So much to tell

Beerwah and Tibro today, just because they were there, although now my knees are saying they are also there. We went as a group from the social climbers FB page, and my new hero is a 69 year old woman who flew up the mountains and says she wants to have her 70th birthday party on top of Beerwah next year.  I want to be like her when I'm old!

Christmas tree we helped to build on top of Beerwah.

Yesterday I wrapped tons and tons of Christmas presents, and went to Albury, but not in that order.  

At the top of Tibro with Tash.

Friday, I climbed Tibro, also because it was there, and Thursday, as we are tracking my week backwards, I conquered Mt Warning.  It just keeps on going on and on, steps ad infinitum, with a scramble at the end but horribly man made due to concrete steps and even a chain along the scramble.  It's a 9k round trip and took me 2h16 so I'm pretty happy with that - 1h19 of constant uphill.  I stayed down in Coolangatta the night before, as Warning is a good 2h+ drive from home, and as I was down south for work anyway, it seemed pointless to go home.  I hoped for some good photos but it was totally in cloud. 

No view on Mt Warning...

Then of course backtracking to Tuesday, I was in Osborne for the day and managed to get a tour of the mine.  It was very cool and I got to learn all about the things they were mining - like bornite and chalcopyrite- and even bring home a couple of specimens.  

The mine: there is actually an underground mine opening that continues down to 1200m.

This is an example of the core they drill to decide where to mine.

Anyway it has been a VERY busy week, and I am about to go to Tamworth, so I should close this post.  Also, on Wednesday we plan to climb Mt Barney - expecting a 8-9hour hike, and I have been told I'll need about 5 litres of water, so that could get interesting...

Beerwah

Oh Beerwah, you are truly gorgeous.

And the early morning sun reflecting off the dam made the view even more beautiful.  Strange seeing my mountains from the other direction: Coonowrin, the crooked neck at the left, Tibrogargan top centre.  You can even see Tiberoowuccum on Tib's right.  I believe Ngungun is directly behind Coonowrin.

It was a much nicer climb in the dry.

Scrambling up the 'bowl' got us to the cliff face, which was incredible, sheer and impassable although people do climb it.

View straight up the cliff from below. 

We then climbed around the base of the cliff to continue our ascent along one of the ridges, as clearly, the cliff wasn't going to be our route.

We even investigated a bat cave, I have no photos of this but John had a torch and we slipped down into the cave on our hands and knees and crawled along to see the little bats.  So cool - creepy, but cool.

The bare path that looks like a river is our rocky scramble up the bowl: probably about 45 degree slope at a guess?  Definitely not as technical as Tib.

From another angle (the opposite side of the bowl)

Made it to the top!  A cool picture even if John is unable to keep a horizon straight!

Proof that I did not climb alone.  This is John, a friendly climber I met yesterday on Tibrogargan, and who helped me safely navigate Beerwah today.  

It was o so breathtaking and o so beautiful.  Dad, you will truly love this mountain!! 

(Backup) We didn't make it

It rained.

It rained a lot.

Also, Lily threw up in my bed at 0400.  

Also, my plans of climbing Beerwah were scuppered by the rain.  We started off anyway - actually it was dry leaving Mango Hill, so the doubts only set in as we headed on to Steve Irwin Way.  

"It's a bit wet," I commented

"Oh, you noticed that too?" said Ben.

So of course we continued to Beerwah, deciding to see if it got any drier on the way (oh the dreams of fools). It didn't get any drier.  In fact, it got wetter, but that's by the way.  

My doubts started rising, but Ben seemed keen so we started climbing.  It wasn't actually raining at that point, and although the rocks were wet, my "Five Tens" were gripping really well.  When Ben realised his hiking boots were going to make him slip off the mountain and die, he took them off, deciding to attempt to climb barefoot.

It was around that point that it started to rain, the clouds came down to meet us, and the previously wet rocks became rivers and waterfalls.  Climbing up a little further, my heart in my mouth, I decided that especially as I had never even attempted Beerwah in the dry, Beerwah in the wet was not going to happen.  

Yes.  There was cloud BELOW us, and yes, those are Ben's toes.

Cloud above us too, and Ben's bare feet, as proof for Dad.

The main reason I decided not to climb any higher was that Ben told me a story of some guys who climbed up it in the cloud and lost their way and fell off the cliff and broke a leg and couldn't get rescued because the helicopter couldn't fly in the conditions.

Some of what we climbed, with added waterfalls.

A wet and concerned Kate... surely stories of people falling and being unrescuable would scare others too?

When we got back to the bottom I took a photo of Beerwah in the cloud behind us.  The cloud was lower when we were ascending: in fact you can see blue to the left, so the rain was clearly easing!  Maybe we could have achieved it!

So instead, I took Ben up Tiberoowuccum (MY mountain) and got bitten by a thousand mosquitos, all of which seemed to want to come home with us in the car.

And now, I am home, and safe, and dry, and doing countless loads of laundry on my day off to counteract Lily throwing up in my bed on EVERYTHING.

Wuccum

I'm not meaning to brag, but... (which generally means I am) I completed Tiberoowuccum carpark to carpark in 36 minutes, and that includes going the long way around the back.  I also ran most of the downhill and around the back because I forgot to load my backpack into the car and therefore didn't have any bug spray (or water, sorry, Lily).  Due to running, I managed to escape with only three mozzie bites and one tick.  Which I flung out of the car window in disgust as soon as it was discovered.  I am prepared for my neck to play up due to the running... but hopefully it doesn't!

I also did not stop to take any photos, as I was in a hurry.  I also told Lily to SIT and STAY at the bottom of the cliff part at the end - only to turn around at the top to see her scramble up alone!  I then descended... and she clung to the rocks whimpering, shaking and crying, until I picked her up and hoisted her down (no backpack, remember), so that lost me a minute or two.  Dumb dog!  At least she was able to get up!

Due to the tick on me, I have given her some tick medicine despite it not technically being due for another 10 days.  Call me paranoid, but both my neighbour and colleague have had paralysis ticks on their cats, and I don't want to go through that!

Now I'm hoping to go out for breakfast (if Kaitlyn EVER tells me the plan) and then it's off to work again.  No rest for the wicked!