We are slowly running out of mountains on the Sunshine Coast to climb, but Mt Eerwah has been on my radar for a while, and it was finally time. It was rumoured to be one of the more challenging walks/climbs, and while it is definitely not my most challenging climb, it was one of the more fun ones.
I am not exactly sure how high Mt Eerwah is – at it would seem that no-one else is either as every where I looked, the information was conflicting; one said 319m, another 364m, then another said 364m, and another still, 402m! No doubt it is one of them, and it is somewhere in between 319m and 402m – that’s almost 100 meters difference between them.
For the purpose of my story I will say it is 402m because it sounds more impressive… haha. Only joking… I think I will run with the information on peakery.com – it says 1047ft/319m and it is the 939th highest mountain in Queensland… fancy that!
Mt Eerwah is the peak that you see as you travel north along the Bruce Highway from Yandina to Eumundi – it is to your left. Quite a nice little peak and we were looking forward to reaching the top. ‘Eerwah’ is apparently an indigenous word for ‘death adder’ – as one of the most venomous snakes in Australia, I am not sure if I am supposed to be worried about this or not?
There is no marked track as such – no signage, or any obvious markers to suggest where to begin, so you need to pay attention to find the beginning of path.
Make your way to Mount Eerwah Road. You can get there via the Eumundi-Kenilworth Road and then down Browns Creek Road, or via North Arm and Gold Creek Road. It is when you get to Mount Eerwah Road that it gets a little tricky. Essentially the road lead to the base of the mountain and a few private properties, so you need to look out for a little ‘entrance arch’ to a very scant path, otherwise your will be wandering around in someone’s backyard – uninvited – I think it is called trespassing…
But if you drive up the straight of Mount Eerwah road, there is a small clearing where you can park your car and a green wire garden arch with a couple of colourful plaques hanging from it, almost hidden in the bushes on your left hand side, just before the road bends to the right. If you get to a fork in the road, you have gone too far. You need to go back fifty meters or so.
From the arch, there is a track that leads between two wire fences – one lined with bamboo – and down a few gullies. On about the third gully, someone helpful has left a rope tied to a tree at the top of the gully to help you climb up the quite steep embankment – I can imagine, that this would be quite helpful when it is a bit damp, and even so it helps you scramble up quicker.
When you get to the end of the fence line, you progressively head up, through some lantana, which someone had kindly trimmed back, and from there you just look out for the pink markers that are tied to the odd tree. There aren’t so many markers as to take the adventure out of it, but enough to make it fun, and feel like you are a skilled navigator… even if you are not…
I loved the walk to the top. It really was quite steep, so it is probably not a climb I would suggest to anyone that is not reasonably fit. The tangled root systems of the trees, and vines aid the scrambling process and make the climb a little easier, because you really are using your hands and feet. There is also another roped area, but the rope was quite frayed and one was broken, so maybe don’t put all your eggs in one basket there… the path has quite a steep drop.
The rainforest feels quite untouched in this area. The path is worn enough to suggest, that Mt Eerwah does get the occasional bit of traffic, but the foliage is thick and dense and quite the tangled mass. Trees, with their exposed and knotted roots, look quite spectacular, as do the layers of moss and lichen that carpet the rocks and shaded surfaces. The flora is quite diverse too. It feels reasonably tropical at the base of the mountain – lush and green, merging into much more rugged shrubbery towards the top.
Actually, I was quite intrigued by the flora at the summit. It appears that there was a fire here some time ago – I am not sure how many years – anyone know? It seems to be so long ago, that the skeletal trees that remain, almost have the appearance of driftwood. If you look closely, you can see the charring beneath the surface, but the timber itself looks bleached and weathered, and an elaborate collection of mosses have created decorative mantles across the surfaces. It is pretty magical!
My cherry babe is so incredibly patient… I think I took photographs of almost every ‘decorative mantle’… it was just sooo pretty!
The summit was also covered in Birdwing vines (Pararistolochia praevenosa) that wound themselves around the trees and boulders, everywhere! I hadn’t come across this before on any of the other peaks – I am not sure whether the vine is seasonal or not, but it would suggest, as the host vine for the beautiful Birdwing butterfly, that this area would be a prolific breeding area. I wonder.
When you initially get to the top it is a bit of an anti-climax. There is not much in the way of views. The surrounding bush pretty much obstructs any ‘could be’ view, but there are a few patches where you can look out over the valley, and if you veer to the left when you reach the initial peak, you can wander down to a rock ledge where you do get a great view of Mt Cooroora and Mt Cooroy and Noosa and beyond. Watch your step though, it can be a bit of a scramble… don’t miss the edge of the ledge!
If you continue on the path to the summit, you will eventually come to a ‘Welcome’ sign, which suggests that you have now reached the summit… what a friendly place 🙂
If you wander a little further you will catch some glimpses through the trees of Mt Ninderry, at which I was quite amazed at how huge Mt Ninderry looked from this aspect! I kept trying to climb on the massive boulders to catch a better glimpse… but alas, a glimpse is all I got. However, Mt Ninderry looks totally different from this aspect, from the road it looks almost dwarfed in comparison – just wished I could get enough of a view to take a photo
We spent a bit of time at the top… I had photographs of moss to take… we also had some lunch on one of the rock ledges.
Wandering down was quite fun. It was quite the slip and slide – I wouldn’t recommend doing this walk in the wet, I think it would be quite dangerous and you are definitely thankful for those twisted roots and vines… and the solid tree trucks that stop your downward motion! I also discovered that in amongst the vines are the occasional spiked palm stalks… so ‘look’ before you ‘latch’!
Mt Eerwah is a great climb. If you climb the mountains for the views alone, then you will probably be disappointed. I just love climbing and the environmental aspect of Mt Eerwah and its diverse flora was a satisfying enough reward for me. So one hundred or so photographs later we finally ventured back down.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I didn’t see any death adders… but it is winter…
This story was written by Petra Frieser – Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds
