Climbing Mt Cooroora

One of the many benefits of staying up on the Sunshine Coast for work is being close to so many great climbing spots. I had hiked up Mt Cooroora at Pomona a few weeks ago but didn't have a chance to climb there.

The predicted thunder storms hadn't eventuated over the last few days so Chris and I returned to get on the rock while it was still dry. We decided to climb at 'The Shifting Slabs' which offered a few easy multi pitch climbs (grade 14-15) to warm up on and a decent hard climb to test our resolve.

I started up the rock and quickly realized we were in the wrong spot. Instead of an easy grade 15 to warm up on I found myself on a committing grade 22. At the limits of my leading ability I attempted the crux but was put off by the lichen covered rock crumbling under my feet, and nothing for my hands in reach. I left a stainless steel quick link on the wall and conceded defeat.

On second check of the guide we figured out we were on the wrong wall, so we packed our gear and hiked further around the mountain until we found the right section.

We went up the first pitch of the nearest climb as an easy as a warm up, then decided to try the hardest climb on the wall.
I went up the route expecting a tough climb, but sailed up easily to the anchors.

Once Chris and I were back on the ground it dawned on us that the climbs were listed in the guide in the wrong order!

Correctly orientated I finally set off up the 70m multi-pitch 'Meow'. The first pitch was a 35m grade 20, the second pitch being a 35m grade 14.

The climbing was delicate and balancy on very thin holds, my fingertips tender against the sharp cold rock. Every time I cranked off a hold I half expected the shallow rock to snap off under the force, but it held strong and before long I was at the anchors of the first pitch.

Chris joined me at the top of the first pitch one and we quickly debated climbing the second pitch as the distant skies darkened. The clouds and thunder had passed uneventfully during the day, and the second pitch was an easy grade 14, so I set off again on lead.

The second pitch was exposed, run out and very thin in sections. As the clouds gathered I thought about retreating, but decided to try to push through to finish the route and not leave any more gear on the wall. After a few heart-in-mouth sections I was at the second anchors. With the sound of thunder getting louder and bolts of lightning off in the distance it was time to get back to earth.

I set the ropes so Chris could abseil down from the anchors at pitch one, once he was safe on solid ground I quickly rapped down just as the rain began to fall. We quickly packed our gear and set off down the track as the rain intensified.

Half an hour later we were back in my car, mostly soaked but happy to have had luck with the weather. Another great day of climbing even with the frustrations of route finding. Plenty more to do at Mt Cooroora, I'll hopefully return soon to send some more routes.

Additional photos here

The Steamers (First Attempt)

Back in Brisbane for the weekend, and with no climbing lined up I decided it was a great chance to get out and see some more of South East Queensland.

Some friends had recently done a trip out to the Great Dividing Range to an unusual rock formation called 'The Steamers' which involved some four wheel driving and a decent hike, the perfect mix.

Naz and I set off early on Saturday morning, driving south-west out of Brisbane, through the Cunningham Gap, until we hit the country town of Warwick.

From there we cut back east via Emu Dale towards the western ridge of the Great Dividing Range which would take us close to the Steamers rock formation. We soon hit dirt, and when faced with a fork in the road we decided to take the supposedly rougher track that would take us north on the ridge.

Due to the dry weather very few of the creeks were running, and the driving was easy. We followed the road until it turned into a grassy field (with cows, horses and donkeys looking on), parked at the barb wire fence and started our hike.

I had print out of some topographic maps of the area and a few waypoint set in my GPS, so we headed through the light scrub to the nearest marker. We had only gone a few hundred metres before I brushed past a thicket of stinging nettles, my bare legs and forearms (of course I hike in shorts and a t-shirt) coping the worst of it. The pain and itchiness would subside in 30 minutes, the welt taking a bit longer to go away, but we eventually found a defined track and followed it along the ridge.

It was a perfect day for hiking, and the path slowly gained altitude as we following at along a cliff line, with spectacular view to north to Moogerah and Boonah.

It was relatively cool under the shade of the trees and as we had a lot of ground to cover and weren't sure of the exact route we kept up a decent pace. Other animals were taking things a bit easier. I came close to stepping on a large coiled up carpet python, but it didn't stir and we kept on walking.

We made it to the top of Mt Steamer in the early afternoon, after stopping briefly we decided not to continue along the ridge to the lookout over the Steamers, but to descend on a different route to ensure we didn't get benighted. We followed a light track down from the summit, which soon turned into a dry creek bed. Realizing it wasn't a track at all, we checked the topo map and decided to keep following the gully down, thinking it would eventually return us to the road we took earlier in the day.

It was slow going as the creek would often level out and retain pools of water, and detouring around the wet areas would see us wading through rotting tree trunks and ferns, lantana and the occasional stinging nettle. We continued further down, and at last the creek bed widened and flattened out.

We were relieved, as by this point the sun was getting low in the sky, my skins had been torn up by lantana, and the after effects of the stinging nettles only made things worse. No sooner had we quickened our pace we were stopped by the existing of a 15m sheer drop straight ahead and sharp, steep gullies on either side!

There was a great looking cave at the bottom of the cliff, after some discussion we decided to head off along the only way out (that wasn't retracing our steps) and try not to gain any more height. I still had some rough GPS co-ordinates that we could head towards, and after an hour or two of bush-bashing we found some rough cattle tracks, and followed these back down the mountain. We came out onto the dirt road with five minutes of daylight to spare, and after an easy three kilometer walk we were back at our cars. It had taken us the better part of seven hours to hike 12.5 km route below.

It was pitch black as we drove back along the dirt roads, through the dry rocky creek beds and back to the black top. After a detour to Warwick for a pub dinner and a quick beer, Naz and I went our separate ways, another off-track adventure done. It was a great hike (the start at least) through a beautiful part of the world, and we will return in the future to actually see the Steamers!

I continued on to my parents place, arriving late at night, and after a quick shower I fell into bed, my shins tingling from the abuse the suffered during the day. I was asleep soon after.

The next morning I awoke with two clear goals. Clean the mud off my car and to raid my parent's mulberry tree. Wandering down to their orchid I was shocked at what I saw. A monster of a tree, branches sprawling on the grass, with plump, dark purple mulberries in excess!

For the next hour I filled every plastic container I could find, only stopping when I ran out of places to store the fruit. I could have stayed for hours, I barely made a dent!

All in all a pretty enjoyable weekend, we are definitely motivated to get back down there and hike some more.

More photos here