I was feeling rather ambitious this Australia Day… thinking a family walk would be a nice Australian way to see the day in and I had always wanted to ‘walk’ to the top of Mt Tibrogargan, one of the ominous peaks of the Glass House Mountains, on the Sunshine Coast’s beautiful hinterland.
Mt Tibrogargan had been closed for quite some time, for whatever reason, and the summit walk had recently been reopened so this was as good a reason as any to make the climb. So at 6 am we found ourselves at the base of the mount ready for our big climb…
We had the right idea starting early, as the humidity, even in the early hours of the morning was at a ridiculous level, however, we had not anticipated that the whole of the mount (and the entire Sunshine Coast) would be shrouded in fog, and would stay that way for the entire duration of the climb up and some of the way down!
I have walked to the summit of a number of the Glass House Mountains, including Mt Beerwah a number of years back, before they closed the summit track due to instability, but I had no idea of what this walk would be like other than the fact that the signs warned of ‘steep climbs’, ‘risk of death’, and to be ‘prepared’, but now I know, and thought that I would share my experience…
So here is my warning… it is a TOUGH climb, and at times a SCARY climb, and if you are in any way at all unsure of your capabilities, then stop at the base of the vertical rockface (you will know it when you see it), as the rest of this climb is not for you. But if you proceed, it is an incredible walk/climb/feat and is worth every second of exhaustion you will experience.
So that’s the warnings done…
The Glass House Mountains are a striking feature scattered across the Sunshine Coast’s luscious landscape. They are a collection of 11 volcanic peaks, Mt Tibrogaran, the second steepest (Mt Coonowrin an impressive first place) and third highest at 364 metres, with Mt Beerwah the highest at 556 metres. The walk/climb to the summit is an approximate 3km (almost vertical) return trip.
Mt Tibrogargan is often referred to as the ’gorilla’ of the Glass House Mountains because of its shape. The word ‘tibrogargan’ itself is believed to have come from an aboriginal word meaning ‘biting grey glider’ – though not sure how that relates…
In aboriginal mythology, Tibrogargan is the daddy of all the other Glasshouse Mountains, and Beerwah, his once again pregnant wife. Apparently Coonowrin (son) was asked by Tibrogargan to take his mother Beerwah, to saftey from the rising sea. Coonawrin… obviously lacking reliability as number one son, failed to do so, Tibrogargan clubbed him and broke his neck (child abuse?)… hence the name ‘Crookneck’. Tibrogargan then turned his back on Coonowrin in shame, and well, Beerwah obviously made her own way to safety. Well, that is the short condensed non-precise version, but if you would like to read the entire myth, it can be found here
You will need good footwear, sunscreen and plenty of water, and a small backpack (emphasis on the ‘small’) to put your water in, as you will need your hands.
The summit track has a gradual beginning, but it very quickly becomes a steep scramble and then eventually a rigorous climb – there is no mistaking where the landscape changes and you will need to make the decision at this point on whether or not you should proceed.
I was accompanied by my cherry babe, and my son, and we are all of reasonable fitness and agility – you need to be.
So the climbing/rock scrambling began. At first it wasn’t too bad. I enjoy a good vertical hike (*sarcasm), but then quite without warning the semblance of what may have been a track disappears and it becomes a rockface trail of faded red markers and us…
At this point I did momentarily ponder of the wisdom of proceeding. It was not the ‘going up’ bit that bothered me, it was thinking about the ‘coming down’ – especially once you had started the climb and made the mistake of looking back. Were it not for the fact that there were a few people ahead of us demonstrating the path we should possibly take and how to go about it, my pondering may have got the better of me. It was also at this point that I was feeling a little guilty about the humungous backpack my cherry babe was carrying, filled with my ‘stuff’ – all the things that I thought would be useful once we got to the top, without placing any thought as to how heavy it was and who was going to have to carry it up. I was stretched to capacity just lugging my being up there, so it was unlikely it was ever going to be me!
