Whistlepipe Gully

Whistlepipe Gully is popular at this time of year because of the prolific wildflowers and the amount of water running down the creek. Most of all it appeals to dog owners as pets are allowed here, unlike all the nearby National Park hiking trails. Of course, dog owners are always up early: no lying in bed with a hound in the house! We arrived at 8.30 and found cars everywhere. We had to park on the roadside and narrowly avoided slipping into a ditch. Large 4WD’s had caused the edge of the road to break up. This is a map of the trail, seen here in pale blue:

Rocky was eager to get going:

The trail was narrow, steep and rocky in parts. The hound didn’t mind, but I was glad of my boots and walking poles:

Whistlepipe Gully gets its name because a strong easterly wind will whistle down. It was quite windy at the start, but we didn’t hear the whistle. The creek was running with lots of places for thirsty dogs to get a drink:

The view back to Perth was one of the best I’ve seen, because the tall CBD buildings were right in the middle:



Lots of wildflowers as expected:

Hakea nitida

Purple enamel orchid?

Fringe lilies

Stylidium brunonianum?

Verticordia monadelpha: these were stunning!

More on Whistlepipe Gully here