WA’s long weekend was a week ago, and our buddy Henry invited us to join him on his annual Kalbarri Gorge trip. Kalbarri National Park is ~6 hours drive north of Perth, so Gen and I had a 5 am start to meet up with the rest of the crew along the way.

After shuttling cars we headed down the steep and slippery slope to the base of the gorge and started heading downstream. With 6L of water each (and a little wine) our packs were heavy but we soon settled into a rhythm.

Following the Murchison River, we slowly rock hopped and bush whacked along and after a fun afternoon we arrived at camp and the clouds cleared for a stunning night sky - shooting stars and all!

The next morning we packed up and continued our westward journey. The gorge steepened and the walking was a fun mix of scrambles and fast slab sections. It is an absolutely beautiful place to explore.

While I've never hiked the gorge before, I've been paddling the floodwaters following cyclones in my whitewater kayak since I was a teenager. It was great to see the river at a different pace and to spend time camping in the gorge with Gen and friends.

Camp 2 was a stunning beach surrounded by cliffs and complete with swimming hole. There’s nothing like a plunge after a sweaty day to feel human again! Some recent rain was sitting fresh in nearby rock pools so I was able to collect plenty of good water for dinner and the rest of the trip. I treated the water with tablets just to be safe, but next time would bring my filter in case I didn't get lucky with such clear water.

We enjoyed a night of laughter beneath Henry's 'mood lighting' and sipped the best Old Fashioned of all time - delicious, home mixed then vacuum sealed in a robust plastic bag and poured with a smile by our favourite new friend, Michael. This is how to hike!

The rain that had threatened in the forecast politely held off, so it was a civilised pack up and beautiful start to our final day. Although navigationally easy (follow the river) there is still some route finding to avoid difficult lines. We also had to keep an eye on the twist and turns of the gorge ahead and the topo lines of our map. While some bends where walkable on both sides, many became cliffs on the outside of the bend from the erosion of years of floodwaters. 

At times we could rock hop to the navigable side, while at other times there was only one way to get where we needed to be - shoes off and wet...

Our hike finished up at the famous Z-Bend. It's spectacular, but is a long steep finale! Back in the cars we headed south to Geraldton for a celebratory dinner with the crew before negotiating torrential rain to arrive home at 10 pm exhausted but satisfied - a weekend done right.

These trips are a great test of our shop's gear and I was most looking forward to testing the new Wilderness Equipment Razor 50 packs. Gen has a small and mine is the large in grey (on the rock a few pictures up).

At ~2kg these packs are light but not ultralight but they feature a proper load carrying harness and handy features like a roomy top pocket and hydration sleeve. With the growing popularity of ultralight (<1 kg) packs I've tested but hesitated offering a pack in this category. They have their place but typically aren't as comfortable with a load (no proper harness) and are often less durable (elastic front storage areas don't wear well). 

The Razor 50 was incredibly comfortably, especially given the heavier water loads. It seems to be a great 'Goldilocks' pack option - able to comfortably carry a load, durable and still relatively very light - and would suit most hikers for popular walks up to a week or so when combined with other modern compact gear.