After our should we/shouldn’t we stay decision yesterday we were very happy we made the call to stay when we woke up and didn’t have to pack up our tent. After a leisurley cup of tea we headed out for the pound walk. We still had our packs on but had stripped out all our weight so we were feeling very light and full of energy. We had both wrapped our blisters and they were also feeling good.
Pretty much from the get go the walk was special. We crossed a dry river and then ascended a valley via rolling hills. The flowers were again out and everything felt green, even though it wasn’t. Once we got to the top of the valley we hiked up a little lookout and were greeted by views of the pound. Effectively a flat plane with a river running through it surrounded on all sides by ranges. It was like something out of the Wild West. If I ever wanted to make a western I would definitely chose Ormiston pound as the backdrop.
We have been blown away by the West McDonald ranges already and we are only 5 days in. Everyone we see who is hiking the other way is telling us that the best is yet to come but I can’t see how!
We continued past the lookout and descended into the pound itself and at ground level the surrounding walls of the pound were even more impressive. We had been told by Jess who did the walk yesterday that we would come across a river with an amazing waterhole about half way around so we planned to stop there for a little while. She wasn’t wrong and when we arrived we were the only ones there and after a little walk along the riverbed had a beautiful spot beside a big gum full of budgies.
We were planning to swim but the wind picked up and it clouded over so the water was not as inviting. But we spent a lovely few hours eating our brunch/lunch, having a cup of tea and generally just enjoying the serenity. We were also delighted to discover that our Radix breakfast packs which we have been a little so so on are much better when eaten cold. Considering we have another 15 days of then we are very happy about that little revelation.
We reluctantly packed up and continued on the rest of the walk and after walking the rest of the pound we came to the top of Ormiston gorge where we had to do some rock hopping along the base of the gorge as the walls slowly narrowed around us. I know we have mentioned this before in previous places but sometimes places in nature are so immense that they feel sacred and this gorge could be considered that. The 40 or so school kids we passed along the way may have damped down that feeling a little but it was still pretty impressive.
Once we were almost home we took the track up the side of the gorge to the ghost gum look out where we had spectacular views over the waterhole and gorge. The walk down from there was easy and we arrived back at camp with some new faces staying at the camp site.
We spent the last few hours of the day all talking and swapping stories of adventure while charging our various devices and eating our dinners. Topics included which hikes everyone had done, how heavy everyone’s pack is, what dehydrated meals are the best, what’s everyone eating when we finish and also which hike is next. So far everyone we have met has been so interesting and personable. Some take a little to warm up but we always manage to get them going and it’s always the quiet ones that have the best stories. S