Moonlight slabs. What this refers to nobody seems sure. Spent a whole day with 'someone who knew' wandering around between Short Leaning R and Eagles R - found heaps of slabs but the 'someone who knew' didn't know. Perhaps it's all of them.
On climbing the northern side of Leaning Peak using short leaning ridge, bushwalkers may find a section as the ridge becomes steeper technically difficult due to one 2m vertical band of rock. Could not find an alternative route. Overcome when I went by rockclimbers in the group going up first and dropping a rope down. Otherwise no other problems. As mentioned before to continue on the route south requires an abseil off Leaning Peak.
At the top of Mezzanine before going over the east-west ridge you can contour left (west) and drop down into top of Garves Gorge (thanks to Phil I now know the name) but cannot ascend the wall to South ridge even though you can hear, then talk, to unseen but puzzled walkers on South (we assured them we were not in trouble). Dropping down the creek we eventually found a useful vegetated ramp parallel to the creek that took us N-W up on to south R.
There is also a good four-page history of Barney hut and its dramas and characters in Rob Rankin's 'Secrets of the Scenic Rim', which is unfortunately out of print. The photo elsewhere in this thread is of the third and final one circa 1970's. That hut's doorstone is evidently still there, 'near the side of the clearing closest to Barney Gorge Creek, a large flat stone which is quite easy to trip over'.
The ridge to the north of southeast ridge is known as mid southeast by fellow walkers. It's some years since climbing it but good open views, steep and large-boulder-in-vegetation terrain (no slabs) terminates on southeast ridge about 300m down from the peak. There is also another route up Logans on the southern side of the usual Logans route - you can see it in photos. I have heard it called short logans or Leavy Logans (or was it long logans?) but not having gone that way perhaps others can shed some light.
Egan creek is a good and relatively easy descent from Rum Jungle as long as hold your breath and be careful where you step for the first 20m as it appears to also have a role as the Rum Jungle toilet (as your water bottle empties you also realise Egan drains into Cronan Creek and then into the Logan River). After that 20m there are some small waterfalls to bypass but generally enjoyable walking. There may be no huts up there now but considering the numbers camping (incl school groups) there is a good case for a composting toilet.
Be aware on descent of Savages Ridge there are one or two false routes - side ridges that drift to the left (north) which are easy to take but you end up bluffed out above Egan's.
Attached is a rough map of Barney routes and locations, which may help - routes approximate only and depend on the steadiness of hand! Memory driven so let me know of errors.
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- barney10.jpg (60.85 KiB) Viewed 44944 times
. Where you have located a campsite in the upper LH corner of the map, I have a photo of a hut there but am trying to recall the name. Possible Graces Hut? Can you confirm? There was Drynan's Hut on the way into the Lower Portals, and Cronan's Hut somewhere in the Barney area. . . I think?