Peak Charles
Peak Charles National Park
Directions - Peak Charles is located 170-kilometres north of Esperance. From the centre of Esperance, take Coolgardie Esperance Highway north until you reach Kumari-Lake King Road. Turn left and follow this until you reach the left turn for Lake King-Norseman Road. Take another left onto Peak Charles Road and follow the signs all the way to the day use area, where you will find a gazebo and the trail head.
The Hike - When I think of the vast area north of Esperance, granite hills/mountains the size of the ones you find in the Porongurups are not what I used to think existed there. When I found out about Peak Charles many years ago, it was immediately a place I wanted to visit, and with a hiking trail leading to the summit of the 651m rock, I was hooked. I originally planned to visit in 2018 when we visited Fitzgerald River and Esperance but limited time meant I couldn't justify the drive out and back for one hike.
In 2020, this was meant to be the final hike of an epic three week road trip around the South West and South Coast, but on the penultimate day I lost my camera to water damage, and that meant not being able to properly photograph both the Le Grand Coastal Trail and Peak Charles, so I returned home without hiking either. Fast forward to 2023, and I had another three week road trip planned to research a new book I was writing (that can be purchased here), and Peak Charles was back on the menu boys. Tweaking my plans a little due to road closures around Cape Arid, I decided to travel to Peak Charles after leaving Esperance, on my way to the final leg at Cape Le Grand, rather than visit on the way home. After a 35C day in Esperance the previous day, I was glad that things had cooled down a little today. Being a bit of a silly sausage, I plugged Peak Charles into my GPS and blindly followed the route north from Esperance, surprised when it told me to turn left way before I thought I had to.
Google was taking me the back roads way, which was fine right up until I joined Field Road that approaches Peak Charles from the south. It's a designated 4x4 only track, and initially it wasn't a problem, until it was. Reaching a patch of particularly soft sand, I managed to power through in second gear with my foot firmly planted, and a lot of verbal encouragement for my X-Trail. With no phone signal and no chance of seeing anyone else out here, I at least had my epirb and bike in the car in case I got bogged and needed assistance. Long story short, I got to firmer ground and was relieved when I was rolling along hard tracks after entering the Western Woodlands surrounding the smaller Peak Eleanora and Peak Charles. Don't be like me, take the highway all the way north. Arriving at the day use area for Peak Charles, there is an official (and free) campground not too far away that has the most basic of facilities (but on water so you have to BYO).
Getting my hiking gear ready, slathering on some sunscreen, and making sure I had my sunnies (it was bright), I first checked out the gazebo that has a lot of information about the park and what you can find here. Heading to the start, I was excited to finally hike Peak Charles, and knowing it was a Class 5 trail, see how it compared to the other Class 5 climbs located in the Stirling Range. With the recent spate of hot weather, I wasn't expecting to see many wildflowers along the flatter parts but one could hope. Initially you walk through the stunted forest, where a seasonal creek might be found in wetter months, before reaching exposed the granite and syenite rock that will become familiar as you hike to the summit. Out of the vegetated part of the walk, the bulk of Peak Charles is visible to your right, and it was a foolish pursuit to try and guess where the trail took you to reach the top. Officially there are three trails in this area but in sneaky fashion, it's really just the summit hike broken up into three parts depending on your ability and risk aversion.
The first "trail" takes you up to a place called Mushroom Rock, so named for the obvious reason you can see in the first photo gallery. This is the third Mushroom Rock I have visited, with one being located under the water off Hamelin Bay, and the other one right on the coast near Kalbarri. Following the white poles to reach Mushroom Rock, these will become important features of the trail that you need to look out for. To start with they are easy to find but later on you need to make sure you have the next one sighted before continuing, as it can lead to heading in the wrong direction. I may be saying this from experience, as there are a few points where it looks like a natural trail ahead but it doesn't lead anywhere. Not long after reaching Mushroom Rock, you take a right turn and begin the steeper climbing that takes you up to the amazing views, and literal breath-taking exposed rock surfaces. My hope for wildflowers was answered through here with a few varieties of Melaleuca and the threatened Peak Charles Drummondita.
Arriving at the first steep section of the climb, this is where I took a diversion along what looked like the trail but wasn't. It ended up leading to a pretty cool rock wall but with no obvious way ahead, and no white markers visible, I turned back. Back where I was, I looked around for the white markers, and hidden away in the vegetation to the left of where I went wrong before was what I was looking for. Now on the right route, this part requires you to scramble in places but serves as a good warm-up for what is ahead. With gradients in the 30-35% range for most this section, it's a matter of knuckling down and placing one foot in front of the other, linking up the white poles. Luckily there are excellent views as you ascend, and plenty of fun looking boulders dotted around the exposed rock. While Peak Eleanora had look pretty big when I drove past, from halfway up this climb, it was looking rather small. The wider views with an expanse of open country was spectacular, and the vastness of the nearby salt lakes was impressive.
The climb eases off a little as you start making your way across the open slopes to your left. This is where you meet up with a rock wall that guides you up the hill to your right, which is the first of two similar sections. The colouring of the rock wall is really interesting here, as the minerals leech down with the flow of the water, creating these effects that look like an abstract painting. At the top of this first false summit, the views looking back are wonderful, and really highlight how steep the climb has been so far. Continuing to rise, the gradients ease off ever so slightly as you soldier on towards the second curved rock wall. With a bit of vegetation and some boulders strewn around the place, this had a slightly different feel to it, and a sighting of a slippery rock sign gave me a bit of chuckle because of the comical depiction of the person, not the message. Rounding the second false summit, I was presented with the final challenge, a lump of rock that extended up towards the sky and looked pretty steep if that was indeed the way up to the summit.
I could see the white pole on the slope of the ridge leading up but decided to check the path to the right just in case. That turned out to be a dead end, so I started to scale up the steep and narrow route that leads to the trickiest pinch point of the entire trail. Reaching a crevice in the rock, it appeared you had no other way but to try and pull yourself up and over the narrow slot, which had a rise as you reached the end. Placing my camera in the clip I have on the straps of my pack, I positioned myself to try and climb up and over, but couldn't quite get in the right position where I felt safe. Looking back down, one slip and it's a long tumble down the rock face with no help around. Even though I had my epirb with me, I doubt whether I would be in a position to set it off if fell that far. Stopping and assessing the situation, I had a moment where I thought that maybe I wasn't going to reach the summit. Shuffling down to the bottom of the crevice, I decided to check out the rock face to the west, and even though that was still pretty sketchy if I slipped, it turned out to be the right decision.
I found an area of exposed rock that was of a similar gradient to some of the steeper sections earlier, and soon enough I was staring at the summit cairn. Feeling relived that I had made it and not turned around before the summit, a weight had been lifted from me as I enjoyed a sit down and a beverage. Getting up after a break, I had a wander around the relatively flat summit, soaking in the 360 degree views that range from the seemingly endless scrub, to bright salt flats, to the distant Peak Eleanora. For an out of the way area, the summit cairn is fairly large and provides a nice feature to compliment the excellent views. Still needing to get back into Esperance for my last resupply, along with driving to Cape Le Grand to setup camp, I decided to head back down, this time following the markers to where the crevice was. Descending it was much easier than trying to get up it, as I could use my gangly arms to lower myself down, and then crab crawl down the slope. I completely understand why this shouldn't be attempted in wet conditions, and compared to the Stirling Range Class 5 hikes, this is the hardest in my opinion. Bumbling down the descent, I enjoyed the views looking south, and was soon at my car, ready to take the correct road this time, that sees you drive through a wonderful stretch of the Western Woodlands.
Final Thoughts – The wait for this one was worth it. Although I visited maybe 2-4 weeks too late for the best of the wildflowers and orchids, the climb itself was worth the long drive out.
While certainly a challenge, most hikers should be able to get to the summit if they've done one of the Stirling Range mountain hikes before, and if you take the route I found around the crevice, that is an easier way to get to the top.
You can't beat a combination of great views, open landscapes, interesting geology, and a challenging hike, so Peak Charles gets a big tick in my book.
Get out there and experience it!
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