It was an early start today, and there was a full moon to light the way. My intention being to get a first light start at Wilyabrup. The decision to head out so early was made easy being a solo trip, and my body is back to waking up at silly o’clock. Watching the moon through the treetops, as I drove through the Ludlow Tuart Forest, was almost hypnotic. I had to keep reminding myself to watch the road. Not for other cars, kangaroos. The moon phase can affect their activity, and with more ambient light they are generally out and about more:
And just because there is a full moon it doesn’t mean that all the creatures of the night are more active. The predator and prey behaviour can also be an influencing factor, also altering in response to the changing ambient light conditions. When there is more light prey may modify their activity to reduce their predation risk, which could include being less active. That said there are very few natural predators that kangaroos need to worry about. Possibly Dingos (Canis familiaris), but I doubt very much they are round where we live:
Then there are Wedge-tailed Eagles (Aquila audax). They generally hunt at sunrise and sunset, so there was little risk of them being about. As it was I didn’t see any kangaroos, but I did pull over to try to get a shot of the moon that was silhouetting the tall tree tops. Not taking the time required to get such low light images, they were pretty average. My focus was more intent on getting to the crag to watch sunrise, so I drove on. Managing this as shown by the first image, taken as I walked the short kilometre’ish from where I parked my car in darkness:
I had a plan for today, and it was more than usual. While I am feeling so much better, Howsie is laid up recovering from a bout of COVID. He was however well enough to communicate so I teased him with my thoughts. The options I had in mind comprised The Playground where there are a couple of harder boulder problems, which I have never played on, or the usual Wilyabrup. The latter won out, and he agreed it was the better destination. I like the height, but there is a front is on its way and the main cliffs are a much shorter walk from the car. Just in case I got caught out:
This was also a factor when I decided on the slightly earlier start. Mind you, those that know me will be well aware that I would rather watch the world wake up while being at the cliff. The images show that my timing payed off, it was a glorious start to the day. In fact sunrises and sunsets have been particularly good of late, due in part to smoke haze hanging low in the horizon as a result of people back-burning before winter sets in. I was already well into my itinerary for the day before the sun had managed to get high enough to touch the first boulder, two images up:
I began on the same wall that Howsie and I had started and finished on just a week back. For no other reason than it being a good height and beautifully featured, providing great lines. It may seem that it would get boring revisiting these places so often, but climbing for me is so much more than just the routes. Sure if there were more options in a reasonable distance I’d shake it up. However, each time I head out, something is different. The weather, season, how I feel, and/or what I see, any one of which can make the climbing feel not completely new but certainly fresh and enjoyable:
It was only for the last climb of the day that the sun was on my back, so I was being hopeful. Rapping down I didn’t see anything and resided to not being lucky, just like we had not been last weekend. However, hope won out when looking that bit harder during the climb I spotted one of our scaly friends. Snuggly tucked away deep behind the flake. What a great way to finish the session. One that saw me ascend 500m on twenty laps of quality lines, with an average grade of HVS/E1 5a. Not too shabby at all even if I do say so myself. And to boot, while packing away I looked up at just the right time:
Allowing me to witness a lightning strike in the brooding cloud. Still way too far out to deliver any rain. However, despite the long dry that we have endured, the cooling temperatures are resulting in a morning dew. With enough moisture to bring a bit of life to the vegetation, including the pasture that was looking lush and green across the valley. The orchid leaves we saw last weekend were still nowhere near flowering. This time though, I stopped at a small patch of bush just off the gravel road leading to Wilyabrup. Being rewarded with another wonderful find of six flowering Common Bunny Orchid (Eriochilus dilatatus). Let the hunt begin:
Sandbagged 