Kalamunda/Beelu National Parks (Piesse Brook walk)

The stats

• Distance - 10-11km
• Grade - classed as 'medium' to 'hard'
• Estimated time to complete - 4 hrs
• Actual time - 3-4 hrs (with stop for lunch)
• Resources - Shire of Kalamunda walking trails website and maps

The verdict

This ended up being a hybrid walk.  I was looking for a challenging trail in the Hills and happened across some excellent maps and guides on the Shire of Kalamunda website so I decided to link the Rocky Pool and Helena Pipehead Walks.  

We were still a diminished Fellowship as my Dad's foot was still on the mend so on a bright sunny Sunday morning, Ross and I headed for Kalamunda and parked on Spring Road where the Rocky Pool walk commenced.  The landscape was quite stunning.  The vegetation was dense and some early wildflowers added splashes of colour to the trail. 

Sweeping landscape - Kalamunda National Park

Wildflowers in bloom in Kalamunda/Beelu National Parks

We quickly comprehended why parts of the Rocky Pool Walk were classed as 'hard'.  The steep gravel tracks were pretty challenging with loose rock and corrugations making the trail particularly slippery.  Fortunately by following the trail in a clockwise direction most of the toughest slopes were on descents.

Ross on the steep and corrugated track

At Point #7 on the Rocky Pool Walk we took a deviation to the left and up a steep hill (under power lines).  At the T-junction at the top of the hill we turned right and followed the track around until it joined the Helena Pipehead Walk at Point #6.  We completed the circuit and then returned to finish the rest of the Rocky Pool Walk.

Crossing a water course - good practice (as we were to discover)
for the Coast to Coast walk although as we also quickly
found out, no Cumbrian stream was quite this tame!

The Helena Pipehead Walk brought home just how dire the water situation is in Western Australia.  It's now mid-winter and supposedly our peak season for rain and yet the ever decreasing rainfall over the last few years is taking its toll.  The water level looked decidedly low...

View over Helena Pipehead Dam (Puddle?)

It was more encouraging to find water in Rocky Pool - the pool fringed by boulders that gives the walk its name.  Approaching the end of the trail there was one last uphill section for good measure - ah, steps how I love thee...

Looking back down at the steps that weary legs have trodden

Kings Park walks

I really can't document our training for the Coast to Coast without mentioning the various Kings Park trails.  Ross and I are fortunate that it's right on our doorstep and every Sunday morning for the last two years I've been heading out for a weekly constitutional.  While gearing up for the C2C I gradually built up to a 10km circuit by joining together a few trails (Law Walk and a return trip along the Broadwalk to Zamia Cafe) and supplementing with various meanderings to link them.  

Path leading from the Roe Gardens - the beautiful
overhanging branch has sadly since fallen in a storm

The view of the city from the botanic garden

And of course Kings Park in August and September is resplendent with wildflowers, all helpfully labelled with the species names which is jolly considerate for us lapsed botanists!

Kings Park wildflower festival

The basic fact about Perth is that it's pretty FLAT.  While our training walks have been in the Hills thus giving us some gradients to work with, even this is limited.  Kings Park at least offers some undulating hills (more molehills than mountains in a landscape sense) but better than nothing.  While my Dad was nursing his foot it also offered a plethora of bushland tracks and slopes for him to train without exacerbating his injury.

Kitty's Gorge Walk

The stats

• Distance - 14km circuit
• Grade - classed as 'medium'
• Estimated time to complete - 4hrs
• Actual time - 3-4 hrs (with stop for lunch)
• Cost - $11 national park entry fee
• Resources - WA Top Trails website and Jarrahdale Historical Society mudmap

The verdict

Calamity - the Fellowship is slightly diminished as my Dad battles (gasp!) a foot injury courtesy of a boot malfunction.  Ross has donated his spare pair of boots to my Dad while he slowly rehabilitates with regular visits to the podiatrist and progressively longer walks around Kings Park.

In the meantime the Coast to Coast remains on the horizon so Ross and I keep up with the training regime.  We went to see the ultimate walking movie, The Way and feel inspired!  

It's another glorious winter's day and I finally get another day off work.  We head out to Serpentine National Park and before we've even parked the car we've already seen kangaroos and a fox.  It's a day of brilliant sunshine, birds singing, waterfalls, beautiful woodland, and open country with butterflies sailing past.  And the best part of all?  It's a weekday and I'm not at work...loving it!

