The Grampians and The Pinnacle Hike

First view of The Grampian Mountains.

 Hiking to the summit.

 The Pinnacle view point.

 There's the view behind my head.

 Hiking through the Grand Canyon.

 How did that happen?

The culprits.

Saturday, April 23^rd.

After waffling back and forth between a three day weekend in the nation's capital or a trip to the mountains, I decided on the latter and to drive to the Grampians and the town of Halls Gap. It was about a three and a half hour drive and about 280 kilometres. I started out with low clouds and some drizzle and I was wondering if I'd made the right decision. Again I had to drive through Melbourne to get to the north and I retraced my steps towards Ballarat and Adelaide.

The sun came out of the clouds just when I came over a hill and could see the Grampians in the distance. By the time I got there it was complete sun and blue sky. I visited the National Park information centre, and noticed the lawn was covered in animal droppings and wondered what was responsible. I bought a map and checked out the hikes. I knew it would be busy here as it is a favourite spot to visit and it was a holiday weekend, so the first thing I did was find a room. This is a tiny town with a few motels, a hotel, campgrounds, hostels and cabins. I think the only people who live here are the service people. I checked at one motel with no luck but they let me use their wi-fi to find one. Luckily I was able to find a room at the local Comfort Inn. I think I got the last in town.

I had seen pictures of a view point called the Pinnacle and I decided to take that hike. It is in the Wonderland Range. There are different ways of hiking to it, but I took the circuit route straight up the mountain, around the top to the Pinnacle, through the forest to the view of the reservoir and then back down through the Grand Canyon. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done. The Pinnacle view point is spectacular! I had bought a sandwich and some fruit and stopped in a couple of places to have a picnic. I hiked for about six hours.

When I got back the sun was down behind the mountains and when I got back to where I left my car I found the source of the animal droppings. There were six kangaroos munching on the grass.

When I came back I checked into my room and then decided to go to the Kookaburra Bistro Bar for dinner. I don't usually like sitting in a restaurant by myself, but I ordered a pint of dark beer and sat and read a local paper while waiting for my meal. It was worth the wait. I had samosas in filo pastry with cooked vegetables.

After that I walked around town in the dark, looking at the full moon and stars and watching all the kangaroos that were all over town. They come out at dusk and feed on the grass. I'm sure the town never has to use a lawn mover, the grass is cropped shorter than a golf green. Then I went to bed early as I was very tired. In bed and asleep by ten.

I drove a total of 295 kms today.