“What is your vocation? To be a good person.”
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.5
Fresh snow on Geeves Bluff. Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025.
Day 14
We started at 7am and opted for the more direct spur towards Gorilla Ridge. Because this was the more vegetated spur it was probably a bad call, it would have been quicker to do the detour (and involve a lot less effort). It was the extra creek crossing that was the main deterrent… as it was, we had to wade one small creek that came up to my knees. My right boot got saturated as we crossed. Wet feet get cold easier, it turns out!
Big King Billy Pines, Gorilla Ridge, Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025.
We were straight into the bauera and it took us a solid 2 hours to cover 500m and climb 150m. Naturally, the scrub was wet as it rained about 45mm the day before. From the first little knoll, the going was consistently tough throughout the day with the forest being tangled and thick.
We saw large and ancient tea trees, west coast peppermints, plenty of horizontal then on the upper part of Gorilla Ridge the pandannis and also King Billy pines.
King Billy Detail.Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025. The end of the roll slipped a bit in the old Pentax so there are some double exposure overlays.
There was still a fair bit of now on the ground from about 400m above sea level upwards and while the sun came out in the arvo, the scrub made us saturated and I got quite cold after lunch and had to put on a second pair of thermal leggings beneath my overpants. I’m pretty sure Grant just wore shorts beneath his overpants the whole day and was plenty warm enough. My feet were numb pretty much all day. Especially the right foot which met the creek earlier that morning.
Split King Billy, Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025.
King Billy and Scoparia(?), Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025.
Eventually we emerged out of the wet forest around 4pm and into some sub alpine scrub which we could finally see out of. Geeves Bluff rose up in front of us and while we only had about 1 km to go to Hanging Lake, we opted for a nice open campsite in a saddle with some small pools and friendly frogs and ancient King Billy pines keeping us company. (This was a good call as it took us a further 4.5 hours to complete the climb the next day). Our packs collected a lot of forest debris on the ascent which we shook out with some vigour at camp.
Late afternoon light, Geeves Bluff. Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025.
Day 15.
The day dawned clear and we left our friendly open camp with its pools and croaking frogs around 730am. We called our campsite ‘Gorilla Pit’. It was actually quite lovely there and I would happily camp there again. Although that time in the future I do sincerely hope I will be on the way down Gorilla Ridge.
We ascended through dwarfed rainforest with our packs getting snagged many times. Eventually the vegetation transitioned to old growth scoparia that went well above our heads. We sidled at the base of the cliffs of Geeves Bluff and took an open-ish lead up a ramp to drop into the final sidle towards the main gully leading up to the ridge above Hanging Lake.
The final climb up the gully was open but steep, with the dwarfed scoparia providing excellent handrails on the snowy slope. From the top of the gully we still had to climb a bit further to get around Hanging Lake and we spent some time sitting on top of the Bluff, appreciating the view. We could see all the way from Bathurst Harbour to the Southern Ranges, with Geeves Bluff’s cliffs and a mist hidden Federation Peak providing some ambience.
The deep dark water of Hanging Lake was silent below. About 4.5 hours after we left the ‘Gorilla Pit’, we rolled into Hanging Lake Camp to find about half a foot of snow on the platforms.
Looking down at Lake Geeves. Pentax MX, Ilford XP 2 Super, Nov 2025.
-A.S. Brushy Creek, 7/3/26