Return to Mt Maroon

April 14 - Mt Maroon with Jan.

During March I had walked/hiked 417 kilometres for Cancer's March Charge. My friend Jan had been niggling at me to climb Mt Maroon with her, for quite some time. After all the excercise through March, I felt quite cardio fit, so agreed. I then spent the 2 weeks prior to the climb, taking my morning walk up and down Mt Warren Hill. It is steepish, but nothing like Mt Maroon. 

The Gaiter Girls had climbed Mt Maroon on Monday July 26, 2021. I've added the link to that hike. It was a brief report stating I would write more fully, later. It seems that there was never time. Having fewer photos on this occasion, I have decided to intersperse photos from that hike within this post, as they show the difficulty of the climb. You will note that it was a sunnier [but colder] day and there were far more wildflowers.

https://outandabout3.blogspot.com/2021/07/from-mountain-to-sea.html

The latter part of our nearly 2 hour journey to Mt Maroon, was through a lovely misty valley.

8 am approach to the back of Mt Maroon.

Getting closer. A narrow, rough road ,slowed us down from here on in.

8.50 am - the ascent commences, with our destination almost hidden by the bluff outcrop.

Right from the word go, there were boulders to impede our progress. The smaller ones soon petered out but the incline became steeper.

Half an hour later, one of us turned around and realised we were missing the fabulous view.

Fifteen minutes later I needed another rest.

The real climbing begins.

Here we are entering the challenging ravine. Signage states to be beware of falling rocks.

Stuck, until I got my breathe back.

My face a tad red from effort!

Bec sending words of encouragement.

An excited Jan, after I informed her that she had reached the top of the ravine. Descending this section was far less strenuous.

A surprise flat woodland was just above the ravine. Very welcome, allowing the muscles to recover before the final ascent.

As Jan and I descended, we spotted these very unusual mushrooms in this same area. I had never seen them before. 

Cortinarius archeri, a species native to Australia and they appear in eucalpyt forests in autumn.

Leaving the eucalpyts behind, we needed to discuss the direction of the trail. More climbing but less strenuous.

Almost there.

Success!

This was a posed photo for my friend Joc. We were in Nepal [1978] and had spent 2 hours climbing to Sarangkot [5000 ft] to watch the sunrise over the Annapurnas and especially over Macchapuchhare at 

22 000 feet.. On reaching the summit, Joc collapsed in this pose, totally exhausted. I must admit I did feel relief lying flat, even on hard rock.

Super woman Jan, could have done the climb in half the time.

View SE.

Spot Jan!

Not so difficult now, to spot Helen.

View NE.

View west.

Entering the ravine on our descent.

Crazy rock climbers.

Rest stop view after the ravine.

Smiles - the worst of the steep is done. 

The car park is just around the corner!

I knew my thighs were going to suffer, so on the Saturday prior, I commenced taking anti-inflammatories and continued for several days afterwards. On the following Wednesday, except for the sore thighs, I happily walked the ten flat k's along the Brisbane River, with the Hungry Hikers. That evening however, my left side became quite sore. By Sunday I couldn't turn over in bed or stand or sit, without intense pain. I was put on codeine and told to rest completely for a week. I must have strained the muscles as I scrambled the more difficult sections. Once I stopped taking the anti inflammatories for the thighs, the left side muscles started their complaint.

All good now, but I guess I won't be doing any more strenuous climbs. 🥲

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