Funnily, for me, it was actually harder watching other people climb, than climbing myself. Meaning, it looks a lot scarier than it is. It still has an element of danger, but if you take your time, consider your moves in advance and proceed with caution, it is actually quite fun.
There are two particularly difficult points. The first is probably more psychologically difficult – it is a sheer face, but there are plenty of little ledges, and footholds to aid the scramble. It was the second point, which is a substantially smaller face to scale which I found difficult, purely because I couldn’t quite reach the ledges, so found myself counter levering my weight from one point to another to get to the top. It probably didn’t help that I had a veteran climber, intent on doing his best time, pushing up behind me right at this point. You do get a little bit of that – just let them pass if you can, or make them wait if you can’t – it is not worth sacrificing your safety so they can scratch a few seconds off their time.
And then finally… there you are just a small ‘stroll’ away from the top.
I would like to say it was incredible, and the views are awesome (apparently they are) but we could not see a thing! The fog was still so thick we could barely see a few metres in front us. So there were no breathtaking ocean views, no glimpses of the rest of Tibrogargan’s family, in fact we could barely even see who was coming up behind us. But what we did see was something quite incredible, that we would not have seen without the thick fog, so it was quite magical in its own special way.
Because the fog was so thick, and the air was so damp from the humidity, all we could see were the skeletal silhouettes of the trees which grew on the top against a stark white background with masses of spider webs speckled with sparkling dew drops. It was just beautiful. The webs were EVERYWHERE. However, even within the time that we were up there and the fog began to lift, this magical mirage disappeared quite quickly, so I thought it incredibly special that we saw this at all. I couldn’t get my camera out quick enough – and made the effort of carrying it up worthwhile by quickly taking dozens of photographs of this stunning anomaly of nature.
Well, the fog wasn’t lifting in a hurry, and there was a storm predicted later in the morning, so we chose not to linger too long. My anxious anticipation of the climb down was fraught with enough imagined peril – I was not about to wait around and introduce thunder, lightening and floodwaters to the mix (breath in, breathe out).
As it turns out, the climb down was much easier than anticipated. We all found it easier to do a bit of a crab crawl down rather than climbing down in the manner we climbed up. The two rock faces that I found difficult on the way up, were a little tricky, but no where near as tricky as how I had built it up in my mind. Although I did try and find an easier track only to come to a dead end and then had to scale across the entire rock face to get back on ‘track’. I did feel an element of satisfied relief when my feet finally touched ‘base camp’.
I forgot to mention, that halfway down the rock face, the fog finally began to lift and we were able to appreciate some of the incredible views. Both Mt Coonowrin and Mt Beerwah lifted their veils and sat proudly amongst a sea of pineapple and macadamia farms… just stunning… unfortunately my camera was safely (read ‘uselessly’) packed away in the backpack so I had to make due with a few iphone snaps until I got to the bottom where the aspect was not quite as picturesque and the camera more accessible, but oh well…
By this time we were also soaking wet because of the insane humidity. So much so that people starting on their climb (it was a bit of a highway on the way back) asked us if it had rained on the summit… it was early, but it was one cracker of a warm day.
All in all, it was a FANTASTIC climb, and well worth the challenge and while I recommend it wholeheartedly, please be safe and make sure you are prepared. Know your limitations, and if the climb is not for you, then the Trachyte Walking Circuit around the mount may be more to your enjoyment.
The Mt Tibrogargen summit walk is accessed from the Marsh Road. For a map click here
More information about the Glass House Mountains visit http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/glass-house-mountains/about.html
Or for more stories about some of the other Glass House Mountains I have climbed.. read here…
Please note: The Mt Tibrogargan summit route is not a walking track and is not suitable for inexperienced people who cannot climb unassisted… so it is not the place to take your granny, scared-of-heights-girlfriend, young children or yourself, if you arm is in a sling or in any other way impaired – I am sure you catch my meaning – keep safe!
This story was written by Petra Frieser – Pebbles + Pomegranate Seeds
