Thursday 10th July 2025

Thursday 10^th July

SHE SAID:

We had a fun, muddy, wet, adventure out to Mt Ragged, which is about 150km east of Esperance. We were joined by Luc in his 4WD, & Kathy as his passenger. Luc has done this track a few times & was happy to lead.

The track started off with good dirt, then well-compacted sand, because of the recent rains. But the rain also settled in large holes, which were either sand or clay; some were slippery, others were deep, & others again were firm & easy. Next came the corrugations, & then the exposed limestone; definitely a mixed bag on this 50km stretch. The tyres were let down as the sand began. Bluee, our blue ute, turned a grotty shade of brown, but it was a good drive with no mishaps.

Kathy managed to lose her radio in the bush, never to be seen again. We did find some flowering orchids, all in the Greenhood family, but also signs of orchids to come, which was encouraging for future trips out there later in the season.

Geoff & I managed about ¼ of the walk-up Mt Ragged. All I was interested in was orchids, so the walk up was leisurely, but Luc & Kathy powered up after staying back to try & find the lost radio. They continued higher, maybe 1/3 of the way for Luc & possibly ½ way for Kathy. Time was against, us as the sun sets so early at this time of the year; we wanted to be heading out by 3pm.

Kathy said she is keen to return to get to the top! Only wandering for orchids for me!

It was 5.45pm by the time we hit Castletown. It had been a good day out, but we should have left at 7am I think, to have more time out there!

Spot the walkers!

HE SAID:

I was a little surprised at the late start for the long trip today, but off we went at 0830. The morning was cold, and a bit breezy, but all was snug in the cars. The bitumen ended after 115kms, and then there was a variety of surfaces to manage. Thankfully it was all fairly flat. Slippery, muddy, clay hills would not have been fun. There was a stop just after 11am to look for orchids on a flat granite sheet, but we all seemed to firstly spread out for a pit stop. There was not much there so we headed on to Mt Ragged proper. Overall we spent about 4 hours getting there. The track was certainly worth taking precautions on. After a few hours wandering we headed back towards Esperance, making it out to the bitumen in a touch over 90 minutes, dodging kangaroos, emus, and Luc said he saw cats, and foxes, as we knew the track's perils weren't so perilous. Back to the house around 5:45 it had taken about 3 hours to return. As long as there are no downpours we could do the trip quicker next time. I was pretty done in on our return, and happy to have a beer, watch some footy, the video chat with Julian in Japan.