walk the walk : kimberley (wa) : mitchell falls

	KIMBERLEY (WA) Mitchell Falls
Return distance : 6 km; Time : 5 hours The Mitchell Plateau is one of the most spectacular regions of the Kimberley and well worth a visit, even if it is nearly slipping off the map of northern Western Australia! It is rough country and there are many side tracks to explore. Take plenty of water! The walk starts at the Mitchell Falls campsite. Pick up an information leaflet at the stand. The track first crosses Merten’s Creek, and from here it's only about 15 minutes to get to pretty Merten’s Falls. A little beyond Merten’s Falls we climb down a small rock face, and there is a path on the left. Following it we find some interesting paintings on the cliff face. This is the mysterious Bradshaw or Gwion Gwion cave art, claimed to be Aboriginal in origin, but quite unlike traditional Aboriginal painting in style. The side track(?) follows around below the overhanging cliff back to Merten’s Falls where there is a cave under the Fall. Returning to the main trail, we leave Merten’s Falls behind and continue on our way following the creek. The next stop is Merten’s Gorge. This is a spectacular fissure in the rock. It is a long way down! We can imagine what this would look like after a heavy fall of rain. Beyond Merten’s Gorge the walk gets more difficut ... rocks, boulders and loose gravel. We soon come to the Mitchell Falls, but because the track comes out above the Falls, we just see a swimming hole surrounded by rocky terrain. We gain a small insight of what lies in store by following the river down a little way to where it disappears from view! To see the Fall proper, we have to wade across the river, and climb the rocks on the opposite side. There is a helicopter pad up here, but reaching the top we follow the track (is there a track?) and veer right towards the Fall. A massive rocky escarpment comes into view. And there down to our right is our first real glimpse of the Fall. An amazing sight! What a vast country this is. In fact we have still seen only a portion of the total waterfall. Making our way to the left of this position we can follow the arrows to get to a wonderful photo opportunity. For the really advnturous there is a steep track down to the bottom of the Falls, but I wasn't one of these! The Kimberley heat can be quite oppressive. So the choice is to retrace our steps or to pay the $100 fare for a helicopter ride back to our starting point. For my money, the ride was worth every cent! The Mitchell Falls and Plateau make a wonderful sight which should not be missed.