We had a busy morning before our drive thru the Blackwood Valley. A daunting prospect first thing was a scale up the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree near Pemberton(http://www.pembertontourist.com.au/). The tree has been pegged with steel spikes in the side and you just start at the bottom and walk up - sounds easy except this tree is 75m (that's 230 feet) high and you're not roped in or clipped in or anything! There is a half way station which is good but this also gives you a chance to chicken out as its here that the tree starts to sway in high winds!
Photo above is actually 2 photos stitched together as I couldn't get the tree in one shot, its that tall. Squally showers and a sign advising us not to climb in the wet put us off our first attempt which saw us reach the first platform, roughly half way up.
Photo above is from the half way station looking down.
After this “practice run” and a break in the rain we did the job properly and made the top of the 75m tree to see mist rising over the top of the forest. Its 135 steel pegs to the top of the fire lookout tree in Warren NP and its quite tiring and you do use muscles that you don't normally use (unless you're a fire lookout in Warren NP that is). A great sense of achievement hits you when you reach the top. But there's only one way down!
Lookout trees were used as an ingenious way to spot bushfires in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The Karri tree is the tallest tree in Australia and the 3rd tallest in the world. The views are amazing, even on a damp day, the photo below shows the mists rising above the forests as viewed from the 'summit' of the tree lookout.
You can still climb the trees as they are open to the public, the ones we know of are:
The Gloucester Tree in the Gloucester National Park is only 3kms from the Post Office in Pemberton. This is 60m high. Great views.
The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree in the Warren National Park is a 15mins drive from the Pemberton township. It is 75m tall. Awesome.
The Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree in the Warren National Park is a 15mins drive from the Pemberton township. It is 75m tall. Awesome.
The Diamond Tree in the Diamond Tree National Park is also a 15 minute drive from town.
You can get all the info you want by calling into the Pemberton Tourist Centre (http://www.pembertontourist.com.au/) for any information on these climbing Trees. They are open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm.
