Bluff Knoll is the highest peak of the Stirling Range in the Great Southern region of Western Australia (WA). It is 1,099 metres (3,606 ft) above sea level,[1] Although Bluff Knoll is sometimes claimed to be the highest point in Western Australia,[2] the highest peak is actually Mount Meharry in Karijini National Park in the Hamersley Range, which is 1,249 metres (4,098 ft) above sea level.
Local Aboriginal people, from the Qaaniyan and Koreng groups (or tribes), who wore kangaroo skin cloaks in cold weather, called the mountain Pualaar Miial, meaning “great many-faced hill”[3] or place of “many eyes”. The Noongar people treat it with foreboding and prefer to avoid its rocky ridges, which are woven with tales of malevolent witches.[4] The mountain is often shrouded in a mist which curls around the peaks and floats into the gullies. Local people believed this to be a spirit named Noatch (literally meaning “dead body” or “corpse”).[3]
Climbing Bluff Knoll, a round trip of about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi), takes three to four hours,[3] and can be achieved by anyone with a reasonable level of fitness.
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