Albany Day Two

Australia

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Go back to Albany Day One.

On The Lee Side
On The Lee Side.

Back to Peak Head the following day. Having figured out access on the previous day, the approach went quickly. This time the goal was a 5-pitch line called On The Lee Side (16) which required a 25 meter rappel followed by a 2-pitch horizontal traverse not far above the waves. Once again, the route offered a stunning position, fantastic rock, and some very enjoyable climbing.

As we were hiking back, we ran into a trio of local climbers who recommended a route on the Gibraltar formation in the Porongurup NP. The route was was supposed to be new and well protected; unlike some of the options in our oldish guidebook that we were considering.

Photos

Albany
On the way to the trailhead in the morning (Nov. 2023).
Albany
Take off (Nov. 2023).
Albany
Mother and her joey outside of Albany (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Back to the Peak Head. Shirley startled a (brown?) snake early on the trail here (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Stashing the packs before dropping down to access On The Lee Side route (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Light and short bushwhack to the rap-off point (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Short approach on a faint climbers’ trail (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Cool geology on the approach (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Nearing the rap-off point which is at the start of Albatross (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Rapping down to reach the traverse (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley rapping down to the traverse (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
The first pitch of the traverse was actually pretty technical (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
It included a bit of slab climbing (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Looking back at Shirley from the lead of the first traverse pitch (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
And even some awkward chimney & offwidth terrain (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley starting the first pitch of the traverse to the start of On The Lee Side (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Slab moves (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
More of the traverse (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Bit of a chimney (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
View back from the second pitch of the traverse (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley on the second pitch of the traverse – mostly a hike, though exposed in places (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Starting up pitch 1 (crux) of On The Lee Side (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
A nice splitter crack followed by a somewhat awkward traverse (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley in the crack section of pitch 1 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Starting the somewhat awkward traverse on pitch 1 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley on the traverse (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
The crawl (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Starting up pitch 2 of On The Lee Side (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Looking back at Shirley from the lead of pitch 2 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley on pitch 2 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Pitch 2 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley arriving at the second belay (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Starting up pitch 3 – much nicer than it looks from below (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Looking back at Shirley from the lead of pitch 3 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
More pitch 3 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley low on pitch 3 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Pitch 3 of On The Lee Side (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
More pitch 3 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Views from high on the route (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley arriving at our third belay. I cut this pitch a bit short to take some photos (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley leading a bonus 4th pitch up a ramp (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley on pitch 4 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Our fourth belay (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Leading our pitch 5 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Looking back at Shirley from pitch 5 (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Fifth and final pitch (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley arriving on the summit of Peak Head (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Start of the hike-off (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Back at the packs (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Shirley on the very scenic hike back (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Pretty flora (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
The hike back from Peak Head (Nov. 2023).
On The Lee Side
Almost back at the car. Top of Peak Head visible in the distance (Nov. 2023).
Albany
Albany’s main drag (Nov. 2023).
Albany
Main drag in Albany (Nov. 2023).
Albany
Sweet little rental place (Nov. 2023).
Albany
A squatter at our Albany Airbnb (Nov. 2023).

Go to Albany Day Three.
Go back to South And Western Australia Trip.