Seven enthusiastic hikers travelled to Stanley to walk a 11.4km circuit of Mount Stanley last Saturday.
Setting off in dry sunny weather from the junction of Circular Creek and Mount Stanley Roads, we slowly descended along a gravel road enjoying wildflowers and birdsong (and plenty of chatter).
The observation was made that we were descending significantly when we ultimately needed to ascend to the summit. Spurred on by morning tea stop after five kilometres, we soon reached the base of the jeep track.
No photo seems to capture its extreme and persistent steepness. Having no alternative, we tackled it at our own pace, enjoying the wildflowers, and anticipating the eventual sense of achievement and rewarding views at the top.
It didn’t disappoint, in fact we had the summit of Mount Stanley 1950m picnic area to ourselves, and sat on some boulders in the shade eating our lunch.
We saw a lizard but no snakes, not even a snake lolly, because Anne accidently left them in her car.
After enjoying the 360 view from the highest boulder, we returned down the gravel road finishing back at our cars where we had a snake snack.
The total time on this adventure was 10am-3pm, including break stops.
[Anne]