Still Climbing the Gully Trail, Burringurrah, Western Australia by
Andrew Priest, on Flickr
Getting near to the top or rather first exit point from the Gully Trail to the Summit Trail. The Summit Trail, which is about 12 km return, continues to, you guessed it the summit of Burringurrah.
Both trails are 12 km return, but we exited to the Summit Trail for a bit more climbing with views.
The Wajarri people prefer everyone to be off the rock before sunset in accordance with their beliefs, so are fairly early start is preferable for both trails.
Mount Augustus is an ‘inselberg’, meaning ‘island mountain’, which rises 715m out of the surrounding alluvial plain. Arid shrubland dominated by wattles, cassias and eremophilas covers the inselberg and the surrounding plain.
The Mount Augustus Sandstone, at about 1.6 billion years old, is about three times older than the sandstone of Uluru. Importantly, this is different to the age of the actual landform – the island mountain (inselberg) called Mount Augustus.
Because Mount Augustus is composed of multiple rock types it is inaccurate to call it a monolith – meaning one rock type – or claim that it is the ‘world’s biggest rock’. Likewise, a monocline, meaning a one-sided slope connecting two horizontal or gently inclined strata (layers) is also inaccurate.
Gascoyne Murchison Outback Pathway Exploration July-August 2020 - #GMOPE 63.