The last few weeks have been pretty wet but there seemed to be a break in the weather so Steve, Leanne, Chris and myself decided to head out for an overnight climbing trip to a place called Mount Frankland. The is a huge granite monolith with great long slabs which start in the Karri forest floor and then emerge above the tops of these tall majestic trees. We were taking a risk going our mid-winter but it all turned out ok:

We arrived early Friday afternoon to find the rock damp and in places running like a waterfall, after the rain of the last few days:

It was straight into it finding a few lines that were dry enough to all does small holds to be useable. It took a degree of self-confidence to use and trust them but the friction at Mount Frankland is great:

Chris got the top of the first climb, calves burning and head exploding from focusing very hard to get up the damp line:

The second line we bagged was better and after the first 10m was dray and and in great condition:

By now Steve and Leanne had finished walking round Mount Frankland and also up and down it, having felt on arrival to the rock to be too wet for them. Steve decided to head up to bag at least one line on the first day:

While Chris followed me up a line that had water just about running down it Steve and Leanne were topping out as the light faded:

For a moment it seemed that the rope might not want to come down but with a bit of grunt and Steve finally helping out there was a sigh of relief:

Chris meanwhile was enjoying a final decent of the day in the dark:

We walked out in darkness and set up camp. Steve was determined to light his one match fire and tried very hard:

Unfortunately the wood was a little damp, and it seemed for some time that he produced more smoke than flames, leaving poor Leanne to get colder and colder:

Eventually, with five matches, some tissue, a bit of card and also some sizable fire lighters Steve was successful:

We were up and the crack of dawn, being welcomed by a dry morning which was a promising sign:

On the walk in we spied some great mushrooms and I couldn’t resist taking a photo:

Chris set off on the first lead, the rock was much drier but also very cold this early in the morning, and his fingers felt it as he crimped down on the small holds:

Steve and Leanne were not far behind us and soon we were both heading up a couple of great three pitch routes:

Yesterday all the routes were single pitch, so today we purposely picked some multi pitch routes to get above the trees:

It was Leanne’s first multi-pitched climb without someone helping her at the belays, and she was relishing the experience with a great big smile:

Steve was also a very happy bunny as despite being mostly a bolted area be was able to use his newly bought toys a rather large number of tri-cams:

Leanne was climbing really well – tackling the tricky slabs, using the small holds and trusting her boots on some quite technical and sustained slabs:

Chris and I fired up one more two pitch climb as Leanne and Steve descended, as a true couple side by side (how romantic!):

Finally Chris topped out on the last pitch of the trip, quite exhausted. On the walk out we found more intriguing fungi so yes I had to stop again:

Back at the camper we sorted the gear, made a cuppa and food for the road and then drove home to get back in good time before dark. So in the end we scored a great mid-winter trip:

We have just had a long weekend here in Western Australia and it was likely all the places were packed with campers, so Chris and I decided to head off on the public holiday, Monday for a few days, and head out after the manic period:

After carefully watching the forecast we plumped for a central Wheatbelt climbing spot some 250klm east of Perth, over the southern coast due to the predicted winds still being fairly high. It would seem a strange place to head as the landscape out there is as flat as a pancake (other than low undulating rises and valleys):

However, 7hrs after leaving home (a late start as I wanted to have breakfast with my girls J and then even later as Chris had vehicle trouble before he got to my place) we finally spied our destination, Eagle Stone Rocks:

We didn’t bother to unpack but grabbed the climbing gear and wandered up the hill to see what was in store for us. We spied a couple of longer grade 17 (VS 4c) routes that were basking in the evening sun so went to work. The rock is a hard fine grained granite, so fine that the smearing can be very hard. The holds vary but tend towards edges from the ultra thin to great crimps:

We managed to bag two fine routes just in time to watch the sun set as we descended back down to set up camp, a mighty fine way to start our mini-break:

