In the suburb of Mt Cooke there are some excellent hikes, including one I've been to a few times, the trio of climbs through Sullivan's Rock, Mount Cuthbert and Mount Vincent. I've completed this hike almost half a dozen times, day and night, watched meteor showers, looped it, flown the drone and even had a forest poo. Lot's of memories, but little did I know that the actual suburb of Mount Cooke, had the actual official Mount Cooke within it. So, this time the plan was to climb the Cooke itself.
Now, because we are in modern day, we did read the reviews, warning us that the climb and first half of the route was interesting, but the second half of the loop was a boring flat 4 wheel drive gravel track.
The start of the track, heading anti-clockwise, felt like a manicured hike, with vegetation both sides but not on the track and cute little streams to cross now and then. As the forest area cleared into large rock slabs, the track became much steeper and then joined up with the Bibbulmun Walking Track. We also started seeing other hikers, with day packs and walking sticks.
It seems that Mt Cooke is more of a multi peak mount. The first peak being a much more rewarding one than the final actual peak. It made for an excellent spot to catch our breath, snack and take some photos. Sadly, looking south we got to marvel at the effects of mining in the forests. Looking north is much better.
The main peak was incredibly crowded, with what appeared to be the Von Trapp family enjoying breakfast on the only slab of rock available, so...we kept going. We walked down the hill towards the 4WD track that was to complete the loop, I fell on some gravel on the way down (even recorded it) and paused at the campsite then followed the track south towards the car.
It's worth saying that some of the 4wd track was actually quite interesting as it veered away from the standard track, dips, bowls, and undulations kept it quite fresh.
Last time I made a video, I suggested that folks spend some time on the white throne to watch it. It was 20mins long and people were shocked at the idea of spending 20mins on the toilet. Here's a shorter video.... ;)
