Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey departs Dundas Road Camp following Goodes Road before a steep descent along Side Break to cross England Creek. From there I climb the long Joyner's Ridge Road on the other side to Mount Glorious. Here I explore the Maiala rainforest trails to Greene's Falls. Upon returning to the village, I follow the road a short distance to Lawton's Road, which I follow under Northbrook Mountain before doubling back along the ridge to Northbrook Mountain Bush Camp, where I set up before heading to the summit to look over the next few days' journey.
Distance hiked today: 26.6km
Total distance hiked: 105.7km
Today's Journey
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Departing Dundas Road Bush Camp at sunrise, I follow the Goodes Road track gradually descending the ridge through the tall eucalypt forest. |
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After a couple of kilometres Goodes Road continues heading westward towards the lower end of Brisbane Valley near Wivenhoe Dam. Here I turn off to follow Side Break down a steep drop of nearly three hundred metres to cross England Creek at the bottom of the valley before following England Creek Road (another firebreak) 120 metres up the other side of the valley to a saddle. |
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I reach a junction at the Saddle, where I follow Joyner's Ridge Road climbing the ridge ascending another 400 metres of elevation to Mount Glorious in the tallest area of the range. |
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Near the end of Joyner Ridge Road, I enter dense rainforest and take the narrow Western Window Track along the side of the steep ridge before climbing a lot of stone stairs. |
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At the top of the stairs is a gap through the trees known as Western Window where I have views off the range down Joyner Ridge to the right which I've just climbed. Beyond these descending ridges I can see into the Brisbane Valley with Australia's Great Dividing Range visible in the far distance. |
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Hiking across the 680 metre high Mount Glorious Ridge, I cross Mount Glorious Road which follows the top of the range before descending into Northbrook Creek and onto Brisbane Valley. Once across the road I descend into Maiala day use area (Maiala means quiet place in the local Aboriginal language). From here I hike along the start of the Rainforest Circuit before following the track down the hill here to Greene's Falls, with water tumbling over the rocks beginning its steep descent off the range to form the headwaters of South Pine River flowing into Moreton Bay. |
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From Greene's Falls I return along the track through the dense rainforest and complete the Cyprus and Rainforest Circuits through the Maiala Reserve, once the site of a sawmill in the 1860s, it became the first national park in the area in 1930 (originally called Mt D'Aguilar National Park). Other national and forest parks were formed over the years until Brisbane Forest Park and Mount Mee Forest Reserve combined in 2009 to become D'Aguilar National Park. |
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From Maiala, I follow Mount Glorious Road through the upper part of the village before turning off to follow Lawton Road descending Northbrook Ridge. The cloud lowers enshrouding the forest in thick mist. From here the track crosses the very steep side of the hill under the rocky Northbrook Mountain. |
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Upon reaching a saddle at the end of England Creek Road, I follow a side track heading up the ridge doubling back towards Mount Glorious. After a couple of hundred metres I reach Northbrook Mountain Camp where I settle and set up the tent. Unlike the previous two camps, this campsite does not have a shelter. |
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From the camping ground I follow the narrow track further along the ridge to reach the summit of Northbrook Mountain. From the top of the rocky outcrop I have this clear view across the range looking along the ridges I will be following over the next few days. The ridge crossing just across the valley is the one I will be following tomorrow after crossing Northbook Creek. Then I'll follow the ridge behind it heading to the left then aiming to get to Kluver's Lookout, the high hill in the distance tomorrow night, then heading right across the distant Mount Mee plateau two days after that, then the following day heading down off the plateau and continuing to the right to Caboolture. With a long way to go, I return to the camping ground for the night. |
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