Eagle Stone Rock as you see below sits in an island of flatness so how it came to be is anyone’s guess but we are glad it is here. To the north and east the rock is surrounded by Lake Campon, a salt lake usually, but due to our unusually wet September there were areas with water and the sometime brilliant white salt crust was not as obvious as it may sometimes be:

We set up camp and made dinner efficiently in the dark and wasted little time eating and drinking our fill before heading to bed for an early start:

Morning brought a crisp blue sky and wonderful lighting for a few happy snaps before we got down to business:

Most of the climbing here is bolted but there are some trad lines, so we plumped for a couple of easy grade trad routes to get warmed up after all we had all day. Chris got the wheels in motion with a short but fun grade 10 (Diff) crack and then I jumped with far too little gear on a grade 14 (HS 4b) crack that was harder than it looked, so had to down climb to get some more gear:

We climbed the morning away playing on a variety of fine lines, some really short 6m routes and some longer lines around 15m. Above Chris is at the crux of a fun but short 20 (E1 5b) and below on a fine 16 (VS 4c) with me showing my usual ingenious belaying techniques to mange to get images while keeping Chris safe:

The route that really caught both our eyes was a fine face going at 21 (E2 5b) that looked to have the holds you dream of, so off I set, then I bailed and Chris went up, then he bailed and I went up and between us we managed to get up but not in the best style. Chris then had a bash with the rope above him and even then didn’t manage to get it clean (as a fun video we took proves). Me, I was wasted so we had a short break just so Chris could dash down to get the sun cream and I could look out for some local wildlife:

As an interlude from more climbing images here is a very funky bug I spied, no ideas of the name of the lizard above or the bug below but so if anyone out there does let me know:

We managed a few more climbs but by 2pm we were both stuffed so headed down to get a bite to eat, sitting down was bliss and we dawdled for probably an hour or so before dragging ourselves back up the hill. We wanted something in the shade and so Chris plumped for this thin and balancy grade 20 (E1 5b), a vey nervy lead and he did very well to keep his cool (I put the camera down for the next few moves!):

I had a bash at one of the project lines, a fine looking flared jam crack (if there can be such a thing), not being fooled this time I took plenty of gear and had a fine if slightly scary time. Based on the grading so far that we had encountered we reckon it probably went at about 18 (HVS 5a):

After a long and warm day on the hill and bagging 13 routes we decided to head down event though there was still some light left, taking time to walk down and onto the salt lake while enjoying a very deserved beer:

As we wandered back to camp the sun was setting and gave a great chance to take a picture of the awesome natural feature that Chris liked the look of but was too scared to try. In part due to fining the place pretty tough and secondly it looks like a smooth strenuous arm jamming crack going at a cool 23 (E3 6a):

Back at camp and a chill with one more beer before calling family and then getting dinner ready, we were not feeling too bad after the day out but our finger tips were certainly a tad tender and raw:

I had a play with the camera not really being very successful, but wanted to take a shot to show everyone the myriad of stars that were out each night for us:

Morning came quickly, a good nights sleep in a very peaceful place, we were greeted by the very thin slither of a moon as daylight took over. We had a cup of tea while watching sun rise over the salt lake and then got stuck into it:

We decided the day before to leave two fine looking lines for our departure morning, one a mixed route 19 (E1 5a) with a great looking flake at the start and another a project that looked equally fine. I started off up the flake with my wires in hand, it was a tough and slippery start and took several attempts to warm up and get going but once into it enjoyed the line immensely:

As Chris followed me up I looked out over our camp site and the lake behind it marvelling in just how peaceful a place this was:

Soon it was Chris’s turn for the last route of our trip. By now we were accustomed to fine feet and small crimpy hand holds, I couldn’t resist taking these images and just knew that Rhys would love them:

No words needed other than to say these holds were starting to make our fingertips scream:

Put them together anything is possible, Chris concentrating hard on those two holds (noting his left and foot are on nothing) and balancing his way up to get established for the next equally balancy and thin moves:

