Canning Stock Route
Canning - Wells 4, 5 & 6
Departed camp at 8am.
Set up the CTS (Carlyon Travelling Loo) for first time last night & can report it works well. Must burn waste in morning fire. Meg recommends it.
We passed onto a private road that's part of the Canning Stock Route today. This section of the track has been recently re-established through a
private leasehold and the lessee has imposed some conditions on its use, no trailers or caravans are permitted, nor are 4x4s larger than the F
series. This is to stop the track being churned up by unsuitable vehicles. All gates have to be left as found and we drove thru quite a few of them.
A new group tradition emerged - that of the "gate fairy". Whoever opens the gate leaves a small prize (a wrapped sweet etc, for the tail-end
Charlie who had to close the gate.
Some five or six steep dry creek crossings down and up steep banks were all easy.
Country was alternating strips of open spinifex plains with low shrub, grass and tree patches for cattle.
9am passed the Frère Range, a low eroded range of hills, the highest about 630m. Small lake in vicinity.
9.05. Large lake, Masses of purple pea flowers and yellow daisies on fleshy pink/purple stems and pigface-type leaves part of the Lake Nabberu
system. Lovely spot. No camping allowed in this private lease.. Sandy beach. We all wanted to swim.
Lots of dry creek beds and stony plains. Low scrub, some trees.
10.03 Snell Pass at end of Frere Range. Travelled up well treed gullies.
10.15am. Kennedy Creek snaked round and about for the next few hours and we crossed it
several times. Named after the policeman who travelled with explorer Forrest in 1874. First of
the diversion tracks to avoid corrugations started.
10.20. Well 4a. morning tea stop. A lot of wells are damaged and non functional.
10.45 On road again. Nice treed country. Shady.
11.03 Windich Springs: its along Kennedy Creek. Great deep pools along a creek bed. Took photos. Great painting spot. White trunked trees-
snappy gums. Mostly found near water. Did not find the rock wall with Aboriginal paintings. Stayed 15 mins or so here. Looks as if a lot of people
camp here.
11.30. Met first vehicles on CSR. Two cars with geologists about their work on a geological survey. Going through
gibber palins with low scrub.
11.40. Well 4b. looks abandoned. Water probably deep down it. Covered in old logs with old wire and well fittings
scattered about.
12.45 lunch stop at well 5. This is the first operating well we have seen with metal lid, tank etc. Everyone is
clustered round it. I'm sick of wells already, but enjoying the drive. On road again by 1.05
pm. If you take a left side track from well 5 there is a supposedly terrific round loop trip
through the Carnarvon Range up to the Fairburn Hills. Ridge top views, Mt Methwin, Blue
Hill etc with the track intersecting again with the CSR about 5-6 km N of well 5. Baths and
us would have liked to do this but we think Dave felt we needed to make up a bit of time.
You would definitely have had to put in another night camp to do it. Possibly more than one
if you wanted to take a good look round.
Getting into low hills.
Camel up ahead that won't get off track Is running ahead of us as spinifex is all round us and they hate its prickles. Looks like a young animal. It
loped along at round 20km/hr for 6-7km before running off the track onto grassy plain. Meg was getting quite distressed by it as it was obviously
tiring and has white froth spewing from its mouth so we dropped back as we were travelling directly behind it.
Noticed Blackboy grass trees scatted in groups in the low hills, Read these are some special desert grass tree type, Flower spikes on them.
Stopped round 4pm at well 6 (Pierre Spring)for the night. This was amongst white snappy gums, most attractive and shady. Site is popular and
has a composting loo that is awfully pongy. Does not work well. Is mounted on trailer and a traveler with towbar can cart the detachable trailer
with poo load to nearby dump to clear it. Trailer then gets trailed back to camp and reattached to loo stand. Detailed instructions for this
procedure are written up on a notice at the loo. We wouldn't like to try doing this!
Great fire, relaxing night. All in bed by 8pm.
