Date: 19/6/2011
Walkers: Maree, Myself
Walk Description:
Ever since walking up Mt. Edwards last year I had wanted to get out to the slightly more impressive Mt. Greville. Standing at 770m it is one of the tallest of the Moogerah Peaks. We were following track notes from Take a Walk in S.E. Qld and at the end of the day were very happy with the route, which provided the best directions of travel for the views and terrain we encountered.
The trip from Ipswich took roughly an hour and a half with a breakfast stop along the way. The entrance to the National Park is on the South-East side of the mountain and consists of a small grassy carpark. After making some final gear adjustments we set off along the track following signs for Palm Gorge. This first section of the track followed an old management road beside a fence line until it eventually veered off to the right along a narrower foot pad.
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| Massive Palms in the Gorge |
The vegetation became very lush as we headed up hill and we could gradually see the walls of the gorge closing in until eventually its width would have been less than ten metres across. The name of the gorge was well deserved with numerous palm trees all stretching as high as they could to catch the sunlight at the top of the cliffs. The ground was very rocky and covered with palm fronds making progress slow in some sections. The gradient was reasonably steep and consistent most of the way up the gorge until we reached its head and the main track junction for the other routes up.
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| This fella was bigger than my hand. Some sort of Golden Orb? |
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| Narrow Section of the Gorge |
From here the vegetation dried out and more low shrubs crowded the track. Within a few minutes we reached a short side-track off to the left which gave us a good view towards the Main Range from the top of a steep rocky gully. After returning to the track we continued upwards towards the peak. The number of grass trees increased as we climbed higher and after negotiating a few steep sections of the track we reached the large cairn marking the peak. Views from the peak were largely obstructed by trees, however as the notes instructed there were great views from a rocky outcrop to the West.
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| Mt. Edwards & Lake Moogerah from the Peak |
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| Grass Tree Flowers |
After taking some photo’s we chose a rock each and had lunch before heading back the way we’d come. When we reached the junction at the top of the gorge we took the other option which headed towards the top of the South-East Ridge and our route down. The foot pad down this section wasn’t always obvious because of the large amount of rock slabs but the ridge was fairly easy to follow and provided a stark contrast to the track we’d taken on the way up. There were plenty of views across to Mt. Moon, the Main Range and even all the way through to Mt. Barney. The gradient was fairly easy going most of the way down except for one steep, loose and rocky section.
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| South-East Ridge |
Before long we had reached the main track junction again and it was only another couple of hundred metres back to the car. Overall I’d rate this as one of my favourite day walks in S.E. Queensland so far. The variation and uniqueness of the terrain and foliage within the one walk was amazing and I will definitely be heading back to explore Waterfall Gorge.
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| Mt. Greville |
