Bluff Knoll and Bald Head- Part 1

In early 2023 one of my friends suggested we hike up Bluff Knoll, located down in the southern part of Western Australia, in the Stirling Ranges. I thought it was a fantastic idea, and we started to look at dates we could go.

I knew my fitness had dropped off considerably from what it had been the year before, and that made me a little apprehensive, but I can be stubborn, and felt I needed to prove to myself I could still bushwalk like I used to. Besides, how hard could it be, it’s not like we are going on a major hike over several days.

We finally set a date, and decided we would head off on a Friday afternoon, drive the five hours to the campground located near the base of Bluff Knoll; hike up on the Saturday morning, rest for the day, then head off on Sunday to Albany to walk Bald Head. Fantastic idea.

The day came, a Friday afternoon in August 2023. We packed my mate’s car and set off. We first stopped at a service station for some last-minute things, and I grabbed a burger from the local take-away, Chicken Treat, oh boy was it a treat. I tasted a Chicken Parmi (Parmigiana) burger for the first time. I fell in love with it.

Anyway. Off we went for our long drive south. The sun was setting early and was going down as we arrived at the campsite. It was a magnificent view, watching the red, orange, yellow colours over the mountain ranges and lush green farms and bushland.

We had two nights booked at the Stirling Range Retreat. If you are thinking of heading down that way, I highly recommend this place. https://stirlingrange.com.au/

I had been thinking of getting a Roof Top Tent for my Triton, but at this point in time I did not have one. All I had was my two-man tent. We set up our tents and headed over to the communal bush kitchen to cook some dinner. It was a great campground with very good facilities. We cooked up some sausages, tinned vegetables, and some Deb potato. A great bush meal.

After dinner, we sat at a communal campfire and had a good chat with some other people staying there. Some were young, and some were older, and we were all there for various reasons. A couple were travelling with their caravan, some other people were there to hike Mt Trio, some where there because they were part of a Glider club, and others were there to climb Bluff Knoll before sunrise. It was great to have a chat with them all.

It was a damn cold night and got down to 2 degrees. Needless to say, I was rugged up as I possibly could have been.

In the morning, we eventually managed to drag ourselves out into the freezing cold, got ready and made our way up Bluff Knoll. Several people were making their way back down from hiking up there at 3am, to watch the sunrise. My mate and I were not that keen.

I very quickly discovered I was nowhere near as fit as I thought I was and struggled with the hike. Distance wise, it is not a long hike, but it is quite steep, and my heart rate was well and truly up. We came across some interesting people during the hike, some of whom were not prepared for any type of hike like that, but they were still giving it a go. One guy was wearing hi-vis clothing and steel capped boots, and another couple were wearing active wear and no jumpers. We did also come across some others who were well and truly prepared and were running up and down several times. I spoke to one lady, and she said she was preparing for a competition in France, and Bluff Knoll was the only place for her to train properly.

We finally made it to the top, and the view was absolutely amazing. Even if I did feel like I was going to have a heart attack, haha.

We spent some time at the top admiring the view and chatting with some people. We could have stayed up there longer, but it was quite cold, so we made our way back down. When we got back to the campground, we had lunch and rested for a while. Our legs were very stiff and sore, so we went for a gentle walk down the road and back to try and loosen them up a bit.