I saw things had changed when I checked my phone at 4:15am, which was my designated time to get up and ready for a proposed cruisy climb on the coast with Rongy. His body clock had been thrown out by shift work and prevented him from managing to get much sleep, so he decided it was best to bail. I was torn. The idea of a cruisy morning out was still appealing. However, I was also keen to check out what may have changed at Crook Brook seeing I hadn’t been there for some time. That meant heading to Welly Dam, which would be far from cruisy:
I still hadn’t made my mind up as I started to drive out. And it wasn’t until I hit the T-junction at the end of the only road out of Peppy Beach that the decision was made. It was the sky that assisted in swaying my indecision. Grey and overcast to the west, while clear skies lay to the east. My thinking was that clear skies would hopefully mean relatively low humidity levels, which is kinda important at Welly Dam. Plus Crooked Brook was still at the back of my mind. Gently urging me to turn left to a more serious session, which is what I did:
Before we get to the rock I better mention the Crane Fly (Leptotarsus) in the first image. The only living thing I saw after I had set up on the first route of the day. This genus is one of several in the Tipulidae family, commonly known as large crane flies, found in Western Australia. Further, it is suggested there are approx. thirty species in Western Australia, and despite this relatively low number I have not been able to narrow it down to a species. Seeing Rongy was, hopefully, catching up on sleep, I was flying solo. Flying being the operative word:
I did a fair bit of that today even though I picked sensible lines. It felt like I needed a crane to lift me up the climbs, as at times even when I felt in a secure position I slipped. It was in complete contrast to how I performed here a week back, and for that trip I picked harder routes. The second image might give a hint as to one issue. It may be difficult to make out but I have left a sweaty palm print just below the sloper. By the time I arrived the clear skies were gone and grey clouds hung above. The rock felt a little ‘off’ and the skin a tad clammy:
On the plus the seepages that were still evident a week back on many of the lines was mostly gone, with only two routes still sporting water on them. The above climb, which I slip-slided my way up, didn’t have any water but was still splattered with debris that had been dribbled down the rock from above. This was the last line, four climbs was defiantly enough today. Eight laps at the dam is respectable, the main cue to wrap thing up was however the people that had started to appear. But before I left I wanted to check out the top of the crag:
The water at the top of the crag that had been evident in relatively large pools had also mostly gone. It had however already worked it’s magic of giving life, and I found hundreds of Twisted Sun Orchid (Thelymitra flexuosa) buds, all tightly still clamped shut. In addition there were stacks of Plain Sun Orchids (Thelymitra paludosa), also firmly closed except one or two that had started to crack open a touch. The below pink variety being the one I really like. If I waited around for the temperature to warm up some may have opened:
That was not going to happen today. Crooked Brook was calling. I was also put off staying much longer, when a couple of the groups of people who had started to appear almost shouted out in excitement ‘look there’s a climber!’ To put the final nail in the coffin, an abseil group was about to turn up. Back at the carpark the tour operator was pulling the gear out, as I was putting mine away. On the road out I pulled over for a positive sensory overload, provided by swaths of fragrant Water Bush (Bossiaea aquifolium):
Sandbagged 