Having joined the Ramblers in 2009, I have been privileged to hear many stories of walks from the past that were serious, funny and sometimes both. Whenever we have been able to see Mount Carrialoo or walked past the turn off, the stories of ropes, cracks between rocks to climb, inglorious uncontrolled descents and burnt logs blocking the way all come tumbling out. It seemed like it was a treacherous walk!

Having built up my fitness over the past year, I decided I wanted to have my own Carrialoo story. So, with some trepidation, I left my home on Wednesday to tick Carialoo off my bucket list!

The beginning of the walk was a quite benign walk down a road to McPhail’s Trail. I love this trail with its beautiful trees and stunning views. Then we reached the bottom of Mount Carrialoo. As I gazed upward I could see how steep it was and began to think it might be harder than I thought.

We started the climb, some of us pausing to rest and breathe and I was happy I was not the only one.

Then I saw the rope and the crack in the rock. My fear of heights tried to surface and I was so glad to have so many people helping by taking packs and handing them up to the next person and giving encouragement and advice in where to place hands and feet. Pulling myself up by the rope was a little scary but I did it! I felt a little dizzy at the top but also a little euphoric that I had conquered my fears.

The fact that the next hour or so we spent getting misplaced, bush bashing through wattle saplings and ferns way over our heads and stomping through mud did not dampen my spirits! The rock formations were amazing, the flora was beautiful and when we did reach the edge, the views were magnificent.

On the way back I did get my Carrialoo story. There was a burnt log (see above!) lodged in the crack with a very pointy end. As I was sliding down the sand in the crack, the person beside me dislodged the log and it started sliding towards me. (In future variations of the story the log will be hurtling down!) Luckily for me it was fairly rotten and as I tried to push it aside, half of it broke into little pieces. When I was finally down and safe, the log was pushed over the side by those following. And as usual, I ripped a hole in my trousers!

It was a great day and I loved every minute even though I can hardly move the next day! And that’s a tick!