Devils Kitchen Geological Reserve - A lesson learned

 Today I decided to take a walk somewhere I haven't been in quite a long time, Devil's Kitchen in Pigoreet. Whilst I had been there about six months ago and the terrain, whilst still very harsh, was nowhere near as harsh as it was this time. I will admit however, that the terrain was every bit as pretty as it was harsh.

 The first thing that I will mention is the drive into Devil's kitchen from nearby Scarsdale always gives me the strangest of feelings. The road constantly winds and dips in such a way that you are never able to see anymore than twenty or thirty meters in front of you. If i was a religious man I would say that it is almost a feeling of going straight into hell itself.

 When I arrived at the trail head and got out of my car, I was surrounded by cliffs and ridges of which you could see the rock formations as they changed with the height of the cliff. The rocks closer to the ground were dark, almost black, however the further up the ridge the rocks got, they began to take on a much more reddish hue. I am unsure whether or not it is from these rock formations that Devil's Kitchen gets it's name, but it would not surprise me.

 In the background, the red rock formation characteristic of Devil's Kitchen

 The first mistake I made was despite clearly seeing that the entire area was swarming with blackberry bushes, I simply put my pack on without bothering to strap my machete to my belt. I threw my pack on, having already attached my belt-knife, it was not until I reached the first lot of blackberry bushes blocking the track that I realized I would need my machete. Whilst it wasn't a huge inconvenience to have to put my pack down and put it back on again, it was the start of what would a series of mild annoyances throughout the trip. 

 I was able to fairly easily hack my way through much of the harsh scrub, it was both good and bad that it was blackberry bushes specifically. My left leg ended up with quite a few minor cuts and abrasions from the thorny bushes, however due to it currently being summer, I was able to snack on the ripe blackberries as I made my way through.

One of many blackberry bushes scattered through the area

 Whilst the slicing and dicing of bush gave me an ever fleeting feeling of masculinity, it was abundantly clear that I was not on the correct track, so I was forced to turn around and once more cut my way through to where I had originated. I will admit that at that time I was very tempted to accept defeat and call it a day. Beaten but not broken, I decided to push on.

 I walked the opposite direction to where I had parked my car and eventually came to the trail I was searching for. The trails through the entire reserve were very rocky, but this track was much easier to make my way down than the first. There were still alot of blackberry bushes, however there were much less that were actually blocking the path.

The main walking track was much less harsh than the original track found

 Around one hundred meters into the walk, the track gave way to an open plane of grass, shrubs, blackberry bushes and gum trees. There were several rock formations fashioned into circular shapes on the ground where people had made campfires, there were two particularly large gum tree from which I would be able to hang my hammock on future trips.

 It is interesting to note that the Woady Yaloak river runs straight through Devil's Kitchen, however on this particular day the river bed was completely dry. I'm sure that if I had followed the river far enough upstream I could have found a small pocket of water, however this was not my main concern whilst I was there. 

 

 I walked a few of the small tracks around the camp area, even moving down onto the riverbed at one point. It was a strange feeling as large rocks and dirt gave way to quartz and sand. It sounded and felt as if I was walking on a strange, secluded beach. It quickly became very apparent from the cool breeze and muddy areas below the sand that this area would normally have water flowing through it freely.

 I slowly made my way back to the main camp area, taking in the sights and sound of trees, birds, foxes and even the sheep over the ridge. I began to plan out in my head a future overnighter that I hope to take in the area, hopefully at a time when there is more water in the river and I am more organized with my planning.

 I made my way back to my car via the main walking track and found a plant on the side of the track. I was fairly certain that they were wild rose hips, and a Google image search confirmed my suspicions. The plant was thorny like a rose and the fruit was around the size of my thumbnail and elliptical.

Wild rose hips found in Devil's Kitchen

 I picked and cut a fruit, however I was not able to get a very clear picture. This was the clearest picture I could get.

Inner flesh and seeds from wild rose hips

 I quickly made my way from this location, up the hilly track and back to my car, taking away some blackberries and a few very valuable lessons. Firstly, no matter how difficult it is to find pants that fit, I should invest in long pants and my legs won't get carved up by blackberry bushes. Secondly, if I think I'm going to need my large blade then I should just strap it on, it will save me alot of headache later on. And last but certainly not least, my working gloves are an invaluable part of my kit and I'm so glad that I keep them in my pack.