Nearing the top of yet another fine line, this images shows the 19 (E1 5a) flake and face I climbed, and we reckoned that the project route was probably of equally grade. Um… but maybe in hindsight it was more like a 20 (E1 5b):

Atop the mighty Eagle Stone Rock for the last time we were very satisfied and were ready to head home with sore arms, shoulders and fingers after bagging 17 of the possible 32 routes at this place:

Breaking camp didn’t take too long and we were out of there several hours ahead of schedule allowing us to take a slight detour on our way into Perth to just glimpse a couple of the quarries were the main climbing can be found near Perth. Having now finally seen them I know where I would rather climb:

A big thank you to Eagle Stone Rock and Nadia, Lisa and Moo for allowing Chris and I to indulge in our rock fetish for three days:

Last year I went on a week long climbing trip to the south coast and it was so good that we decided to do it again.  This year, however, we left it a bit late and the rains started to come in so we change the destination and decided on a remote 300m granite monolith approx 700km east of Bunbury and 100km north of Esperance called Peak Charles.  I had been here before in 2007 with Craig, a great trip marred only by the fact he had forgotten to pack his climbing shoes.  So this year I came armed with spare shoes and harness in case Ryan, Steve or Chris had forgotten theirs!

As we had a big journey ahead of us I left home at 6:30 in the morning to get to Bunbury, meet up with Steve and get an early start.  After saying bye to my two girls I headed off while watching the full moon go down:

There is a track that would have cut out 200km of the journey, avoiding the need to head down to Esperance and then back north. However, the condition of this track was uncertain but the friendly people at the Lake King roadhouse said we should be OK.  It was interesting that they were confident the first 100km would be fine, being in the Sire of Lake King, but after that the Shire of Esperance do not maintain their portion of the track so it can get dodgy.  The reason being that they want people to drive via Esperance(!):

We took the gamble and Steve experienced some bush driving, and as we had been told the first 100km was great. After that the track was much worse but still passable in the vehicle we had. Steve enjoyed the rocky, sandy, rutted and at times washed out sections of the track and by 2pm the crag was in sight:

As soon as we arrived we pitched our tents and sorted through the gear. The campsite is small but good with great spots to hide tents in the trees and has fire pits a table and of course bush loo. It was a shame that for the first two nights the other (noisy) people who turned up after us decided to camp right next to us rather than take a spot further away, but you get that:

After getting camp in order we had a little wander, note Steve with his fly net on. Yes there were flies but they were not that bad! Here he is playing on Mushroom Rock with the impressive Peak Charles in the background. We also managed to get phone reception so I could text and call Lisa and Moo each day which was lovely:

Chris and Ryan couldn’t leave in the morning so they drove through the night and arrived in the wee hours. So the first morning at the camp Steve and I up ahead of them. The walk in was better than I remembered, a 45min sharp rise up rocky ridges and through bush:

Steve had not previously experienced multi-pitch climbing, and what a place to learn! He was up for the first lead of the trip and we had purposely decided on a easy climb picking the classic Badile (grade 11). As the crag is so big after getting to the top there is a long walk down. Therefore, we had to carry our packs while we climbed making for an even more interesting first multi-pitch experience:

Steve set off and he coped really well but found some of the run-outs a tad concerning. The climb was six rope stretching pitches and we combined the line with a few from another climb, as they looked so good. Unfortunately I don’t have Steve’s images so can’t show you the mega corner pitch (going at grade 15) but if you are keen let me know and when I get them I’ll send them through:

At the top Steve was exhausted but thoroughly enjoyed the amazing experience and was up for more – phew. We also bumped into Chris and Ryan at the top after they had spied a nice looking two pitch chimney and got up that pretty quickly and were walking about the top terraces the same time as us. An hour’ish walk down and it was time to get the fire and food underway. Here Steve is trying to light the fire with only one match – it was more than one but I’ll say no more:

Day two and we decided on a slightly different approach. We picked Kwelaman a great grade 16 slab climb that has belay anchors that would allow us to abseil back down so we only took one pack up for food and drink. We intended to do the first four pitches (the best) and I set off on the first loving the thin moves, steeper terrain and at time run-out sections. Steve followed up in great style but it messed with his head big time and he had to breathe deep to control his fears:

