Our kids had a visit from a couple of their friends this morning.
Rather than let them sit around playing computer games, we bundled them into the van and took them on a couple of hikes. (After checking that it was ok to kidnap a couple of extra kids. Thanks Renea!)
The first hike was around Camp Mountain – a beautiful forest to the south of Samford. I’ve done this on the mountain bike before, and really wanted to show everyone how picturesque it is.
It’s a big road for a small person. Lilly kept going all day. (Picture by Liz)
It’s a good climb to the Summit of Camp Mountain, with great views of the city.
Some of the wildlife at the top (Picture by Liz)
The second hike was up the Goat Track – a washed out dirt road west of Samford. I love this road because of the views and the fascinating Rock Art that has sprung up along the way.
I’ve been observing the rock structures over the last couple of months and they’re getting quite realistic!
The view from The Goat Track looking east past the Water Tower at Albany Creek, with Moreton Bay in the background.
All up we hiked 8.8km with a total ascent of 520m. I was really impressed with how well the kids coped with it – no complaints and everyone kept up a great pace (average of about 4.5km/h).
Well done team!
Total distance: 5.99 km Total climbing: 397 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:42:20
It seems like wherever I ride my mountain bike these days, this wonderful rock art seems to be springing up.
One day I’ll ride by and see a simple pile of four or five stones. In a few days, there’ll be a few more – as though it’s a sapling or a strange rocky mushroom. After a week or two it starts to get more complex, until eventually you get something fascinating like this which looks like the fairies have been up to mischief in the forest.
This phenomenon is wonderful on so many levels:
Unlike the Mona Lisa, this sort of art is vulnerable. If someone was malicious enough they could knock all the rocks down with impunity. But they don’t. I think this is because most people who go out in the forest on foot or on a bike are happy people. The happiest people on earth are those who get regular exercise doing something they enjoy. I doubt you’d get many spiteful souls walking in the forest. I doubt this sort of creation would last a day in a big city.
Even though it’s vulnerable, it’s beautiful. Not in a “Mona Lisa” way – but on a simpler level. Someone just grabbed a few stones lying around and stacked them. It probably took less than a minute. But the end result quietly says “I was here”. When someone adds to it, the stones say “I was here too”. After a few weeks, the mystical conglomerate seems to be chattering away saying “Hey – we were here too! Me too! And me! Woo – hoo isn’t this fun!”.
And eventually you have something created by dozens of people that has taken on an happy energy of its own.
As an experiment, why don’t you take a walk in a forest somewhere, stack up a few stones, and see what they grow into?
The afternoon was too pleasant to spend in the office, so I took a walk along the northern shoreline of Lake Samsonvale.
This area was known as “Harrison’s Pocket” before the dam was built. But now the town of Harrison’s Pocket, with its post office and school only exists on old maps.
The landscape has changed completely.
The lake is now an important habitat for many different species of water-birds.
The western part of the lakes covers what used to be known as the town of Samsonvale named after Mount Samson which towers over it to the west.
None of the old town remains except the cemetery on the shore of the lake.
The land to the north of the lake has some beautiful quiet trails.
Total distance: 6.72 km Total climbing: 298 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:22:21
The Goat Track is a narrow one-way gravel road which winds up from Samford Valley to Mount Nebo. Until recently it saved motorists over 10km on the trip.
But heavy rain a few months ago caused landslides which made the road impassable for everything except foot traffic and mountain bikes.
The natural disaster has inspired the locals to develop some exciting new art forms.
At first one or two simple stone sculptures sprang up by the roadside near the damaged areas. As other walkers passed by, they added to the artwork, building more and more complex sculptures until in one area, the whole roadside has turned into one large gallery of public artwork seeking to propitiate the gods of the mountain to ensure the safety of this thoroughfare.
This whole thing has been spontaneous. The people who contributed to it probably never met the earlier contributors, but it has evolved into a public collaborative work of art. There are rumours that the local council may not ever have the funds to repair the damage. And so weeds and grass continue their slow march reclaiming the road while people slowly turn what was a serious traffic route into a public art gallery with-a-view for fun-loving hikers.
Total distance: 8.27 km Total climbing: 375 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 02:06:48
Liz and I enjoyed a hike along Joyners Ridge Road. Starting at the Maiala car park, we walked 7.6km down through the rainforest to England Creek, and then back up again. A total trip of 15.2km with almost 700m of vertical ascent. Lachlan and I walked this road as part of our hike last week, but today it seemed much easier.
This walk gave some great examples of the different environments that exist at various altitudes down the mountain. We started off in thick rainforest filled with piccabeen palms, figs, and ferns.
After about 2km, the vegetation underwent a stunningly quick change into wet Sclerophyll forests with tall Eucalyptus.
The air was filled with the calls of bellbirds and whipbirds sounding like laser sound effects from a Star Wars movie.
Another few kilometres down the track and the vegetation opened up, the ground was much drier, and we didn’t have to worry about the ubiquitous leeches that inhabit the wetter parts of the forest.
