Today is another adventure on our exploration of the hidden gorges of Karijini National Park. It’s also the big one on our list and a challenging one in several ways. We’re heading to Weano Gorge and the Handrail Pool.

G’Day Bruce

Leaving Dales Gorge and we have 80KM of blacktop to our next turn-off and very little change of scenery along the route with the exception of a few rather large hills. They are in fact mountains and one of them: Mount Bruce is actually Western Australia’s second highest mountain.

While on the subject of mountains it wouldn’t, of course, be Australian without a Mount Sheila and, yes, one happens to be close by – I kid you not. Whoever named the remaining peaks in this region, though, must have run short on names, was tired or just couldn’t be bothered with the next one being thoughtfully named: Mount Nameless. We briefly pondered a detour for a climb up Mount Bruce until its apparent increasing grade persuaded us otherwise.

Just under an our from set-off we neared our turn – more clearly identified by the red stained tarmac than the road signs on approach. We’re now greeted with some of the roughest, rutted dirt road we have had the uncomfortable displeasure of experiencing. And part of the reason is the idiots driving well beyond the speed limit churning up the road and sending clouds of dust into the air. Likewise the same mindless people overtaking us with oncoming traffic so neither can see through the cloud of dust and gravel kicked-up in the air. Perhaps not coincidently they are usually company utes or hire cars. This was, however, a good opportunity to test out the Terrain Response modes of our Land Rover Discovery 5.

Comfort mode would provide some restpite from the punishing ruts of a normal dirt road perhaps but not this one. Sand, gravel and snow would appear to be the best to cope with the loose ground but still the ruts were winning. Mud Ruts didn’t give us the power we needed to get on top of the ruts and minimise the vibration so we opted for Comfort, which seemed the best compromise. Still, 13.5KM was far from enjoyable. Maybe if we had been in a hire car it would have seemed much smoother… and quicker.

Joffre Falls

Our first destination was a brief detour from the main track, which led us, though badly signed, to Joffre Falls Lookout. Now if Circular Pool was a jaw-dropping experience, then I need to revert to a thesaurus to find some other words appropriate to describe the view as you begin to look further and further into this gaping chasm in the ground. It is way deeper than you would expect and far, far more dramatic. This was akin to looking down into the Grand Canyon for the very first time only darker and more foreboding.

Deep down, a narrow channel of water flows from the falls, which by now, towards the end of the dry season, is little more than a trickle and a partly dry circular basin. Voices could be clearly heard from below and with a little searching we spotted several people clambering over rocks along the bottom of the gorge.

Then more voices as we watched nervously as a small group struggled their way up the opposite rock wall. It is probably every bit as steep as it looked from our vantage point. Then, to our utter disbelief, two young girls started the climb down into the gorge in bare feet!! You really have to wonder what has become of common sense nowadays. Sadly, as we have seen several times now, many adults are just as oblivious to the serious nature of these walks and the personal responsibility that goes with them. Perhaps evolution has taken a wrong step somewhere along the way.

For a reference of scale the photograph to the left was taken with a telephoto lens showing just the lower third of the gorge. There are three people in the image and they have to climb that rock face to exit the gorge.

One last drive, a brief teasing patch of tarmac followed by more ruts and we arrived at our goal – Weano Recreation Area and an experience we’ll never forget.

Oxer Lookout

To get a taster for what we were about to see we took the short stroll over to Oxer Lookout, which gives dramatic views where Weano, Hancock and Red Gorge meet. The red rock is even more spectacular in the early morning and late afternoon as the sun sinks to the horizon. 

Weano Gorge

Now those who have studied the park guide in advance may notice something rather odd about the map displayed at the start of the gorge walks. After a little reflection you may notice that the map is upside down, but rather dangerously, the north pointer is still pointing upwards. Follow this one using a compass and at best you’ll find yourself on the wrong walk and at worst lost. Getting lost here with no mobile phone coverage and the real risk of venomous snake bites is something you really do not want to experience. As soon as we are able we’ll be notifying WA’s National Parks Service.

