Stirling Ridge Walk

We had been eyeing off this hike as we were coming down the WA coastline as we’d heard such epic things about the epic Stirling Range. And yet we were also feeling cautious about attempting it, as everywhere you read about it, it gets mentioned as being an incredibly challenging hike.
Over 1600m of elevation gain, it can be a tricky track to follow as it disappears and has many deceiving phantom tracks, there is also no water on the hike so you have to carry all of your water with you, and then hectic winds and poor weather are also a high probability.
We decided to give it a go and see how we went (Pete was very keen, I was more concerned 😅).

It was only about 25km in total length but we felt every one of them over the two days it took us to complete it.
Especially the first day as we walked up the 600m to get onto the ridge, and then it was a pretty constant incline and decline after that.
Just after we started, a rain began drizzling so we got pretty soaked walking through the thick bush. Then the wind picked up as we got up the top and it got cold. Thankfully the views as we go were up high we’re phenomenal! And the wildflowers were in full bloom so the spectacle of the views were even more stunning. We walked for about 8 hours on the first day and got to camp pretty exhausted by 3pm.

Thankfully on the second day, the weather was near perfect, clear skies, no rain and minimal wind. We only met one other group as we traversed over the ridge, then as we came up to Bluff knoll we saw all the day walkers coming up for the view from that iconic peak. We made it back to the car by the early afternoon pretty exhausted but very happy to have finished with no major dramas! All in all, the hike was one of the most challenging and walks we’ve done but it was worth it for the experience and epic vistas from the top 😍 my legs took a few days to forgive me though…
The first photo shows the ridge from the side as we are starting to make the initial ascent toward Ellen Peak, then the other photos show various perspectives from up on the ridge, then the last photo is of Pete looking out from Bluff Knoll.Leggi altro