Despite his concerns he pushed through and led two of the pitches and did them well. Occasionally he would have a go at the lack of gear and the exposure but kept his cool and kept going.  I have to be honest and think he enjoyed the experience of this climb more after we got back down to the ground:

Still he pushed through and even took time out to enjoy the scenery and other spectacular sights we were so privileged to have witnessed. We were particularly taken by the Wedge Tailed Eagles which circled high above us most days and at times we were almost level the them:

This image shows the track leading into the camp site well below us, Steve is getting ready to start up the crux (hardest) pitch, with a tricky sequence that he romped up. How can you not feel anything but great with such an outlook:

After we got back down all Steve wanted was food and a beer at the campsite, until he looked at this line and decided that he simply had to lead the classic first pitch of Beckoning Horizon (grade 19 – and very well protected). He ate the climb up smashing through the crux and revelling the whole way along it. The second pitch was equally awesome so I went up the next corner as well (again images are on Steve’s camera!):

After that deviation we again started back down to camp. As we went down we spied Ryan and Chris abseiling down another part of the crag. Watching them (and later we found we were right) it looked like the abseil rope got stuck. Fortunately they were able to free it without having to climb back up:

Day three and another time for Steve and I to head to the big walls, while Chris and Ryan went to find a small crag with some harder lines as they wanted a day without the big walk in and out. This time I was after a bit of self indulgence, as there is a climb called Juluka – grade 18 (which is the name of a south African band that I really like) that I didn’t manage to get on with Craig. To get there however there is an hour walk in followed by a traverse climb to get into the gully where the climb starts. Here Steve is setting off to access the gully:

Once in the gully the climb starts (and again Steve has more images) but to give you a taste here he is going up the first pitch. If you look hard you will see that sadly someone has retro-bolted this classic climb but we didn’t use the bolts. There are three pitches and each is brilliant and I took the middle pitch that traverses rightward underneath the rectangular roof directly above Steve which was brilliant:

Steve was smashed after this climb, not really surprising going up the big crag three days on the trot, so we decided to head back to camp. However, we were going to abseil back down into the gully to get our gear and then walk down but the abseil anchors were in a horrible spot that we really didn’t want to scramble down to them, so we had to walk round. It was in fact a much better thing to do as we got to look out at the great views of the salt lakes, surrounding land and see the magnificent wind sculptured rock formations:

We also managed to get a bit more walking in(!):

On the way down we found some beautiful natural rock art and I just had to take a picture or two:

There were also dwarf trees coming out of cracks and crevices these two being about a foot high at the most:

Rather than walk all the way down to the camp and back up we scrambled along the base of the crag which in most places was OK. In a few places the slab got a bit steep and in other places the bush was a bit thick, but it was a great experience. We also stopped at Spartacus Flake – an impressive flake stuck to the wall that looks like it will peel off at any moment. I had a whim to climb the left edge (a grade 12) and so we stopped and had a go. I got about 15m up before stopping as the next 20m or so required no.5 cams upward of which we had none so had to back off L:

When Chris and Ryan got back we heard how Chris had attempted a very tenuous looking seam with marginal RP protection, and had fallen from about 5m ripping all the gear and hitting the deck flat on his back. He was luck to land on the rope but did sprain a wrist, bruise his back and cut his elbow so Steve set up surgery and patched him up:

So with a big hole in his elbow, Chris was to be out of action. Steve also was pretty wiped out so they were to have a rest day and Ryan and I planned to head back up the big walls the next day:

The next day I did my usual routine of getting up at 5am to look at the sky, make a cuppa and get the others up. This morning was amazing, mostly a clear sky with a bright moon lighting up the cloud that hung over the crag like a crown. It is sights like these that make waking up early so worthwhile:

I took my time to get a few photos of the cloud formations before getting the cup of tea on the go, and had a strange sensation that maybe we would need to get Chris home today:

