Stirling Range, from the east.

Stirling Range from the north.

The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, 337 km south-east of Perth. The Great Southern region is one of the nine Regions of Western Australia. Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is located at approximately 34°24′S, 118°09′E and is over 60 km wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranbrook eastward past Gnowangerup. Mount Barker is a town of about 1700 people on the Albany Highway and is the administrative centre of the Shire of Plantagenet in the Great Southern Cranbrook is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia between Katanning, Kojonup and Mount Barker. Gnowangerup is a town located south east of Katanning in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Notable features include Toolbrunup, Bluff Knoll (the tallest peak for a thousand kilometers or more in any direction and most popular tourist attraction), and a silhouette called The Sleeping Princess which is visible from the Porongurup Range. Toolbrunup is the third highest peak in the Stirling Ranges of Australia, the second highest peak being Pyungoorup Bluff Knoll is the highest point in the south-west of Western Australia and is situated in the Stirling Range. Porongurup is the name of a small mountain range in the Shire of Plantagenet in Western Australia (see Porongurup National Park for information about

The Stirling Ranges is one of the richest areas for flora in the world. Ninety families, 384 genera, and over 1500 plant species occur in the Stirling Ranges, 87 of which are found nowhere else. This represents more than a third of the known flora of the southwest, and includes more species of wildflowers than in the entire British Isles. ^[1]

The Stirling Range is protected by the Stirling Range National Park, which was gazetted in 1913, and has an area of 1,159 km². Popular recreational activities in the park include bushwalking, abseiling and gliding. Abseiling (German abseilen, "to rope down" rappelling in American and British English is the controlled descent down a rope in Rock climbing Gliding is a Recreational activity and competitive Sport in which pilots fly un-powered aircraft known as Gliders or sailplanes Camping is not permitted within the park boundaries. Definition Camping describes a range of activities Survivalist campers set off with little more than their boots whereas Recreational vehicle travelers arrive equipped

Geology

Satellite image of the park. The sharp boundaries on all sides of the park show where agriculture immediately gives way to protected land.

The mountains are formed of metamorphic rocks made from sediments deposited during the Ediacaran Period (as indicated by the presence of characteristic fossils). Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type the protolith, in a process called Metamorphism, which means "change Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of The Ediacaran Period (ˌiːdiˈækərən named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia) is the last geological period of the Neoproterozoic The sediments were subsequently metamorphosed to quartzites and shales and folded during reactivation of basement structures recording lateral displacements between Antarctica and Australia. Despite the relative youth of the mountains, the soils remain very poor, creating the species-rich heathland flora.

As the only vertical obstacle to weather in any direction, the range also tends to alter weather patterns around itself. The weather is a set of all the phenomena occurring in a given Atmosphere at a given Time. Its upper slopes receive significantly more rainfall than surrounding areas. Rain is Liquid precipitation. On Earth it is the condensation of atmospheric Water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall often making it to The branch of the Kalgan River, which forms the southwestern border of the park, is fed in large part from precipitation falling in the western half of the range. The Kalgan River is a River in the great southern region of Western Australia.

Climate

The annual rainfall in the plains around the park is quite low compared with the rainy Porongurups to the south, averaging only 575 millimetres (23 inches) on the southern side and as little as 400 millimetres (16 inches) in Borden on the northern side. However, it is believed that rainfall on the peaks near Bluff Knoll may be as high as 1100 millimetres (43 inches), a hypothesis supported by the existence of distinctly moist-climate pockets of vegetation in some high valleys. Because no rain gauges have ever been placed on the high peaks (climate change since the late 1960s makes short-term gauges unreliable anyway) we cannot be sure of this. Climate change is any long-term significant change in the “average weather” that a given region experiences Most rain falls between May and August, with summer being very frequently completely dry around Borden for over a month and having typically very light showers in the south and on the peaks.

Temperatures in the lowlands are generally warm. In the summer, average maxima typically are around 30°C (86°F) in Borden and about 27 °C (80 °F) in the southern plains. Summer minima range from about 16 °C (60 °F) in the south to 18 °C (64 °F) in Borden. In the winter, maximum temperatures typically are a very pleasant 16°C (60°F) and minima are about 8 °C (46. 4 °F). On Bluff Knoll, winter temperatures range from maxima of about 11 °C (52 °F) to minima of 3 °C (37 °F). These are the lowest temperatures in Western Australia and consequently the Stirling Range occasionally receives snowfalls—the only place in Western Australia to regularly do so, though usually it is very light. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. Snow has been reported as early as April and as late as 19 November 1992, but is mostly confined to the period from June to September. Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar)

