Ballows traverse

[Aardvark]

Hmmm, I really hope I don't pass for someone who pretends to be better that others or knows more and stuff like that. If this is the impression you or other users get, I may just stop posting here.

It's not a nice feeling having thought you may have stepped on some toes but that's no reason to take the bat and ball and run home.
I too sometimes find it difficult to put in writing exactly what i want to say and have it received the way i mean it.
That's one of the difficulties in participating in forums such as this
'Quick Reply' Ha. I agonise over what i write so often that i lose it because it's not quick.

[CBee]

It's all good. As I suspected, we are talking about two different ways up.

[Osik]

Vidlers chimney & the standard way up Lindesey are definitely two different routes (though I understand nomenclature of different features sometimes overlaps) - a bit more info on Vidlers Chimney, & the other routes up lindesey at the following links:

https://www.facebook.com/thelivingrock/ ... 428772900/

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/queensl ... t2726.html

[gbagua]

Vídlers Chimney is a rock climb (and the ascent itself isn't short either) and not merely a scramble. Even the normal route isn't a walk in the park either. It has two chimneys, the final one, as seen in the photo below, being the most difficult. I wouldn't do it unroped especially now after the 2019 bush fire.



One of my buddies ahead of me.

I know someone from the GC who was friends with the guy that climbed and base jumped the chimney and according to him it was the scariest thing he did in his life. That dude thought Vidler's was the normal route up the mountain. I believe he also wandered off track and ended up in the 'wrong' place.

I think he took this photo somewhere along the VC route:

https://www.thecrag.com/photo/510770976

So definitively a rock climb and not a bushwalking scramble.

CBee, sometimes that tree hides itself amongst others making it difficult to spot; even the dead leaves on the ground will deliver the toxin!

[Aardvark]

If you're referring to Gympie Gympie , it isn't a toxin delivered. They are very fine silica barbs that adhere to the skin and further irritate when brushed. Even in the shower afterwards and sometimes for a few days there can be remnants providing irritation. We get stung all the time because we're so often pushing through vegetation whilst off track. The weekend before last i got a bad hit .
There have apparently been deaths long ago amongst loggers who have fallen into patches whilst bare chested. The shock would have been the primary cause of death i would say..

[gbagua]

Yes you are right silica barbs, I forgot. The northern QLD species is a lot more toxic than in SE QLD and responsible for deaths. More info about this seriously poisonous plant:

https://www.australiangeographic.com.au ... forgotten/

I suppose you get used to it down here after being stung a few times The Lindesay experience was the very first ever in my life. I felt like in agony. Two years ago I was stung again at the bottom of Double Peak (Mt Barney) and while it burnt it was OK after a while. I didn't stop at all, kept hiking until the pain was gone.

*Edit: Another fact I just found out about the gympie-gympie:

"Physical contact with Dendrocnide moroides is not the only way that it can cause harm to a person—the trichomes are constantly being shed from the plant and may be suspended in the air within its vicinity. They can then be inhaled, which may lead to respiratory complications if a person spends time in close proximity to the plant."

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides

[andrew_mtb]

Not long back i went up a road from Burnett Ck direct to Cleared Ridge. The end of the road near to Burnett Ck was not very evident. A short way up it was a well kept and a well used road. That is irrelevant to your plans though.

Aardvark - could the below be the track you're describing here? It shows up on some top maps (but not QTopo) and looks like it is a road reserve in the vicinity via the cadastral info, albeit with slightly different starting point .

I was staying in the region a couple of weeks back and kept an eye out for this when driving along Burnett Creek road - the imprints of light 4WD traffic could be seen on the grass where you would expect this to start from the map. It followed a fence line east from a wooden gate through which Burnett Creek road ran which provided a fairly easily identifiable start point.

Certainly not as glamorous of a proper traverse of Ballow, Double Peak etc. but looks like it could be a viable way to get you to Cleared Ridge and beyond.

On a related note, what are the views of others on the short to medium term outlook for these post-bushfires Gympie infested areas? I've never been through conditions like this in my short hiking career. One theory I had was that continued rain this coming summer could help to drive it out as other species establish (given it is a pioneer species after disturbance) but this could just be wishful thinking!

[Aardvark]

Not long back i went up a road from Burnett Ck direct to Cleared Ridge. The end of the road near to Burnett Ck was not very evident. A short way up it was a well kept and a well used road. That is irrelevant to your plans though.

