I left Byron Bay super early in the morning because I had a looong drive to this next stop. Alternating between highways and twisty mountain roads for about 400 miles inland and I made it to the little town of Coonabarabran. I arrived right around sunset, checked into my hotel, got some dinner, and then got ready for the next day. I came all this way to do one really long hike in Warrumbungle National Park because I’m just crazy like that. This will be a quick post.

Warrumbungle means ‘crooked mountain’ in the local aboriginal language. After all the rainforest walks and waterfalls and coastal beaches, I’m pretty happy to be further inland for a change. As beautiful as all the places I’ve been visiting have been, it’s these dry mountainous forests and grasslands where I feel most in my element. I didn’t see much in the way of wildlife with the exception of birds and an occasional wild goat.

The main attraction here is the so called Breadknife. It’s that really thin rock sticking up in the almost center of the pic below. This is just the first lookout of the hike. I thought this view was jaw dropping when I first got up there, but ironically, This turned out to be the least spectacular view of the day.

I’m actually combining about three hikes in one today. The first leg is to climb up and walk along side the Breadknife and then up to the viewpoint above it. I got some amazing views all the way up though to be honest.

The Breadknife is way more impressive when you’re walking right next to it than it looked down at that first viewpoint. There’s actually four of them. Below is where I climbed up to the gap between the Breadknife and the Butter Knife. Noticing a pattern?

On the other side is a third wall called the Fish Knife, and from the gap I can look straight up at Lugh’s Wall with that arch in it. I think they missed a golden opportunity by not naming it Lugh’s Knife. Who the heck is Lugh anyway?

From the gap I climbed up on top of Lugh’s Wall, which was a bit scary. Those walls are thin! And from there up to the main viewpoint known as Lugh’s Throne. In the pic below the “knives” in the center should be obvious, on the right is Belougery Spire, and waaay far left you can see part of Bluff Mountain. My hike brought me all the way up here, but the plan is to now hike all the way to the other side of Bluff Mountain. I have a few more miles to go.

The trail took me down the backside of Lugh’s Throne where I got a great view of Crater Bluff, then around the far side of the Fish Knife before heading over towards Bluff Mountain. On every ridge and around every turn the views are tremendous in this place!

I’m also super happy that the weather is cooperating for a change. It’s nice and cool with just a little breeze. Perfect!

I’m really getting the 360° views of all of these rock formations today. Mostly, I’m hiking in the thick forest, but I get views through the trees every once in a while. The “knives” in this pic are at the base of Belougery Spire and trailing off to the right.

I think the most impressive thing I saw all day though, had to be Bluff Mountain. Just look at that beast of a rock wall.

The reason for going all the way to the other side of Bluff Mountain was because I wanted to do a side hike out to Cathedral Arch. It added a couple of miles to my giant loop hike, but I should have just enough time. You can just make out Crater Bluff poking it’s head up on the left in the pic below.

When I planned all of this I thought the detour to Cathedral Arch would just be a quick out and back, but instead of the trail following the ridge, it took me almost all the way up another peak first, Danu Dome, before descending halfway down the other side. We must maximize the thigh burn! Anyway, Cathedral Arch, you were a pain in the arse to get to, but there you are… Look at you!!!

Back up and over Danu Dome I finished my giant loop in the rapidly fading light. The cockatoos became really active as I was finishing. If you’ve never heard a bunch of screeching cockatoos all around you while walking in a dark forest, it’s quite frightening. Like an army of demons from the bowels of hell coming to destroy the earth.

Wow, I was tired after this hike. This was definitely a worthwhile stop, though. This place is so beautiful and this was a really fantastic day! Time for a big dinner and a good night’s sleep. I have another long drive tomorrow. Stay tuned…