Day 10 - Albany to Stirling Range National Park
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I certainly felt refreshed when I awoke this morning. So I was happy I had a day to relax yesterday. And Albany is a lovely place to just relax.
As I was up early and fed I left Albany at about 7.30am. My destination for the day is the Stirling Range national park. Which is about 80kms away.
The ride out of town was easy and in about 15 minutes I was again passing farms. Today was the first day for me to enjoy sharing the roads with the road trains. These are very large trucks with at least 3 trailers. Being so big they are of course easy to see and hear. To help the drivers I wear a hi-vis vest whilst riding. It seems to help as they have all been able to give me plenty of room.
The road gradually climbed. The weather was still cool, as was a little grey, but no rain. About 60kms after leaving Albany I entered the national park. The first thing I noticed was this carpet of yellow flowers for as far as I could see. It certainly broke up the greens and browns I had been seeing.
At the northern boundary of the park is the turn off for Bluff Knoll. Which is the highest peak in the park. Across from the turnoff was a campsite. So I got myself a site for the night. I then set up camp and took most of my panniers off the bike. As I was going to cycle up to the start of the walk to the summit.
I was happy I left my panniers behind, as the last 2kms cycling up to the start of the walk were pretty steep. I then began my walk up. The summit is about 6kms return. It was pretty much 3kms of climbing to get to the top. As I was approaching the top I noticed it was getting a lot cooler. Also noticed the plants were more alpine looking. When I got to the top I had a great panoramic view of the area. I spent a while at the top enjoying the views.
I then began my walk back down. As I was coming down the sun finally decided to say hello. Which made the views even more enjoyable. I then relaxed a little while before riding back to the campsite. The ride to camp was a buzz, I got to enjoy coming down the hill on an unloaded bike. So came down pretty fast.
At camp, whilst getting dinner ready I got to enjoy a nice sunset from where I have pitched my tent. Again another good end to a great day.
As I was up early and fed I left Albany at about 7.30am. My destination for the day is the Stirling Range national park. Which is about 80kms away.
The ride out of town was easy and in about 15 minutes I was again passing farms. Today was the first day for me to enjoy sharing the roads with the road trains. These are very large trucks with at least 3 trailers. Being so big they are of course easy to see and hear. To help the drivers I wear a hi-vis vest whilst riding. It seems to help as they have all been able to give me plenty of room.
The road gradually climbed. The weather was still cool, as was a little grey, but no rain. About 60kms after leaving Albany I entered the national park. The first thing I noticed was this carpet of yellow flowers for as far as I could see. It certainly broke up the greens and browns I had been seeing.
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At the northern boundary of the park is the turn off for Bluff Knoll. Which is the highest peak in the park. Across from the turnoff was a campsite. So I got myself a site for the night. I then set up camp and took most of my panniers off the bike. As I was going to cycle up to the start of the walk to the summit.
I was happy I left my panniers behind, as the last 2kms cycling up to the start of the walk were pretty steep. I then began my walk up. The summit is about 6kms return. It was pretty much 3kms of climbing to get to the top. As I was approaching the top I noticed it was getting a lot cooler. Also noticed the plants were more alpine looking. When I got to the top I had a great panoramic view of the area. I spent a while at the top enjoying the views.
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At camp, whilst getting dinner ready I got to enjoy a nice sunset from where I have pitched my tent. Again another good end to a great day.
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