Our Great Adventure: Day 118 14/01/2015

We woke to mixed weather, with the clouds still low enough to shroud the highest mountain tops. The forecast was mixed but there were no thunderstorms predicted so we brushed off our hiking boots and headed into the centre of Halls Gap. After a poached egg breakfast in the local cafe and getting lunch and fruit at the bakery and supermarket, we headed off. Our objective for the day was to walk up a prominent peak which has great views called the Pinnacle. We had a choice of routes and decided on the one that took us passed Venus Baths and Splitter Falls. We were soon climbing through lush vegetation over rocks hewn from volcanic rock and limestone. It wasn't long before we got to the Grand Canyon, just above the Wonderland car park (no cafe or mad Hatter here though!), where most other people started their walk from. We checked that it was safe to go through the canyon as the last few days rain could have made it prone to flash floods and as there was no escape once in it, we wanted to make sure! It was a lovely little canyon (I think the Americans would have something to say about it being grand) and we were through it far too quickly. Our route then took us over boulders and strong looking rock, which looked good enough to climb but on closer inspection we could see there was no good places to place protection; surprised though someone hadn't bolted it but noting there are hundreds of sport and mix climbing routes in the Grampians we figured there were much better spots. There's evidence all around of the bush fires which riped through the area in 2006 and 2014 although vegetation is now growing back and we saw lots of birds and butterflies. We took the long way round to the top as we thought we could walk on the ridge but the path stayed below it (didn't fancy going "off piste" as the snakes aren't friendly!). After going past some more strange rock formations we arrived at the top, which afforded us some great views of the valley below and Halls Gap. As it was really busy we didn't stick around long and after a quick sandwich, decided to head further along the ridge. This was a beautiful part of the walk and whilst really well marked we had the pleasure of it all to ourselves. We stopped at the Lakeview lookout and then after descending slightly climbed up to the highest point, Sundial Peak at 802m. It was really clear now and we could see right across the mountains to the plain in the east and in the foreground was the large man made Lake Bellfield with its dam at the end. Fittingly the summit did have a sundial on the top from the students at Hamilton Technical college, which nestles as the foot of the Grampians some 75kms away. We then started the long descent down to the lake to a fine pleasant afternoon with intermittent sunshine and the odd kangaroo hiding in the trees. It was then a 4km walk along the road back to the car, knowing that with a 6 hour walk behind us, we had fully deserved a curry in the evening but not before tea and scones (although the cafe didn't have scones but did have a rather good muffin). The curry was very enjoyable and worth the effort of a day out in the hills although their medium was quite hot!