Then as went round to get them out of their tents and swags, Ryan said that he wouldn’t be up for going climbing as his eye was swollen up. He managed to spike his eye with a branch as they walked through the bush to get to the crag where Chris had fallen from and it had taken a turn for the worse overnight. Here he is looking none too good. On another note on cooking on the hot plate are two of Steve’s original and very tasty wrap with cheese and egg breakfast concoctions:

So as the day woke up we made the decision to head to Esperance and take the two walking wounded to the hospital to get checked out. So there is a lesson learnt, don’t take days out from the big walls to go cragging as it is detrimental to your health and the length of your climbing holiday! So we packed up and said goodbye to Robert and Saskia who also happened to be camping and climbing there while we were there (but their stories are another whole email – such as getting benighted on the big crag when the cloud and rain came in):

Once we got to the hospital Ryan and Chris decided that the 2 hour plus waiting time wasn’t worth it and we hit the road to get home before dark which we almost managed. The only stop we made of any great length was at Lake King to make some lunch:

If you look carefully you will notice that we shared this with the flies, and you will also see above that Steve had by now gotten used to the flies so the fly net became redundant. The good thing about having the trip cut in half was that I managed to get home to see Moo and Lisa earlier than expected and have more holiday time to spend with them J:

Four of us were lucky enough to have a week long climbing trip down to the south coast of the South West of Western Australia. Below I have selected some of the better images and snippets of our trip……

It all started in the woods of Mount Franklin, we arrived there soon after midday and hit the rock even though the afternoon sun was hot and sweaty on our backs. The choice of dates was based on hitting good weather but nothing too serious, as it was this first afternoon hit 30 degrees which on a still afternoon certainly worked us hard:

Mount Franklin is a 100m plus high granite dome that provides some great slab experiences, thin hand and feet holds means that you can’t use strength to get up. The trees surrounding the place gave it an air of calm but also was a haven for the dreaded March flies that take out chunks if allowed:

The views were great, and the next morning we hit the crag this time in the shade, making it so much more comfortable – this day the temp rose again to the mid thirties and we may not have known it but it was starting to drain us.  There are some great steeper lines including one awesome crack/layback flake line, I did have a bash but it humbled me and I backed off instead opting for one of the steep lines that was on a 50m high crystalline wall that promised to take no prisoners if you, feel off I clung on for dear life and saved my skin this time:

That afternoon we had a bite to eat nearer the coast in a place called Walpole, then hit the road and bush tracks to the next destination where we were to spend most of our time:

We narrowly missed the row of itchy caterpillars as they crossed the car park when we drove in, and that night they nestled in the cover from wind that the tyre of one of the cars gave:

The next morning we arose bright an early, 5:30’ish was the usually time I woke up and we were usually on the way to the crag within the hour. As this image shows the crag was all of a minutes walk away:

The mighty West Cape Howe is brilliant, as close as I will ever get to my favourite UK crag – Swanage, with its towering granite cliffs surging out of the ocean.  It is just off vertical but has some very steep sections.  For Andrew, Chris and Ryan this place opened their eyes and had a humbling effect:

The first full day was great, but we made a mistake of getting into the sun in the afternoon and with the mid thirties hitting us we were all exhausted that night:

Regardless of the sun we powered on, I was a happy as a pig in pooh. Whilst it took a bit of getting used to I was soon very happy to be back on real sea cliffs:

That evening we finished up as the sun went down and had a well deserved beer:

The next day we aimed to hit a few real classics, this line never gave up from start to finish and was one of the favourites of everyone.  Two glorious pitches up a steepening wall with great positions, holds and gear to boot. My aim was to climb the wall immediately right of this one, but the energy and need to climb harder was ebbing away.  This day we hit the big 40 degrees and I reckon everyone was getting a little tired now:

Still we climbed on into the afternoon and evening, again watching the sun dip down as we eased into anther night:

