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Day 3 – Karijini (Dales Gorge)
- Spicilicious
- Aug 13, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 28, 2022
Saturday, 13/08/2022
I awoke with the sun sometime just before 7am and enjoyed laying in the spacious tent until our alarms went of at 7:30am. We were quickly up and cooking breakfast, eager to explore Dales Gorge. After an oversized bowl of Nutrigrain for myself and some bacon, eggs and hash browns for Daniel, we did the dishes and got ready to go. We decided we would be active and walk to the gorge, leaving the DMAX and canopy setup at camp. This have us the perfect chance to use the solar panels that a work mate leant Daniel specifically for this trip and helped ease our minds about running the battery flat. It probably would have been okay, but with an 85L fridge/freezer and a 40L freezer running in a black canopy parked in the sun in the Pilbara, we didn’t want to risk it. So, with the solar panels set up and our food and rubbish stored away out of reach of those pesky dingoes, we set off on foot.
It was a quick ~1km walk to the gorge, as there was a shortcut walking trail from the campground straight to the gorge. We spent some more time admiring the gorge from above before descending down into another world.
The walk down led us straight to Fortescue Falls (pronounced Fort-es-cue, not -For-tes-cue as I was saying at first…), and it was a nice and easy walk thanks to the railed steps all the way down. This walk alone was spectacular, with trees and rocky ledges overhanding the path, and filtered sunlight making its way down to the base of the gorge. From here, we walked a short distance along a well-worn, slightly rocky path to Fern Pool. With its newly constructed decking leading down to the water, it was beckoning us in for a swim. Who are we to argue with nature!? So, we stripped down to shorts and sport bra (just shorts for Daniel…) and headed to the two ladders allowing entry into the pool. Daniel let me go first, and I briefly questioned my own sanity as I dipped my feet into the cold water. But the waterfall at the other side was calling, so I had no choice but to take the plunge. Daniel didn’t give himself a moment to reconsider and was down in a heartbeat.
After allowing a minute or so for our bodies to acclimatise to the numbing cold, we headed out into the open pool aiming for the water bathed in sunlight. I’ve never had such a surreal experience like that before. This was almost on par with seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland back in 2017 (which was the last holiday Daniel and I had been on… 5 years without a proper holiday!!). You’re swimming in this aqua green water, surrounded by lush greenery and the reddest rock you’ll ever see. The walls of the gorge tower around you, reaching for the sky, and the trees tower around the edge of the pool providing shade from the sun. The water itself is fresh, fed from the flowing waterfall at the far end. We made our way over, clambering up the slippery rocks to get behind the waterfall and take a break from paddling around. We soon regretted not bringing a camera on the swim, so we went back to grab Daniels iPhone (thankfully both our phones are fully waterproof).
After a lovely fellow tourist offered to take some photos and video of us both in the pool, we made our way back towards the waterfall. Now, speaking in hindsight, the footage Daniel got by swimming one-handed and filming with the other was worth it. But a quick glance back had me rushing over to Daniel in the middle of the pool to tell him the footage wasn’t worth drowning for. All I could see of him was his face barely poking up above the surface of the water and the phone still sticking out, recording away. I am a weak swimmer, so I wasn’t going to be able to help, instead just urging him to stop filming and swim to the edge of the pool to have a rest. Thankfully, we both made it to the waterfall again where we got some awesome photos behind the falls. After refilling some of our energy, we made our way back, this time taking it in turns to swim and film so neither of us would drown. A quick review of the footage once we were safely out and drying off had us thankful we had persevered.
We spoke to a tourist guide heading through who informed us that circular pool was closed due to a rockfall (and turns out has been closed for a couple of years now), and gave us some tips for the other gorges we planned on doing, also stating that Fern Pool was the warmest place to swim out of all the gorges. With this delightful news, we ate some mandarins of which Daniel was pleasantly surprised with and headed back to Fortescue Falls. We didn’t get to truly appreciate it the first time through, but the second time we did. It was quite busy with people young and old scattered across the tiered rocks leading down to the edge of the pool. As we neared the bottom, the rocks grew wet and very slippery, so we took our time to avoid any injuries. Once we had safely skirted around the edge of the pool and were clear of the slippery rocks, we headed off down the base of Dales gorge to experience the most incredible, breath-taking scenery we’d ever seen.
