Grampians - Day 2 : Mt Rosea Circuit - 8 Kms

 U3A Hike No. 168

Hike Report by Geoff

It was a cold start to the day as we rose to icy windscreens and mist rising over Halls Gap partially obscuring the mountains behind which were looking spectacular as the sun rays gradually lit up their red sandstone edifice. It was 6° when our group of 12 left Halls Gap to head up to the Mount Rosea carpark. We were all delighted that the sun stayed with us the whole day, ensuring that we had a perfect day for hiking as the temperature climbed to 16°.

Today’s walk took us to the summit of Mount Rosea, one of the highest points in the Grampians at 1009 metres. A major feature of our ascent was our climb up the Grand Stairway. This is the natural ramp which hugs the massive cliff running along the east side of Mount Rosea, to reach the ridge hundreds of metres above. With a width of around 3 metres, we kept close to the cliff face but found this to be an impressive way to approach our goal. This was part of the earlier tourist walk to climb Mount Rosea but now is discouraged by Parks, in favour of the new, safer route which we took when returning to the car park.

On reaching the ridge we found ourselves weaving our way through boulder mazes as we continued southward towards the summit. Soon after we stopped on an open section of the ridge offering spectacular views to the east, the perfect spot for morning tea. While taking in the view, some of us noticed that, in finding our ideal rock to rest on, we had unknowingly stepped across a crevice which was possibly 50 metres deep. After our break we continued along the ridge, crossing the modern metallic Gate of the East Wind bridge, which took us over a very imposing chasm, the most significant of several which we either crossed or narrowly avoided along our path. After conquering several more challenges of climbing through further narrow spaces between crags, often affording framed views to other craggy mountains or to Lake Bellfield and the plains below, we eventually found our way to the summit. This is now caged, ensuring the safety of those who reach the top. 

Here we were able to appreciate the immensity of our achievement in reaching our elevation of over 1000 metres and to gain another view of the walk taken the day before.

As well as being a perfect day weather-wise, we continued to be inspired by the numerous wildflowers including the Fairy Aprons which were found in clumps of moss on the flatter rock faces. Lyn was also regularly heard drawing our attention to some of the orchids in flower. These included the blue Sun-orchids, Salmon Sun-orchids and occasional Spider orchids. White flowering trees tea tree, thryptomene and egg and bacon bush peas, along with so many other plants added to our colourful experience. 

Not surprisingly many birds also attracted our attention including the white eared honey eater, which joined us at our lunch spot, part way down the descent. The last part of the track towards the car park changed from being rocky to sandy, taking us through woodland.  We were pleased to return to our cars after covering 8 Kms.

Again we were very appreciative of Gordon and Andrew for bringing us to such a spectacular area.

Photos by Andrew and Geoff