Today we went on yesterday’s walk. Taking in the stretch of coastline that I was going to wander along before Rongy had diverted my attention and time to a climbing trip. Yesterday I would have been by myself, but Lisa was starting to bounce back after not feeling the best and lacking energy over the last few days, so was keen to join me. We set off from Gracetown, which was relatively quiet except for in the water, where surfers jostled for positions hoping to catch a wave as they rolled into the bay. We were heading north this time, and the landform was more rocky than we had expected:
When Lisa had shown an interest in coming I had shown her the path on Google maps, and it had looked relatively flat and easy, which was what was needed today. Fortunately, the initial unexpected scrambly section didn’t last too long and we were soon on a more level and sedate path, more akin to what we had expected. While checking the satellite imagery I had also noticed a rock formation next to the track that looked like it may have been an outcrop climbing Josh had recently shared. He and Kellie had spent a few days hiking along the Cape to Cape trail, and the outcrop had peeked his interest as a possible place to have a climb:
Sure enough it was the same place, and initially I could see why it had interested Josh. As shown above, with me excitedly scampering around the base, there was enough height to make it a possible place to climb. However, while in my mind I was spying potential lines up the faces between the wider cracks, there was only one thing missing. I couldn’t see much in the way of opportunities to place any gear. And being as steep and tricky as they looked, soloing them was probably not a good idea. Sadly, or should I say sensibly, my climbing shoes, which I had taken with me today just in case there were some moderate lines to bag, stayed in my pack:
The track never strayed too far from the coast, allowing us to see and hear the crashing waves all the time. There wasn’t much else to see, and distract us from the continuous battle between the waves and the rocky coastline. At one point the Surf Life Saving WA’s rescue helicopter, flew overhead and for some reason circled back for a second pass. There was no one in the water where we were, so we are a little unsure why they did that. I’m used to seeing the sight of the helicopter during my climbing trips, but it was a bit of a novelty for Lisa so the second pass was welcome if just to allow her a second look. During the school holidays the helicopter makes daily passes along the coast, checking for anyone having trouble in the water and also looking for sharks near popular beaches. We didn’t see any sharks, but fleetingly saw the same small skinks we saw last weekend:
This time we also saw their larger and commonly seen relative, being the South-Western Crevice Skink (Egernia napoleonis). Skinks of the genus Egernia, which includes the King Skink (Egernia kingii) which we also spotted today, include species that are reputed to be the most intelligent Squamates. Meaning scaled reptiles and includes lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians. The term lizards contains dragons and skinks, and amphisbaenians look like a snake but are more commonly called worm lizards. The habitat of the South-Western Crevice Skink comprises arboreal (or in layman terms trees) and rocky areas, which mean they are not only one of the more intelligent species but they also have great climbing abilities, as shown above as this one like us peered out to sea:
It didn’t take us long to reach our destination, it was only a short seven kilometre there and back again walk. It’s not always about packing in the distance and today for me it was about visiting Whaleback Boulders, a place I have climbed at twice before. Lisa was happy to sit and watch the waves smash into the bigger boulders from a safe elevated stance, while I went for an explore. It is worth clarifying that by climb I mean boulder, which means there are no ropes involved and we only use mats to cushion any falls. If you check out the following post you’ll see an image of Kym scaling the boulder on the left of the image below (https://sandbagged.blog/2016/01/17/whaleback-boulders/). Bouldering could be a climbing style for the rocks Josh had spotted, but due to their height it can get dicey:
With today’s conditions there was obviously no chance of a boulder, not that I had lugged any mats along with us anyway. Once again the climbing shoes stayed in my pack, as I went to explore the boulders. On occasion just sitting to watch the waves find entry points between the rocks to send white water in all directions. It was an exciting position to be in, but there was a need to watch the sets of waves very careful to avoid being caught out, or worse pulled out. Lisa would never have liked it, but these places really make me feel alive. So I spent some time there and took lots of angry water images. Eventually I wandered back to Lisa, as it was time to break out the tea and cheese sandwiches, which I am sure you were expecting to hear about:
We sat safely up on high, continuing to watch the waves for quite a while longer. Today we saw heaps of hikers, ladened down with heavy packs, and trail runners carrying very little other than hydration packs. It was a busy day on this stretch of the Cape and Cape, and several groups passed as we sat and watched the waves. All seemingly oblivious of, and missing out on the amazing labyrinth of boulders that lay just a short distance from the path. Or maybe they were focused on what they had set as the end point for the day, and instead put their mind to continuing to place one foot in front of the other. After soaking the atmosphere and views in, that is how Lisa and I hoicked it back to Gracetown:
It did make me wonder if we ever walked the entire Cape to Cape trail in one go, how we would tackle it. Go slow and take it all in, or move faster and risk missing what lays just a short distance off the track. Lisa joked that it would take me a month to walk it, whereas most people take a week. Unlike the outward trip we walked at a quicker pace and with more purpose, in part as it felt like it was heating up and in part as we were walking along the same track we had already walked. When we arrived back to a much busier Gracetown, with people still surfing but now also fishing, swimming, and just sitting on the beaches, I’m sure we halved the time it had taken us to walk out:
Sandbagged 