History

Heath habitat looking west from lookout in approx centre of ranges. Heaths are Shrubland habitats characterised by open low growing woody Vegetation, found on mainly infertile Acidic soils

The plains in the Stirling Range region were the hunting grounds for small groups of Indigenous Australians for thousands of years before European settlement. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. At least two tribes frequented the area: the Qaaniyan people in the west, and the Koreng people in the east. The Stirling Range played an important role in their culture, appearing in a number of Dreamtime stories. The traditions and lore of Australia's indigenous peoples belongs to what may be the oldest continuous culture on Earth (circa 50000 years

The first recorded sighting of the Stirling Ranges by a European explorer was by Matthew Flinders on 5 January 1802. Captain Matthew Flinders, RN (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814 was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Year 1802 ( MDCCCII) was a Common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting on Wednesday of the While sailing along the southern coast of Australia, just east of King George Sound, he noted

at the distance of eight leagues inland there was a chain of rugged mountains. King George Sound is the name of a sound on the south coast of Western Australia.

A settlement was established at King George Sound in 1826, and the following year the head of the settlement, Major Edmund Lockyer, explored the land north of the Sound. Edmund Lockyer, 21 January 1784 - 10 June 1860, was a British soldier and explorer of Australia. On February 1827, he observed in the distance

mountains which run east and west about 40 miles.

Alexander Collie explored to the north of the Sound in 1831. Dr Alexander Collie (2 June 1793-8 November 1835 was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and was a surgeon on board the H On 29 April, he described the Stirling Range and recorded names for the main peaks. The following year, Robert Dale led an expedition to the Range. Lieutenant Robert Dale (1812&ndash 20 July 1853[[ Notes|1]] was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western On 24 January 1832, he made the first recorded ascent of a peak in the Stirling Range, scaling Toolbrunup. Events 41 - Gaius Caesar (Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel Despotism, is Assassinated by his disgruntled Year 1832 ( MDCCCXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Toolbrunup is the third highest peak in the Stirling Ranges of Australia, the second highest peak being Pyungoorup Late in 1835, Governor James Stirling and John Septimus Roe led an expedition from Albany to Perth. Bold text' ]] ==Family background==He was the fifth son of eight of the fifteen children of Andrew Stirling Esq John Septimus Roe ( May 8 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. Albany ( is located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, situated around a port on the southern coast Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. They first saw the Stirling Ranges on 3 November, and on travelling closer to them the following day, Roe gave them their name. ^[2]

Early exploitation of the Stirling Ranges included cutting of sandalwood and kangaroo hunting. Santalum spicatum, a species known as Australian sandalwood, is a tree native to semi-arid areas at the edge of Southwest Australia. A kangaroo is a Marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods meaning 'large foot' The Ranges were never formally taken up for grazing, probably because of the many poison bushes in the area. However, squatters ran sheep to the south of the Range in the 1850s, and in the 1860s a selection was taken up at the base of Mount Trio. Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or Building that the squatter does not own rent or otherwise have permission to use

The area that is now the Stirling Range National Park was temporarily reserved in April 1908, and formally gazetted as Western Australia's third national park in June 1913.

Major Peaks

Bluff Knoll, picture taken from near corner of Chester pass road and Bluff Knoll access road

• Bluff Knoll -- 34° 22' S 118° 15' E (1095m)
• Mount Hassell -- 34° 22' S 118° 04' E (847m)
• Mount Magog -- 34 °23' S 117° 56' E (856m)
• Mount Trio -- 34° 20' S 118° 06' E (856m)
• Talyuberlup Peak -- 34° 24' S 117° 57' E (783m)
• Toolbrunup Peak -- 34 °23' S 118° 02' E (1052m)

References

Further reading

• Carolyn Thomson, Graham Hall and Gordon Friend (eds) (1993). Mountains of Mystery: A Natural History of the Stirling Range. Department of Conservation and Land Management. Perth, Western Australia. ISBN 0-7309-5460-9.
• Erickson, Rica (1951)Springtime in the Stirlings - The West Australian 17 November 1951 p. The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, 337 km south-east of The West Australian (often simply called The West) is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth Western Australia, and is owned by 11 - re climbing Mondurup at the west end of the Range.
• Morphet, A. T. (1996) Mountain Walks in the Stirling Range. Torridon Publications, Capel, Western Australia ISBN 0-646-29137-8 (for the set of 2).
• Olver, Rob and Olver, Stuart; Dawn Till Dusk In The Stirling and Porongurup Ranges, published 1998 by Benchmark Publications, Melbourne. ISBN 1-876268-10-7.