123. Hollow Mountain - Mt Stapleton

 U3A HIKE NO 123


Hike Report by Fiona Deutscher


We completed several challenging walks on this day including Hollow Mountain, Gulgurn Manja Shelter, Flat Rock & Mt Stapleton. 


Hollow Mountain 

We commenced this strenuous 2.2km walk from Hollow Mountain Carpark -after travelling 45mins along the dusty Mt Zero- Halls Gap Rd. The track commenced on a flat sandy track through a densely vegetated gully with a very colourful display of wildflowers. These included Pink Fringe Myrtle, Holly Leaf Grevillea, Cats Paws Grevillea, Desert Peas & Nodding Blue Lily. The track lead us to the base of an iron stained cliff. It was then a steep & strenuous climb through fallen boulders & squeezing along narrow exposed ledges to a sparsely vegetated high rocky outcrop. A group purple nodding lilies were a surprising contrast growing amongst the grey mass of rock. The summit of Hollow mountain afforded impressive views of Mt Stapleton and the Amphitheatre. We also looked out over the Wimmera plains & identified the Victoria & Black Ranges in the distance. 

 

Gulgurn Manja Shelter 

This short 1km uphill stroll from the Hollow Mountain Carpark lead to an Aboriginal Cultural site Gulgurn Manja meaning ‘hands of young people’. We examined the Aboriginal rock art painted with ground ochre. We also saw evidence of the quartz stone wall having been chipped away to fashion primitive Aboriginal stone tools. 

 

Mt Stapleton & Flat Rock 

We ate lunch at Mt Zero Picnic area & encountered a brief shower of rain before commencing the 4.8km return walk to Mt Stapleton via Flat Rock & the Stapleton Amphitheatre. Mt Stapleton is the highest peak in the Northern Grampians- 518m above sea level. We started walking cautiously up the fairly steep vast expanse of Flat Rock. Care was taken to place our feet firmly on the slippery wet rock.  The top of Flat Rock afforded a great view overlooking the natural Stapleton Amphitheatre and the impressive Taipan Wall. We descended into the Amphitheatre & continued in an easterly direction along the massive orange iron stained Taipan wall. Gordon entertained us with his past rock climbing adventures on the wall.  

We then continued to climb along the steep rock terraces past amazing rocky outcrops including Bird Rock – which a few of the group managed to climb. We were also impressed with some wind & water sculptured caves nearby. 

We turned northward at the track junction skirting around Mt Stapleton.  We passed through a saddle and then a picturesque treed gully before commencing the final summit ascent. At this stage we really appreciated Gordon’s past rock climbing experience & advice to steer us up the narrow steep ledges & rock scrambling sections of the summit track. On the Summit we were rewarded with magnificent 360degree views of the Northern Grampians Range as well as the vast Wimmera plains. Finally we retraced our route back to the Mt Zero Carpark. 

 













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