Wittnoom

Submitted: Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 13:22

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Member - Michael

The 'handbrake' and I will be up around Karajini between 16 & 30 July and was wondering if there is a track going from Weano Gorge through to Wittnoom Gorge then onto the townsite. I think part of the track is called Bolitho Road (Track). I seem to remember reading about such a track, it was about 25-30km long and pretty well ill-definedand rough and only used by prospectors in the area.
SWMBO went to school there for about 3yrs and would like to have a look around the old town.

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Reply By: Surf - Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 14:59

Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 14:59

We were up that way in 2003 and tried to drive from a gorge just east of Wittenoom back into Karijini (think it was Yampire?).

The track in was OK but then we reached a water crossing that not even a snorkel could save you from! Huge boulders just under the water making it virtually impassable, so reluctantly we came back out again and went back the long way.

My wife and I did take a track from the then Hammersey Range National Park in the mid 80's into Wittenoom several times (to get tyres fixed), I think that it may have been through Yampire Gorge?

I can only assume that the "closure" of Yampire is all part of the process of eliminating Wittenoom from the map.

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Follow Up By: Member - Michael- Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 15:10

Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 15:10

Thanks Surf
That's what I was afraid of, taking the long way may not be an option due to time
Mike

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Follow Up By: Pluto - Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 15:54

Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 15:54

My understanding was that the tracks into the gorges were too hard to maintain. The park end of Yampire gorge was gated off years ago.

I know of one or two people that have done the track. They didn't recommend a repeat trip.

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Follow Up By: BenSpoon - Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 22:03

Thursday, Jun 30, 2005 at 22:03

I did half the yampire gorge road in late 04 and it gets really messy in the middle- the track has gone completely in sections (washed away and overgrown sections) and we were picking our way through trees with swamp around them in the narrow of the gorge. The first bit though was magic- water crossings, good scenery, some good challenges and plenty of old building remains built into cliffs and all, but of course warning signs saying dont open your windows because of asbestos.

There is no real track from weano to wittenoom- The tracks are all high up and on the opposite side of the gorges to wittenoom. Its a pain, but driving around is really the quickest way. We only did yampire gorge because it seemed the only shortcut. Driving to the end of wittenoom gorge leaves you at a huge 2-odd storey high pile of shale stopping any vehicles. Even if you can scramble to the top, you will high-centre.

Check out the track going around to hamersly gorge- theres plenty of stuff along the way to make the trip worthwhile.

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Reply By: Member - Melissa - Saturday, Jul 02, 2005 at 16:11

Saturday, Jul 02, 2005 at 16:11

Michael,

Not exactly an answer to your post but I thought you be interested...we were at Wittenoom last week via the Auski R/house and Hamersley Gorge road. This route was quite scenic and in good condition. The section where you drive through the Rio Tinto Gorge was great. There is definitely no way out of the top end of Wittenoom Gorge. The mine buildings that were at the top of the gorge were recently pulled down by the government and a big pile of shale put across the end of the gorge preventing any further vehicular progress. It is well worth exploring the rest of the gorge anyway as there are some truly delightful pools. Stop in at the Gem shop when you arrive as the lady there will give you a map which has the main pools marked on it. Apparently plenty of people camp in the gorge and swim in the pools - certainly we saw plenty of campfires etc and were told that W gets 40,000 visitors a year. A word of caution though...at a couple of the campsites blue asbestos fibres were plainly visible on the ground. Apparently the fibres are only a problem if they become airborne and are inhaled but since we have two young children (4yrs and 16mths) who tend to run around stirring up the dust, dig and otherwise generally play on the ground we decided against camping there. There were no signs of fibres at a few other campsites so I guess what I'm saying is have a good look around and then make your decision. Enjoy your trip.

:o) Melissa

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