The Chimney Pots.

The Chimney Pots are right up there with The Fortress in terms of spectacular rock formations and great scenery, with the added bonus of being right next to the road. The shot above shows the view across the Victoria Valley to Mt Abrupt.

There have been many name changes in the Grampians for various reasons. The Jaws of Death were renamed to The Balconies despite the fact that they resemble the jaws of an animal more than a 'balcony'. The Grampians themselves were renamed to Gariwerd during a period when it was the standard practice to give natural attractions aboriginal names. Unfortunately no one knew where Gariwerd was and so they became the Grampians once more although the aboriginal name is still occasionally used. And then there are the Chimney Pots which I am told used to be known as the Aztec Temple which was an extremely apt name. 

In all my time in the Grampians I was never really tempted to visit the Chimney Pots because the photographs that I had seen of them did not really show it to be a very spectacular place and it is a bit out of the way.  I arrived in the middle of a moonlit night and at once I could see why it was called the Aztec Temple.

Dawn arrived and I staggered out of my car. Looking up there it was, an Aztec Temple. A massive 250m high mountain of bare sandstone with alternating cliffs and ledges rising out of the surrounding forest. Whoever named this formation the Chimney Pots probably worked in the Melbourne office of Tourism Victoria..

Regardless of what name you use this is a very popular location with rock climbers and it is pretty obvious why. There are cliffs to climb everywhere. For the not so daring it is also possible to scramble up quite high by finding passages between the cliffs. I saw one couple on their way towards the top with small day packs and they certainly weren't climbers.

Photographically the visit was a little disappointing as the main cliff faces almost due south, making it a mid-summer shot to get any sun on the cliff and it was now late autumn. It was a beautiful day for walking with barely a cloud in the sky but the absence of clouds made getting an interesting shot a little difficult.

The walking track circles around the mountain and while most people would walk clockwise around it, it would be much better to do the walk in an anti-clockwise direction. The fork in the track is not very obvious but there is a sign on the main track pointing back to the carpark. Turn right at this point and follow the track up behind the mountain through a sheltered gully with many interesting features that are missed if you walk the other way.