking up a short section of an old closed road we were soon back at the ute and heading into Halls Gap for a coffee.

The famous Taipan Walls (well they are to me!).

The rock walking continued even after descending from the tops.

If you look close enough you'll see a climber abseiling down the cliffs, it'll give you an idea of the scale of these cliffs.

The Dirt.

Now for some reason my GPS recorded some fairly optimistic figure today with the distance coming out at 12.3 kilometres and the metres climbed at 677 metres. I think the metres climbed is about right but I doubt that the kilometres walked is anywhere near right. According to Mr Tempest who has published the latest notes that I have for this walk, the walk is only 6.6 kilometres, although that seems a little light on as well. I suspect that I added a few kilometres to the walk scouting out ways around cliff lines and chasms and I wonder what the GPS in my pack was doing when I was inside the caves. Like I mentioned above Glenn Tempest has published the latest notes describing this route, they are in his Daywalks Around Victoria book, Tyrone Thomas has also written this walk up in one of his old books describing the route in the opposite direction. Now I've decided to break out the extreme rating for this walk, for a bushwalker who is on the wrong side of 50 this is a fairly serious undertaking, I actually think if I do it again in the future I'd do it in reverse as most of the sections where we really had to commit involved down climbs, I always find it a lot easier to climb up the short scrambles rather than descend them. Having said all that though I'd say that this day walk is definitely in my top ten in Victoria, it is a walk that you'll probably still be talking about on the drive home!

Relevant Posts.

Mount Zero, Grampians National Park, 2016

Mount Wudjub-Guyun (Hollow Mountain) Grampians National Park 2016

Beehive Falls, Grampians National Park 2016

Troopers Creek to Halls Gap, Grampians National Park 2004

Our last look back at Mount Stapylton and the Taipan Walls, from the top of Flat Rock.

Its a nice easy way to finish to the walk descending Flat Rock, thats Mount Zero in the distance.

After a very short road bash along Mount Zero Road....

We followed this old closed road for the last couple of hundred metres back to the Hollow Mountain Carpark.