Weano Gorge walk offers a brief glimpse of what to expect as you follow the gorge rim, but how wrong could you be. Something far more dramatic, far more spectacular awaits those that can cope with a grade 4 and 5 walk and at the same time don’t mind getting a little, or a lot, wet in the process.

A relatively easy walk down to the gorge floor finds you among deep orange and rust coloured vertical rock walls to a mostly level walk. Spotted River gums line the path with tall, healthy looking grasses. Several shallow pools of water remain reflecting the colour of the rocks and the white tree trunks of the gums.

In places the path requires an easy scramble over rocks and well placed stones help cross the few wet patches. After a few more scrambles we reached our initial destination hemmed in by the gorge walls. A path then leads diagonally uphill to the top and the end of the walk.

We had initially chosen to walk to the curiously named Handrail Pool another day but having spoken with another group at the end of our current walk we decided to continue further and we were so glad we did.

Handrail Pool

Continuing on the gorge gradually narrows and twists and turns past a few small pools easily crossed by stepping stones until reaching a larger pool, which requires wading through shin-high water or for those with a good sense of balance a delicate clamber along the exposed rock wall. We chose the water route but crossed bare foot – Gortex walking shoes are just as good at holding water in as keeping it out. Besides, the pool’s cool water provided a very welcome relief in this hot weather.

Becoming increasingly narrow the path is more challenging with large rectangular rocks and boulders to negotiate until closing in further with a trickle of water on the slippery layered rock under our feet. And then, wow. The gorge opens into a small circular chamber glowing orange in the shaft of sunlight and reflecting off a clear pool of water. The colour of the rocks are stunning with every shade of orange through to purple and even blue where the polished stone reflects the blue sky above. 

The chamber had been formed by the rushing water that courses through here during the wet season with the aid of rocks, stones and boulders that swirl around scouring the gorge walls.

From here the gorge walls narrow even further allowing for the more athletic to spider walk above the water during the wet season. Right now hardly more than a trickle runs through but even with walking boots the smooth rock offers little grip and a slip could easily result in injury or a twisted joint and it is far from an easy exercise to extract an injured party from such a narrow passage. It should be remembered the nearest source of emergency services are in the town of Tom Price 90KM away. Walkers within the National Park are advised it could potentially take up to eight hours to be rescued.

The passage eventually leads through to the impressive and much larger Handrail Pool. It’s more of a challenge than we had expected with the weight of our camera bags, slippery rock and a downward facing slope. We held on tight to the oversized steel handrail from which this pool gained its named.

It is possible to get a good view of the pool and its vertical rock walls without climbing down any further but it is quite a precarious position and needs careful balance and a little courage to let go of the handrail to take a photograph. The wearing of brave pants is advisable.

The handrail, fastened to the left hand rock wall, slopes down towards the biggest challenge of the walk where it drops vertically down to a narrow gravel base that edges the pool. The decent requires straddling the handrail and feeling for the foot supports widely spaced below.

Surrounded by rock walls the pool water receives very little direct sunlight and as a result it’s cold, very cold in fact. Warnings are posted at the start of the walk advising of the risk of hyperthermia. Still, a few people couldn’t resist the challenge. We were happy just to take a few photographs before carefully turning around and retracing our steps.

Returning to where we had waded through the pool blocking our passage earlier a dry route along the rock wall looked more passable than we had initially thought and a bit of scrambling had us clear and dry and soon making our way back to the steep accent leading to the top of the gorge.

We had planned one final walk but a view from the Hancock Gorge Lookout soon had us changing our minds, perhaps a bit more of a challenge than we were ready for and we still had a tough drive ahead of us to get back to our campsite.

Australian photographer, Ken Duncan, has created many stunning photographs of the gorges within Karijini National Park and Weano Gorge among them. It was through his images that we first learnt of Karijini National Park and we’re so glad we have been able to visit. Thanks Ken.