Mount Ngungun

Home > Diaries > 2022 > 949

STARTING at Glasshouse Mountains Village at first light, I followed the wide path beside the road heading towards Mount Ngungun. The path continued all the way to the start of the walking track.

The sun rose as I began ascending the popular track passing through cedar forest with bracken undergrowth. The sky was mostly covered in low cloud but occasionally the rising sun would filter through them. The track steepened as I approached the large cave worn from millions of years of erosion as the softer rock of the volcano eroded away from the remaining plug.

From the cave the track steeply ascended a stone stairway towards the top of the hill, going over a relatively gentle rise before reaching a short rock climb to the top ridge. The path along the top towards the summit was an easy grade, but on either side cliffs dropped vertically. I reached the summit and rested looking over the other Glasshouse Mountains with low cloud hanging around them.

After resting at the top, I started the hike back down to the bottom of the hill. By the time I reached the bottom the cloud looked like it was starting to clear. I continued heading westward along the road away from Glasshouse Mountains village, passing a large orchard farm heading towards the vertical peak of Mount Coonoowrin. After crossing a road, I continued heading straight going over a small rise to a spectacular viewpoint of the mountain over a field of pineapples.

After resting at the viewpoint, I returned to the main road and followed it northwards towards Mount Coochin. I passed the mountain several kilometres later before heading around it and heading eastward to the town of Beerwah, from where I caught a train back to Glasshouse Mountains Village.