Evenings pretty well consisted of a few snacks, beers, some food (usually pasta and tuna with odd assortments thrown in)  – and always tasting wonderful and then bed:

The next morning and our last at West Cape Howe, greeted us with a red sky. Rain was forecast, including thunder storms so we got going early. A classic at West Cape is ‘The Climb’ on the old man and everyone was keen to jump onto it:

We wandered off in the fist overcast day feeling distinctly cold, and hoping to get the climb under our belt before the rain came in:

It was a fun line, but at less than 30m we all felt that we had probably left it too late in the trip and after all those 50- 70m epics it felt a little too short and easy. Still the threatening rain and howling wind added a different atmosphere which made us keen fore one more climb:

So we jumped on Carousel Wall for had a bash at the last lines of the trip, back on a clear 50m wall felt a better way to end out time here:

Chris was the last to savour the big walls here, and his white trousers just give him away and show how immense this place is (compared to our local crags that is):

We headed out and on towards Albany for a very different campsite. This one had lawns and trees and waterfront view, as well as showers and toilets:

The rain never did come and the cool day revitalised us into checking out some local short climbs, driving in it seems these 7-10m crags would not be worth leading after the big walls but the grades stiffened and we were soon humbled again. Granite again but a different type and required different techniques that we do not get a chance to practices at our local crags:

Some of the lines worked us pretty hard and we all had a few slips and took some skin off, giving some of us a taste of things to come:

That night after a cool day we packed up our bags for the last full day of climbing for Chris as he had to leave a day before the rest of us, the lights of Albany light up the bay as we sat with a beer before the usual meal and early night:

The next day an early start as we had to walk into the next place, Peak Head, a huge granite dome that sticks out of the headland and is accessed by an hours walk up and down the sand dunes:

After the walk in (with some good old bush bashing due to me following roo trails) there was and abseil and then a delicate 40m traverse to access the base of the 120m climbs up the front face above the sea. An access like that certainly starts to set the scene, retreat would be difficult:

We choose two similar lines next to each other, many of the lower grade climbs here consisting of steep crack and chimney climbs. Again a technique none of us had practised much, not being present at our local crags.  The climbing was slow and heady, and it took a long time to work our way up the lines, often disappearing deep into the cracks body jamming our way up:

Usually 120m climb would take a few hours, three at the most but these seemed to go on and on and took us five hours to ascend. What with the hour walk in, abseil and traverse this was turning into the biggest adventure of the trip:

Eventually, and to much relief, we all made it to the top and started the walk down the dome back to where we had dumped our gear. After fighting our way up this impressive piece of rock we felt a little lighted hearted as we wandered down, glad to have made it:

The hour walk out up and down the dunes was hard work and some nine hours after leaving the cars we arrived back, but as there was till daylight left I encouraged everyone we should head to one more crag. Again a short crag right by the ocean, we didn’t climb in pairs this time opting to have one lead each as we were feeling a bit beat after the big epic on Peak Head. This allowed time to kick back and really enjoy the scenery:

One climb each was just about enough and the week of non-stop action was taking it’s toll, so much so we decided that we would all head back at the same time. Four short but fun lines later and it was time to head off back to the camp ground for the last night:

Before we left the crag we sat and watched the sunset which with the clouds and headlands was very spectacular:

The next day and early start and back on the road heading to a lovely spot called William Bay which has a great sheltered swimming spot called Green Pools and a fun area called Elephant Rocks:

We wandered straight for Elephant Rocks to try a bit of bouldering, Chris decided to try what felt a far to hard line. What hurt more was the sharp crystals that felt like they would puncture our finger tips which were all feeling very thin after all the climbing we had done:

We soon tried some easier lines, with all the boulders littered about there was no end of options of things to try, many proving too hard but fun to have a go at:

Eventually we ended up back on the first line Chris had jumped on and a couple of us managed to get up it, having to endure some painful moves but also avoiding drawing blood from our fingers:

A dance of joy at the top, then a swim in the clear blue waters before we hit the road to head home: