After a few hours hiking, we ascended the Hancock Gorge, had a bite to eat and started another nearby trail for the Weano Gorge. The sun was out and the weather had warmed up so we hiked in shorts and a short sleeve shirt until, again we had to strip down again to bathers. There were similar rock pools to negotiate that ended in another Class 5 level area known as Handrail Pool. We had to straddle the handrail and vertically descend to the bottom of this beautiful cavern that allowed qualified rock climbers to continue deeper.
The easy Class 3 hike to Dales Gorge in the late afternoon the following day allowed photographs of the Fortescue Falls to be taken in the shade.
We decided to then wait a few hours until night to try and capture the stars. At sunset we got a surprise. A seemingly endless number of Ghost Bats, with wingspans of 1.5 feet( 50 cm), emerged from the caves and flew quite close. Then the stars came out, although the moon was quite bright, I was able to shoot a vertical panorama of Dales Gorge that captured a shooting star or satellite.
Kermit Pool, Hancock Gorge, Karijini National Park, Western Australia Photo by Barry Epstein
Ecotent, Karijini National Park, Western Australia Photo by Barry Epstein
Walking up from the bottom of this gorge was fun in the moonlight and the use of a small flashlight was necessary. On two evenings, I could hear the dingo’ s running close by tent and it was interesting to listen to them howl.
On another morning we hiked into the Joffre Gorge that started from our campsite and although it began as an easy Class 2 it quickly advanced to Class 5 that was fearfully steep climbing which proved difficult with my large camera backpack. It was necessary on several occasions to remove my backpack and carefully pass it to my hiking companion. Once again, my efforts were quickly
Forteque Falls Panorama, Karijini National Park, Western Australia Photo by Barry Epstein
rewarded as the Joffre Falls appeared around the corner from a narrow part of the path. Being first in the Gorge early morning provided the best lighting, however, I wish that I were a bit earlier as the sky above the falls was too bright. There were many posted notices about snakebite treatment and I understand that there were some small but
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