Great Gorge and Escarpment August 23 - 24 2024
 
  A lazy start after a bad night's sleep. The sore throat became a runny nose. Hopefully past the worst. The headache subsiding.

We start through meadows ....
     
  Then stony ground.
     
  Then back to meadows.

We are on the plain, following the western edge of the range.
     
  Still no reds ....
     
  Though we do see purples ...
     
  A quick look at Chaffcutters Spring. It would have made a nice camp.
     
  Purple, white and yellow all mixed up ...
     
  Somewhere soon the track climbs up to the plateau. About 100m above us.
     
  Not overly steep. Just rocky and stony. Some very heavy equipment had formed the basic track. It followed a ridge upwards.

Traction wasn't a problem. Just take it slowly. 3rd gear low range.

Not many pics taken, its quite difficult when the truck is rocking and pitching.

There was a campsite at the bottom, and another at the top. And just past the top a visitors' book. Which Ali duly filled in.
     
  In less than ten minutes we are on the plateau.

Sand and spinifex.
     
  We stop to take a pic of where we have come from.

Down there somewhere...
     
  Long straight stretches of track as we wind our way around the dunes.
     
  A lot of the swales have been burned.

The dunes are up to 20m high. The track goes round rather than over.

The one dune we went over sand from the top had been used to build up the track to provide a constant shallow approach.
     
  Did I mention corrugations.

Worthy of the Canning.
     
  We are a bit late for the banksia flowers.

But another indication the climate and ground are changing as we head towards the coast.
     
  We stop at Great Gorge. A preliminary exploration towards the edge of the escarpment looking east.

We are tired. 70km in several hours. With a cold and a niggling headache, which became worse when we stopped.

A good time to stop.
     
  Follow the track on foot, to get some exercise.

There are some interesting plants.
     
  Did we mention the spinifex is different to that which we saw in the Sandy Desert.
     
  A comfortable camp.

Having looked at the satellite view we'll attempt to walk out to the edge of the escarpment tomorrow, about a km over rough ground, before carrying on further north.
     
  For our morning stroll we chose to walk more or less due south.

If our interpretation of the satellite imagery is correct there is a ridge extending towards the gorge.

But first the obligatory flowers. It seems we see a different variety each day.
     
  After walking down a rocky slope to find the ridge we change direction ever so slightly.

Straight ahead now.
     
  Looking east through the gorge.
     
  With yet another new (to us) flower.
     
  And looking deeper into the gorge.

We play with words for a bit. Maybe it was such a surprise that someone exclaimed "great gorge". Or maybe just thought it was a big gorge relative to others.
     
  With yet another flower to trip over.
     
  We turn around. The truck is somewhere in front.

About 3km round trip.
     
  We pack up camp and head north.

The track is mostly sand, but occasional rough rocky patches.
     
  After 10km we find a short track leading to a lookout.

First to lookout and select a camping spot.
     
  Then to camp.

Not too close to the edge ..... its a 100m drop.
     
  An evening, 3km, stroll as the sun set and the light changed.
     
  Followed the track to the next accessible bit of cliff top and looked back.

Truck in its precarious (not really but we occasionally need to add some drama?) site.
     
  And looked forward.

Somehow tomorrow the track descends from plateau to plain.
     
  We linger awhile. Watching the colours change.

For escarpment and flowers.
     
  We are slowly making sense of the world of flower taxonomy.

A relative of Mulla Mulla.

Genus Ptilotus, Family Amatanthaceae.

The hierarchy is Family -> Genus -> Species.

There are 120 species of Ptilotus.

Now all we have to do is figure out what connects the dots.....

 
     
Temple Gorge to Warroora   August 25 - 27 2024
     
 
     
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