Canning Stock Route
Canning - Wells 4, 5 & 6
Departed camp at 8am.
Set up the CTS (Carlyon Travelling Loo) for first time last night & can
report it works well. Must burn waste in morning fire. Meg recommends
it.
We passed onto a private road that's part of the Canning Stock Route
today. This section of the track has been recently re-established through
a private leasehold and the lessee has imposed some conditions on its
use, no trailers or caravans are permitted, nor are 4x4s larger than the F
series. This is to stop the track being churned up by unsuitable vehicles.
All gates have to be left as found and we drove thru quite a few of them.
A new group tradition emerged - that of the "gate fairy". Whoever opens
the gate leaves a small prize (a wrapped sweet etc, for the tail-end
Charlie who had to close the gate.
Some five or six steep dry creek crossings down and up steep banks
were all easy.
Country was alternating strips of open spinifex plains with low shrub,
grass and tree patches for cattle.
9am passed the Frère Range, a low eroded range of hills, the highest
about 630m. Small lake in vicinity.
9.05. Large lake, Masses of purple pea flowers and yellow daisies on
fleshy pink/purple stems and pigface-type leaves part of the Lake
Nabberu system. Lovely spot. No camping allowed in this private lease..
Sandy beach. We all wanted to swim.
Lots of dry creek beds and stony plains. Low scrub, some trees.
10.03 Snell Pass at end of
Frere Range. Travelled up
well treed gullies.
10.15am. Kennedy Creek
snaked round and about
for the next few hours
and we crossed it several
times. Named after the policeman who travelled with explorer Forrest in
1874. First of the diversion tracks to avoid corrugations started.
10.20. Well 4a. morning tea stop. A lot of wells are damaged and non
functional.
10.45 On road again. Nice treed country. Shady.
11.03 Windich Springs: its along Kennedy Creek. Great deep pools along
a creek bed. Took photos. Great painting spot. White trunked trees-
snappy gums. Mostly found near water. Did not find the rock wall with
Aboriginal paintings. Stayed 15 mins or so here. Looks as if a lot of
people camp here.
11.30. Met first vehicles on CSR. Two cars with geologists about their
work on a geological survey. Going through gibber palins with low scrub.
11.40. Well 4b. looks abandoned. Water probably deep down it. Covered
in old logs with old wire and well fittings scattered about.
12.45 lunch stop at well 5. This is the first
operating well we have seen with metal lid, tank
etc. Everyone is clustered round it. I'm sick of
wells already, but enjoying the drive. On road
again by 1.05 pm. If you take a left side track
from well 5 there is a supposedly terrific round
loop trip through the Carnarvon Range up to the
Fairburn Hills. Ridge top views, Mt Methwin, Blue
Hill etc with the track intersecting again with the
CSR about 5-6 km N of well 5. Baths and us
would have liked to do this but we think Dave
felt we needed to make up a bit of time. You
would definitely have had to put in another night
camp to do it. Possibly more than one if you
wanted to take a good look round.
Getting into low hills.
Camel up ahead that won't get off track Is
running ahead of us as spinifex is all round us
and they hate its prickles. Looks like a young
animal. It loped along at round 20km/hr for 6-7km
before running off the track onto grassy plain. Meg was getting quite
distressed by it as it was obviously tiring and has white froth spewing
from its mouth so we dropped back as we were travelling directly behind
it.
Noticed Blackboy grass trees scatted in groups in the low hills, Read
these are some special desert grass tree type, Flower spikes on them.
Stopped round 4pm at well 6 (Pierre Spring)for the night. This was
amongst white snappy gums, most attractive and shady. Site is popular
and has a composting loo that is awfully pongy. Does not work well. Is
mounted on trailer and a traveler with towbar can cart the detachable
trailer with poo load to nearby dump to clear it. Trailer then gets trailed
back to camp and reattached to loo stand. Detailed instructions for this
procedure are written up on a notice at the loo. We wouldn't like to try
doing this!
Great fire, relaxing night. All in bed by 8pm.
