Big Truck, Little Truck
Our first stop today was at the top on Mount Nameless, reached via a steep 4×4 only track not far form the camp site. It seems to be the highest point around and on one side you can see the landscape extending to the curved horizon, on the other side you get a bird’s eye view of the large scale mining operations that seem to be the principal employer and industry in this area.
One of the old mining trucks is set up as a display for the tourist information rest stop so we had another big truck, little truck opportunity 🙂
View from the Oxer lookout point at the rim of the gorge
Heading to the national park we chose to go to the Knox Gorge via the unsurfaced 40km road. The signage is a bit confusing at first with lots of potential walking routes from the main parking area. Eventually we figured out which path was which and set off first for the Oxer lookout and then back to the class 2 and class 5 routes that combine to form the route to the Handrail Pool that those coming back out of the gorge were recommending.
We were a bit wary at first about attempting the route as “Class 5” is posted as a “you will die if you get it wrong” kind of route, with class 6 requiring absailing equipment and special permission from the rangers office. In the end we decided to set off down it and turn back if it got too scary.
In the end the route wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as the signs indicated. You essentially walk down to the bottom of the gorge using steps cut into the side of it then walk along the bottom of the gorge. There are a few pools of water that you have to wade through but none of them much deeper than thigh level.
The first pool at the bottom of the descent into the gorge
The last part, the descent into Handrail Pool is the most difficult as the stream cuts through a narrow gap and then drops maybe 30 feet into the Handrail Pool. The stream bed is very slippery but where it starts to drop there is a sturdy hand rail attached to the rock face and basically you cling onto that with both hands as you move forward to the vertical drop. Again you use the handrail, now vertical, to support you while you climb down the steps in the vertical face until you reach the rock outcrop that forms the “beach” for that end of the pool.
Handrail Pool
The big camera’s battery had died so all I had was my iPhone so the pictures here are all taken with the iPhone. It is a magical place, well worth the effort to get to it. Due to the bedding planes of the surrounding rock being tilted slightly from horizontal it creates the illusion of the water in the pool sloping upwards, away from you.
We decided against a swim in the pool as we weren’t really geared up for it and I’m not that strong a swimmer that I’m confident to swim in a deep pool with a difficult exit/entry.
We wound our way back out of the park via the “scenic” route visiting a number of outlooks on the way but we didn’t have time to descend to any of the other pools. Tomorrow we’ll head to see some of the waterfalls we didn’t have time for today and might even go for a swim if there’s a more likely spot.
I couldn’t resist including this shot – the reflection of the rocks and sky above in the pool and the contrast with the grey rock that forms the edge of the pool.
We’ve booked another 2 nights at the camp site here, tomorrow will be spent in the national park and Wednesday will be a chance to catch up on some maintenance jobs and a trip to the supermarket and bottle shop for supplies. The fuel pump has become quite noisy when running from the main tank so I’ll try changing the pre-filter as we may have picked up some bad diesel along the way. The front tank, which has it’s own pre-filter, doesn’t cause the problem so we’ll run off that for the moment. I also think it’s time to change snorkel tops to the ARB cyclone thing as we’re starting to encounter more dust from other vehicles now.