Grampians Hike - Day 3

Saturday, 6 January 2018

Days 1 and 2 are described in the brochure as follows: 

Revel in the adventure and natural beauty of the ancient rock features of the Grand Canyon, views from the Pinnacle Lookout and the spectacular outlook of rugged mountain peaks from the top of Mt Rosea.

Day 3 doesn’t get quite such a write-up:
Day Three provides the opportunity to return to Halls Gap.

Which basically meant that it is just a 14k fire-trail slog back to Halls Gap until such time as the rest of the peaks trail is completed.  In the afternoon of day 2 we spent some time discussing whether we wanted to do this section, given the forecast was for 35 degrees and there wasn’t anything scenic to see. Jon had been running every morning as part of his overland track training so our obvious way out was to have him run and get the car and bring it back to us.  
After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing we were down to two options - get up at 6am and leave by 7 to avoid the heat, or,  bail out.  With the kids unwilling and probably unable to be ready to go early we decided to bail out - which freed up Jon to run all the way back to the car, then up to the Pinnacle again before returning to the car to pick us up. A 3 hour run for him - a lazy morning for us!

Although it was not completely lazy for me as while he ran I walked the first section of the route - and in fact the first 2ks were delightful (paticularly without a pack!)..

 

but once you got to the big lake the track turned into a sandy fire trail. Jon’s run confirmed that we didn’t miss out on anything much except for some steep pinches which would certainly have hurt after a hew hours of hot walking.

 

The temperature didn’t get up to the forecast high but it felt pretty darn hot as we ate our ice creams in Halls Gap and I’m happy we made the right decision for the conditions. 
2016summary
Cradle Mountain Day 3 Sunday, 30 December 2018
Cradle Mountain Day 2 Saturday, 29 December 2018
Cradle Mountain Day 1 Saturday, 29 December 2018
Christmas Day 2018 Saturday, 29 December 2018
Hong Kong Day 4 Sunday, 23 December 2018
Hong Kong Day 3 Saturday, 22 December 2018
Hong Kong Day 2 Saturday, 22 December 2018
It's been a long day.. Thursday, 20 December 2018
Heading to Hong Kong Thursday, 20 December 2018
Christmas Tree Sunday, 9 December 2018
Bangor Rogaine Sunday, 2 December 2018
Halloween Orienteering Sunday, 25 November 2018
Pinto Sunday, 25 November 2018
Mt Nelson Sunday, 25 November 2018
Sunday Funday Sunday, 11 November 2018
Eye love creepy cakepops.. Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Craft-bombers Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Dysart, Switzerland Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Back at work Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs - Day 7 Tuesday, 9 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs - Day 6 Tuesday, 9 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs - Rest Day Friday, 5 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs Day 6 Friday, 5 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs Day 5 Thursday, 4 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs Day 4 Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs Day 3 Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs Day 2 Sunday, 30 September 2018
Aus Orienteering Champs Day 1 Saturday, 29 September 2018
Sign of the times Monday, 27 August 2018
Other Signs Monday, 27 August 2018
Not the Larapinta Stage Race - Day 5 Monday, 27 August 2018
Not the Larapinta Stage Race - Day 4 Tuesday, 21 August 2018
Not the Larapinta Stage Race - Day 3 Monday, 20 August 2018
Not the Larapinta Stage Race - Day 2 Sunday, 19 August 2018
Not the Larapinta Stage Race - Day 1 Saturday, 18 August 2018
36 hours in Adelaide Saturday, 18 August 2018
Waterpolo Finals Sunday, 5 August 2018
Conningham Paddle Sunday, 5 August 2018
Taroona to Kingston Sunday, 5 August 2018
Happy Birthday to me! Monday, 30 July 2018
Unsupervised Holiday Activities Wednesday, 25 July 2018
Buckland Sunday, 1 July 2018
World Cup Soccer Friday, 29 June 2018
Icy Mornings Friday, 29 June 2018
Going through the boxes Thursday, 31 May 2018
Snow days are more fun Saturday, 19 May 2018
Queensland Day 7 Monday, 30 April 2018
Queensland Day 6 Friday, 27 April 2018
Queensland Day 5 Thursday, 26 April 2018
Queensland Day 4 Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Queensland Day 3 Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Queensland Day 2 Monday, 23 April 2018
Queensland Day 1 Monday, 23 April 2018
Zali's Milo Cake Saturday, 21 April 2018
THS Parent Teacher NIght Saturday, 21 April 2018
Craft Project Saturday, 21 April 2018
Ahh NZ Monday, 9 April 2018
St Helens Sunrise & Winifred's reserve Sunday, 8 April 2018
Taking a break Saturday, 7 April 2018
Maps... Maps.. Maps Saturday, 7 April 2018
Lovely Zali Friday, 6 April 2018
Easter Prologue Event Friday, 6 April 2018
Two monsters on the couch.. Friday, 6 April 2018
Cakes by Zali Friday, 6 April 2018
Autumn is here Friday, 6 April 2018
Melbourne Sprint Weekend Friday, 6 April 2018
Proximity Thursday, 15 March 2018
The Whole Sorry Towel Saga Sunday, 11 March 2018
Qantas Maths and Sod's Law Saturday, 10 March 2018
Mt Rufus Circuit Sunday, 18 February 2018
First day of school Sunday, 18 February 2018
Beach Weddings Sunday, 18 February 2018
Overland Track Run 2018 Monday, 5 February 2018
Arm River Track Hike - Day 3 Sunday, 4 February 2018
Arm River Track Hike - Day 2 Sunday, 4 February 2018
Arm River Track Hike - Day 1 Thursday, 1 February 2018
Seriously?? Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Orienteering Really Takes You Places.. Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Melbourne Weekend Saturday, 6 January 2018
Grampians Hike - Day 3 Saturday, 6 January 2018
Grampians Hike - Day 2 Saturday, 6 January 2018
Grampians Hike - Day 1 Saturday, 6 January 2018
Little Desert National Park Friday, 5 January 2018
More Adelaide Friday, 5 January 2018
Kangaroo Island - Day 5 Tuesday, 2 January 2018