The terrain was rocky and wet in some places, and flat and open in others. We stopped multiple times to take photos and videos, each spot awing us more than the last. From towering rocky overhangs to the peaceful bubbling stream winding its way along the base of the gorge, this place had it all. There were mini waterfalls and sections of flat rock in the middle of the stream that you could go out and sit on. The tall trees kept everything well shaded, and the temperature was perfectly mild. The sun was enough to keep us warm and dry us out from our swim, but we barely broke a sweat along the trail.
We enjoyed watching some newly hatched butterflies and really took our time to enjoy the scenery. I was glad for my new hiking boots, as they provided great ankle support for a naturally clumsy person like myself. Daniel on the other hand chose to wear his Muzuno running shoes, stating that this would be their last run at life. Although excellent for jogging, they didn’t hold up as well in the rocky terrain and there were a few close calls as Daniel and his lanky legs navigated the obstacles. Alas, we reached the end of the gorge unscathed! We were even warned of a snake in the area at the end by a local tour guide, and I was slightly disappointed we didn’t get to see the little danger noodle.
Ahead of us was a natural version of Jacob’s Ladder on steroids. For those of you who don’t live in Perth, I’ll just describe it as best I can. This gorge trail had been marked as Class 4, and until now Daniel and I had thought that was being very conservative. For context, Class 5 is the hardest terrain, requiring excellent fitness levels and hiking skills. Given our relaxed meandering down the gorge, we would have guessed it was a Class 2, maybe Class 3 for the slipper rocks and uneven path. But facing this incline that led out of the gorge, Class 4 was starting to make sense.
With no other option than up to get out, we began our ascent. The flat shape of the rocks made for good steps, and some effort had been made to secure them with cement. But the loose gravel and steep incline made it somewhat treacherous. About a third of the way up we climbed a short ladder before continuing on. I was in a tricky spot. I was out of breath, which was making me lightheaded. But by this stage, we had reached a considerable height up the gorge wall, and with nothing but a shear drop down next to us, my fear of heights was kicking in! So, my choices were to stop and feel dizzy for the vertigo from the height we were at, or continue and feel dizzy from lack of oxygen. Daniel was faring better than me and was happy to continue, so continue we did! I’m still slightly put off that despite me being the more active oner who goes for runs weekly, Daniel was the one cruising through the climb. But I’ll put it down to his much longer legs, and the fact that I was carrying the pack.
We finally reached the top, my legs feeling a good burn and my lungs desperate for some sweet oxygen. We checked out the lookout to Circular Pool, but found you couldn’t really see it, so we headed back along the gorge rim track – a 1km track back to the carpark where we had started that morning. From there we made the short ~1.5km walk back to our camp, stopping again to let me admire yet another dingo from afar.
We got back and collapsed on our chairs for a bit before making some lunch and doing some update filming for the channel. The chicken and salad rolls were great, but sitting in the afternoon sun and relaxing after our adventure called for some ice-creams. Daniel got very excited about this, both because we got to eat an ice-cream, and because we were camping and yet still had somewhere to store an ice-cream. I would say our first experience of camping with a freezer is going well.
The rest of the afternoon was spent with me catching up on writing these blog articles and Daniel editing some photos and playing with the solar panels and the DCDC charger. The sun finally began to set, casting the world into a range of reds and oranges, calling for some more photo and video opportunities. I must admit, as much as I get up Daniel for never being able to sit still and enjoy doing nothing, the resulting footage he gets from being a workaholic is incredible, and well worth it.
The remainder of the night went smoothly. Daniel cooked up a delicious steak with some BBQ’d potato and I made a salad to make us feel a little better about ourselves. Then it was onto transferring all the footage from our cameras onto the SSD, and I spent some time editing some photos in Lightroom after Daniel gave me a crash course on how to do it. We eventually mosied on up to bed, enjoying the lack of rushing knowing we could have a late start the following day.
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