I found myself with a rare full weekend free so I decided to embark on a short off trail hike I have had in the to do list for a while. I invited a few mates and originally had some bites but as the date drew near Covid took one out and life got in the way for the other (understandable in this busy world.)
I packed my gear Thursday night so I could start the long drive down right after work. Traffic was pretty good, just an expected slow patch at Goodna, but relatively smooth the rest of the way. I made good time to Warwick and stopped I'm for Subway dinner. I got an extra 6 inch sub while I was there. With the predicted 1°c night I thought it would keep fairly well for breakfast.
Getting to the front gate around 830pm I decided to begin the 4wd in. It's not far, only 8 or so km, but I had the time now so might as well set myself up for an earlier hike. I found a great camp spot just off the track a few min past the Red Rock Gorge T Junction. As I was drifting off to sleep, warm in my bag, I heard a few other 4WDs making their way into the park, probably also heading down from work to make the most of the weekend. Sound travels pretty far through the cold air but it sounded like they were off down to Burrows Waterhole.
Had a really good sleep, too good apparently, only stirring from bed just before 8. By the time I packed, ate breakfast and drove the rest of the short distance to Red Rock gorge it was already 9am. Later start to the day than most of my hikes...
The start of the hike up Mt Lofty was fairly open scrub and I thought it might be an easy summit, those hopes were dashed not too far in where I started to push through fairly overgrown underscrub. Every now and then I got lucky, finding a small gap to bash through that would have been a tight squeeze for a rock wallaby... 40 hard minutes later and I reached the summit to a fairly unassuming post and decent views through the trees.
After a short break and removing grass seeds from areas they had no right to be I pushed on. Down the other side was just as overgrown but it was only a shorter 15min of bush wacking before I made it onto a forestry fire management trail. Much easier walking and it was nice not having branches trying to steal my hat. Pretty steep down hill here with lots of loose rocks, so you really have to watch your footing.
Dead on 12 o'clock dropped onto the Severn River. Lots of rocks and a few sandy/rocky banks. Constantly up and down over ridges in the rocks planning where you can possibly head next. I pushed on for another 40min to Nundubbemere Falls where I finally stopped for lunch.
Despite the fairly short distance so far, 10km, I definitely have to work hard for a lot of them. Scrub bashing and hopping down rocky rivers slows you down significantly and overworks the legs. The next 5km to camp, at beehive waterhole, took 1.5 hours. Finding a nice spot up away from the waters edge, a little patch of flat grass. There are a few other spots dotted around the bank so you could have a few people here easy. Sadly no water views from the tent, but being right near the water makes for a cold night.
After setting up the tent, still damp from the morning dew, I set off down to the river. Perfect reflection the sounds of some rapids not far away made for a very peaceful spot. After a short while a water rat (possibly a Rakali?) caught my eye on the other side of the bank. It was moving fairly fast and with the distance I wasn't able to get a shot. Can't remember ever seeing one before. Today I also saw heaps of wallabies, a few dear, a goat and even a squirrel glider. Plenty of bird life buzzing around and surprisingly no snakes. Perfect country for them, but I guess they're all tucked in for winter.
It wasn't long by the river before it was too cold to stay and I retreated back to my tent. A fairly early dinner at 530 in the fading light before hoping into my warm bag. It might be a long night... lucky I have snacks.
I slept really well, if a little too warm in my -5°c bag. Apparently it only got down to 6°c in my tent last night. I woke a few times during the night but found it fairly to fall back asleep. Eventually pulling the pin (letting the air out of my mattress) around 7am. The joys of putting on wet shoes and socks... Quick breakfast and a hot milo before packing up and getting on my way by 7:40. I must have been a bit thirsty over night, from the 2lt I filtered yesterday afternoon there was barely a mouthful left (after the milo.)
I was straight back onto a rocky creek bank. It wasn't too hard going, but it's a lot of rock hopping and picking good foot placement, so it's more work than a standard hiking trail. Good way to massage the bottom of your feet... It wasn't long before I had to cross to the other bank again, so the wet shoes paid off. No point trying to keep them dry... so you can wade straight through. By the second crossing I had been going an hour and had long since finished the mouthful of water so I stopped near a nice little side trickle and filtered some more water. The sun still hadn't hit me in the valley yet, but it looked great coming down the hill at the end of the gorge. A bit chilly, but ok on the move.
It wasn't long past the break where I turned up Red Rock gorge. Narrower walls, bigger boulders and a switch to elevation gain slowed my pace. I had 5km to go up the creek line before turning up the hill. Shortly after the turn the rocks required some scrambling and the poles were more an annoyance. So I took a 5min break and packed them away. Several spots required some easy bouldering to navigate up the creek line.
As the walls became steeper the undergrowth changed to more rainforest. This meant the reacquaintance with an old friend; Gympie Gympie and his sidekick; Stinging Nettle. Luckily over the course of the rest of the day I only had a light brushing by the latter on my forearm and a small hit on the shin. Nothing of like the which I have seen in Main Range NP (thankfully!)
It was really quite a scramble over some spots now and my pace slowed further to just over 1km/hr. Very slow going, using vines and fig tree roots to help pull myself up. Eventually though I made it to the turning point. Directly below the Red Rock Gorge Lookout. Anyone who has stood at the lookout will attest that it looks like a long way down. I can assure that goes two fold when you're looking up...
Slow, and not very steady, I was stopping for a short break every 10-15 steps. They were big steps. Most stepping up about knee height. I can assure you it wasn't because I was sore, tired, weak, no sir. It was for the view! The beautiful view is what had me frequently stopping and taking long deep breaths...
While there was some more stinging nettle it was sparse and easy to avoid. The climb up is a Z pattern to avoid a few sheer cliff faces. Clumps of grass and any substantial tree that managed to take root were welcome hand holds and after 45min I was finally level with the Lookout. Following the contour at the top of a cliff was nice, but I felt a lot better when I stepped out onto the graded, formed, lookout track.
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| Can you see the lookout at the top of the cliff? |
I took a moment to enjoy the view before setting off for the last 200m back to the car. Despite the short distance it felt twice as far with the legs still recovering from the climb. After changing out of my hiking clothes (covered in grass seeds) I started the drive back to the Sundown gate. There I put some air back into the tyres and continued on the long drive home.
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