Aardvark - could the below be the track you're describing here? It shows up on some top maps (but not QTopo) and looks like it is a road reserve in the vicinity via the cadastral info, albeit with slightly different starting point .

I was staying in the region a couple of weeks back and kept an eye out for this when driving along Burnett Creek road - the imprints of light 4WD traffic could be seen on the grass where you would expect this to start from the map. It followed a fence line east from a wooden gate through which Burnett Creek road ran which provided a fairly easily identifiable start point.

Certainly not as glamorous of a proper traverse of Ballow, Double Peak etc. but looks like it could be a viable way to get you to Cleared Ridge and beyond.

Well done. That's it.
Different maps show different things . That's why i believe they are all worth having.
Ultimately though, you're always going to learn more by being on the spot. I also found that road end by actually looking for it.

I wouldn't describe any route as glamorous. I get your point but knowledge is the key and being familiar with as many options as possible provides you with contingencies.

[gbagua]

1. Certainly not as glamorous of a proper traverse of Ballow, Double Peak etc. but looks like it could be a viable way to get you to Cleared Ridge and beyond.

2. On a related note, what are the views of others on the short to medium term outlook for these post-bushfires Gympie infested areas? I've never been through conditions like this in my short hiking career. One theory I had was that continued rain this coming summer could help to drive it out as other species establish (given it is a pioneer species after disturbance) but this could just be wishful thinking!

1. It's the only 4WD track that takes you up to the saddle located between Mt Philip and the unnamed promontory located next to Durramlee Peak. IMO, it's an interesting walk.

2. Until the next fires arrive they will remain as they are including the invasion of the "coral pea" vine, which is dramatic in certain areas of the park.

[Kuhr]

Two weeks ago I led a private group of roughly 10 on this route:

Cleared Ridge -> Mt Barney Retreat (permission obtained) -> Mowburra Peak -> Durumlee Peak -> Cedar Pass (bypass Focal) -> Montserrat Lookout. I walked the same route three years ago. The landscape has significantly changed.

The ascent of Mowburra Peak three years ago was mostly on well defined 4WD tracks used by the retreat for 4WD camping. They are heavily overgrown now, and some are difficult to even see. However the ascent was straightforward and not difficult. Some parts of the rainforest that merges in from the left near the peak has been burned back by the bushfires a few years ago, although it is still there, just the boundary has receded.

We trekked across to Durumlee Peak as well, the rainforest was unhelpful here, being quite resistant to our efforts to reach it, and there was a dense thicket blocking approach at one point we had to significantly detour to get around, but we finally did make it. Not much of a view here, we trekked a little further north to a mossy rocky outlook, but the views were far better on Mowburra Peak. Maybe we missed a much better viewpoint here.

The descent through Cedar Pass was the same - rainforest, but not so dense as to be impassable. Vague signs of a track were encountered many times, but it always seemed to fade out. Where it existed, progress was fairly fast. I seem to remember significant wait-a-while here three years ago, and we encountered much of what looked like it, but did not snag or have barbs for some reason, just buds. A seasonal thing, or misidentification perhaps? We never got snagged by wait-a-while in this section. Some gympie gympie was encountered, and we trekked further south of Focal Peak than I did last time. This did mean we encountered a few challenging gullies to cross, in one case shuffling across a large fallen gympie stinger tree, being careful not to touch any of the leaves. This was surprisingly easier to move through than I remember last time. There was water here in some of the gullies, mostly soaks but a few water sources of an inch or two deep. Enough to fill up if you treated it.

The ascent out of Cedar pass onto the ridge between Focal and Montserrat - steep, but not particularly troublesome, the vegetation did not pose much of an issue, fairly open eucalypt forest.

Once we got onto the ridge between Focal and Montserrat, the real trouble started. It was clear the fires had been through here. It was intensely overgrown, with many, many fallen trees and debris - densely so. All of the vegetation was thick and resistant, and an awful vine covered almost everything, constantly tripping, tangling and hampering efforts. Progress slowed to a crawl - it took forever to reach Montserrat from here. It never really cleared up until within 50m or so of the peak. I do not remember this section being difficult at all last time, even remembered a faint footpad here. There is barely any trace of it now. The approach to Montserrat is greatly hampered. This was easily the worst part of the entire journey.

Once Montserrat Lookout was reached, the war was won, and it was an easy walk down the usual way, and back to Cleared Ridge.

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