The Red Trianlge Slug (Triboniophorus graeffei) is the largest land slug in Australia. Liz almost stepped on this magnificent specimen. As we approached, it shrunk in size defensively. But even so, it was still the size of a human hand.
A previous visitor appears to have cut an archway through a lantana thicket. To my warped mind it looked like a little hut.
I really enjoyed being able to share this beautiful walk with Liz. All up it took us just around 3 hours plus 45 minutes in breaks. Let’s do it again soon!
Total distance: 16.79 km Total climbing: 762 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 03:48:22
It was the annual sports carnival at the kids’ school today. In keeping with the whole fitness concept I thought I’d leave the car at home and walk up to the school and back. School was a-buzz with excited kids in team colours chanting war-cries and cheering for their team.
I sat off to one side trying to sneak shots of the kids, but Harrison wasn’t fooled – he knew I had my eye on him.
Lilly scribbled in the front of one of her note pads this morning “I’m gonna win”. With an attitude like that, and her blue war paint, no one else had a chance.
Oh – this was a chook I saw as I was walking home. When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and when you’re carrying a camera, everything seems to be asking to have its photo taken – including chickens. As soon as I stopped to look at one of them, about a dozen came running out of the coop to look at me.
It was a fun walk. The funniest thing was I actually burned up over 1,000 calories doing it. Time (and energy) fly when you’re having fun š
Total distance: 6.89 km Total climbing: 251 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:38:28
I hiked up to the lookout on Clear Mountain this morning. It’s pretty steep in places – even on foot, so it’s a good workout, and the views are worth the effort.
I started walking up the “Pineapple Break”. Perhaps it was called this because it borders a former pineapple farm. But I like to think it’s because pineapples grow wild by the side of the trail. Note to self: Come back here when it’s pineapple season š
On the way up, there are myriads of jump ramps along the steep tracks built by crazy down-hill mountain bikers. There’s no way you’d get me launching off one of these things!
Looking down towards Lake Samsonvale while a large spider waits for breakfast.
A butterfly flutters into view as I enjoy the views from the top of the mountain.
A container ship is just visible out on Moreton Bay.
One of the many streams trickling down the hill
The best part of today’s hike was enjoying new tracks I’d never tried before and great views of my local area from the top.
Total distance: 5.82 km Total climbing: 426 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:26:36
Lachlan and I took a long 25km hike through D’Aguilar National Park yesterday. This is the toughest walk either of us have ever done. The track included over 1,100 metres of vertical ascent and some hair-raising scrambles over washed out roads, but the experience was worth the effort.
We started on the Westside Track across the road from “Maiala” at Mount Glorious and headed north towards Lawton Road. After a couple of kilometres we had to stop and pick off dozens of leeches from our shoes and socks. I was really glad that I had covered my ankles and socks with insect repellent beforehand.
Recent rain has washed away parts of Lawton Road.
Most of the time it’s easy to walk around the washouts, but in a couple of places we had to scramble over ravines to get from one side of the road to the other.
The problem is compounded by the steep drop-off on one side of the road, and steep cliffs on the other side, which make it difficult to find a safe place to cross.
One thing’s for sure, we would never have been able to take a mountain bike over a couple of these wash-outs!
A Carpet Python sleeps in the afternoon sun in the middle of the road.
Apparently snakes don’t understand road safety guidelines.
We saw dozens of these striking Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans) along the way.
Unfortunately they’re quite shy, so it was impossible to get close enough to get a decent photo.
Lawton Road winds slowly westwards up Northbrook Mountain. I felt dwarfed by these huge boulders which over-hang the road.
From the end of Lawton Road we headed south along England Creek Road. This is the view westward towards Wivenhoe Dam. The road follows a long southward ridge down from the heights of Northbrook Mountain to the valley below. There are great views east and west of the ridge line.
Lachlan takes a quick break to take in the view looking east from England Creek Road.
These caterpillars were clambering over each other forming a strange squirming heap which didn’t appear to be going anywhere.
Eventually we reached the bottom of the ridge line and crossed England Creek which flows west to Fernvale where it eventually joins the Brisbane River.
This was the about the lowest elevation of our hike, and the creek here is pretty – clear water, gravely banks, and lots of small cascades as the water splashes over the rocks.
After walking 18km, we started the final 7km up-hill trek up Joyners Ridge Road.
For me, this was the most physically demanding part of the walk. I was in pain most of the way, and could hardly walk by the time I reached the top.
Some of the views from Joyner’s Ridge Road are stunning. Here’s a view westwards as the sun was starting to go down.
After the long climb back up, we eventually made it back into the rain forest. Full of Strangler Figs, Blackbean and Piccabean Palms, this place is magical as the sun is going down. The pain in my knees and hips was intense, but it didn’t matter – we were in paradise.
The gruesome details:
Total distance: 24.6 km.
Total ascent / descent: 1170m
Total calories burned: 4833 kcal (10 “Big Macs”)
Total distance: 27.49 km Total climbing: 1563 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 06:46:54