I don't have a guide book today so we're following trail markers and a mudmap from the local historical society.  There is ever so slightly confusing signage at some points.

Which arrow to follow?!

Needless to say we get a bit lost around the turnaround point and end up retracing our steps rather than risk wandering off the trail on the return loop but apart from that it's quite easy to navigate.

The walk commences up a steep incline although it then opens up into a riverside path which skirts the boundary of private properties.  All beautifully signed at this point so the path is easy to find.  

The start of the walk

The trail is varied and meanders through beautiful woodland as well as rocky outcrops which forces us to clamber over huge granite boulders.

The trail as it passes through woodland

Open countryside

There are some steep sections and challenging track but all the while Ross and I reassure ourselves that we won't be clambering over fallen trees and huge boulders in the Lake District (HA! Oh isn't hindsight hilarious - now of course I know better!).

One of the steeper descents

We feel good at the end of the walk and (could it possibly be?!) I think my fitness levels are improving as I'm not totally incapacitated after walks anymore.   Onwards!

Walyunga National Park - Echidna Trail

The stats

• Distance - 10.5km circuit (although we probably did closer to 12km)
• Grade - classed as 'medium' to 'hard'
• Estimated time to complete - 4 hours
• Actual time - close to 4hrs but we did get lost to begin with and stopped for a lunch break
• Resources - Paul Amyes' book: Perth's Best Bush, Coast & City Walks
• Cost - $11 national park entry fee

The verdict

Public holiday Monday and fresh off our successful first training walk three days earlier, my walking companions and I decided to up the ante and go on a slightly longer and more challenging walk.  Our target today was the Echidna Trail - the longest circuit walk within Walyunga National Park in the Swan Valley.

First problem was the extraordinarily poor signage at the start of the walk.  We parked the car and looked in vain for a sign detailing the starting point and/or the correct trail marker.  After following the incorrect trail for a while and backtracking (and passing the same family three times at which point they thought we were totally bonkers), we finally got onto the correct trail.  It did add an extra ~1.4km to our walk and we lost time but once on the trail the markers were reasonably easy to follow.  I'm so glad we had our guide book!

The track was rougher (loose gravel and quite deeply corrugated in places) and the inclines decidedly ahem, steeper!  There were sweeping views over the Swan Coastal Plain from the top of the first hill however so the effort was rewarded.  

View of Perth CBD in the distance

Sweeping views of Swan Coastal Plain

The guidebook mentions a 'short, steep climb...to the summit of Woodsome Hill, which at 260 metres elevation is the highest point in the park'.  Steep - definitely!  After pulling ourselves up to the crowning fire tower, we found a shady spot among the grass trees to have our sandwiches, catch our breath, and enjoy the sunshine.

The best part of walking uphill all morning was the glorious descent all the way back down to the river and then a slow amble along the riverside path to the car park.  

Steep descent back to the river

We all felt decidedly footsore and weary after the walk today.  Euphemisms aside - aching actually and totally exhausted.  

Paten's Brook Track

The first official 'training' walk!  I should introduce the Fellowship - we three who will be tackling the Coast to Coast together: my husband Ross (tennis supremo and fit); my Dad (an incredibly fit 75-year old courtesy of years of running marathons); and me (er, not fit with the muscle mass of a marshmallow).  

My walking companions beneath an iconic tree along the Paten's Brook Trail

I must also acknowledge the wonderful book by Paul Amyes: Perth's Best Bush, Coast & City Walks which was the guide we used to choose and undertake some of our training walks.  

The first step on the trail began today - the Friday before a long-weekend and a very hard-won day off from work.  So, on a gloomy and overcast morning, we made our way to Beelu National Park in the Hills.

The stats

• Distance - 9km circuit
• Grade - classed as 'medium'
• Estimated time to complete - 3 hrs
• Actual time taken - 2 hrs 15 mins

The verdict

A really enjoyable walk and a good starter walk with an easy grade.  The majority of the track was of a high quality.

High quality track - Paten's Brook Trail

The path markers were brilliant and although we had the guide book handy, it would have been possible to follow the trail without it.  The commentary in the guide book did add to the experience however.  The bush was quiet and there were nice views over Lake CY O'Connor, which sadly looked quite low on water....

View over Lake C.Y. O'Connor

We felt decidedly pleased with our first effort and rewarded ourselves with a hearty lunch in Mundaring where we planned our next walk...