Girraween Circuit Day 2

Surveying the park from South Bald Rock

By far the best time to be out in the bush is shortly after sunrise or shortly before sunset. Wildlife tends to be abundant, and, if skies are clear, lighting creates a dramatic scene. Unfortunately, these opportunities can be difficult to obtain on day trips, when a long drive/walk in the dark may be required to access remote sites.

One great thing about camping is that these opportunities are often at your fingertips.

After a night spent shivering - the granite belt area is famous for being one of the coldest places in Queensland, and we had chosen to visit in Winter - I was keen to be up, out of the tent and moving around to warm up. And so I found myself standing at the base of South Bald Rock shortly after 6am on our second day at Girraween.

From here the Rock looked formidable - the slope steepens considerably where it meets the track, and overnight rain had made everything wet and slippery. I began cautiously, focused on finding the safest route between trickling rivulets running down through channels of moss and lichen. The rock was cold, even to my numb fingers, and it was several minutes before I gained the advantage of the first 'hump.'

At this point dad appeared below, and proceeded to stroll right on up the rock face in his crocs, hands in pockets, easily overtaking me in a few moments. My dramatic, gruelling early morning climb had been shattered in the space of a few seconds.

A few minutes later he passed by me on the way back to camp, apparently overwhelmed by the difficulty of the climb (either that or he went back to get Rach - in any case, he was no longer in the lead).

Back down you go, old man

Climbing South Bald Rock was quite exhilarating. As the sun broke over the mountain tops it simultaneously illuminated the stunning scenery around us and restored our body temperatures to a point above freezing.

Climbing South Bald Rock is a lot like riding a slippery slide! Weeeeeeee

As with the West Bald Rock climb yesterday, there was no track markings amidst the smattering of bulbous granite protrusions but we just kept on heading up until we reached the summit. South Bald Rock was a load of fun to explore, and views were spectacular in all directions.

Rach and Kermit share a special moment

Rach on the final climb to the summit

Heading back to camp, Mount Norman in the distance

On our way back down, we encountered our friends from yesterday - the school group led by Professor X, now wielding a familiar blue walking pole. Turns out that I left it beside their campsite yesterday when we stopped to chat. Luckily their leader's psionic abilities enabled them to return it safely to us.

Fortunately, I hadn't been the only member in our group to find some difficulty traversing the lower slopes of South Bald Rock, and Rach decided to descend the final steep section sans limbs, back to our campsite.

When I replenished our dwindling drinking supplies last night - this requiring a wade through damp, waist-high grasses - it was already deep twilight. Thus it was with some surprise this morning that we discovered some dubious-looking liquid inside our water bottles that had been mistaken for drinking water the previous night. With no ill effects yet apparent on us, it was nevertheless declared drinkable and we moved on.

Back at camp, dad inspects the quality of our drinking water. Even to his aging eyes, it is clearly a shade or two yellower than the other bottle

Most of our pack walking today was flat and easy going, again following park service trails.

Easy walking beside Dingo Swamp

A couple of hours after leaving camp we dropped our packs in some scrub at the base of Billy Goat Hill, and proceeded to tackle the next granite peak - stopping for lunch and an impromptu photo shoot at the top. This was much shorter and easier than the two Bald Rocks we had already done, with more spectacular 360 degree views.

Twin peaks and Mount Norman from Billy Goat Hill

Kermit prepares for a photo shoot on top of Billy Goat Hill

Logically, the most navigationally-sound member of the walking party is charged with the task of managing the map and directing the group. For whatever reason, this fundamental tenet had been overlooked and navigation was entrusted to me. But hey, no problem - after all, we were only following wide service trails through open bushland, how hard could it be? Plus, this time we had a neat map with topographic lines and everything on it. Nobody could get lost!

Our plan was to camp at Underground Creek for the night, then head back to the car via the 'Peak Trail' the next morning to complete our circuit. On the map it seemed as though Underground Creek couldn't be more than an hour from Billy Goat Hill, so after around an hour of walking there began mutterings of dissent among the crew members: "Where's that campsite? I thought it was only an hour away," "It's starting to get late - Kermit is tired!" and "Who's meant to be guiding us again?"

Hoping to avoid mutiny (perhaps even one murderous in nature - they say hell hath no fury like a hungry hiker) I took a closer look at where we were headed. North. Hmmm. After that last junction we should have tramped right through Underground Creek within a couple of minutes. That was definitely more than 10 minutes ago.

Well, I might have taken the wrong turn this time, but I totally nailed the previous three. A success rate of 3 in 4 is not bad for an afternoon.

Returning to the last junction we chose the left fork instead and crossed a shallow, slimy creek bed. Now would not be the best time to discover that we had come the wrong way after all and didn't need to cross it. Luckily, this was not the case, and moments later we arrived at camp.

Kermit after a long day

The campsite was in a great little spot, close (but not perilously so) to the creek. With a little time left before sunset, we decided to make the most of the good weather and wander up a nearby hill known as the Aztec Temple - so named for the unusual monolithic stones that adorn it.

It was a fantastic place to explore, and the fading light made the scenery seem unreal. One more incredible sunset experience to add to a growing list of spectacular memories.

We headed back to camp in the twilight and cooked dinner under the stars, tonight freed by a clear sky. A great finish to a great day of walking in the bush.

Twilight at Underground Creek