consuelo hiking trip - anzac day 2005
Dear Linda & Ross, (park rangers)
Here is a summary of my hike and all the photos I took are thumbnailed below.
I left on Anzac Day from the Camping Ground at 9:30 am, the plan for the day was to hike up Devil's Ridge (or Demon's Ridge as the book calls it) then jump up at Ogres Thumb and then cut across to spend the night and make a base camp at Cabbage Tree Creek. I had anticipated that I would easily do this because several years earlier I had hiked on the Ranch where it was very easy going and I had covered about 4 kilometres an hour fully loaded. However conditions were much worse than I had imagined.
After a base camp was set up at Cabbage Tree I was going to conduct various day walks to sites, but due to my under estimation of how difficult it was the plan fell down at that point.
By the time I had climbed up above the Bluff I had already drunk all the water in 1 of my 3 water bottles. Then I discovered that I hadn't done up the lid properly on the second water bottle.........it was now empty. This left me with just the third and smallest of the water bottles remaining.....it only held 1 litre. This was my supply of water until I could get to Cabbage Tree Creek.
Then to make things more difficult, the grass was much higher than I expected and thick and I made much slower time than I had calculated. The grass on the bluff and the ridge above wasn't too bad, but the higher I climbed the thicker and harder the going got.
It took me all day simply to reach the top of the tableland....only half as far as I had expected to get. The main issue for me now was however the lack of water and also because most of my food was freeze-dried food I was unable to reconstitue it without water and it was unsafe to eat it dry because it would only dehydrate me more than I was. The main issue was simple exhaustion and also being incredibly thirsty.
The next day I began to make my way to Cabbage Tree Creek (photos below) but the going was slow. I broke camp at 6am in the morning but did not arrive at Cabbage Tree until 3pm in the afternoon.....totally exhausted. Then as a result of my total exhaustion and thirst............I drunk water without boiling it. The water actually looked quite clean and if it had've been dirty I would have definitely boiled it, but because my thirst was so great I drank. The side effects were that I developed diarrhoea and sickness that took a week to depart.
After arriving at Cabbage Tree wisdom prevailed and I realised that my hiking plan was far too ambitious and that I would be unable to complete many of the goals I had set for myself. The only safe and logical plan was to head home. So I began hiking towards Naboloo Head where I decided to camp for the night.
On route to Naboloo (fortunately not far away) I tripped over a log in the long grass.........the grass was so high that sometimes logs and rocks were not visible. The washup from this was that my knee was wrenched and became pained and swollen.
I broke camp at 6:30 am the next day to make my way down Naboloo Ridge (at least I think that is the name of the ridge) however my knee was in such pain that I was unable to make progress with my backpack. Walking was hard and painful without it, let alone with another 18kg strapped on my back. I was left without any choice but to dump the bag on Naboloo Head. It was no longer possible for me to walk with it, so I rescued the Satellite Phone, GPS and put them on my belt, but had to abandon the bag. I am a little concerned about having done this, although I had no choice at the time. Also when I met back at the station with you Linda, I was unsure as to how I should tell you. My knee is still 'jiggered' but is improving. I hope I can return to retrieve it when my knee heals. I also have some friends who are willing to come with me to go and get it. However I needed to tell you about this so that if someone finds it they will not mount a search expedition over an abandoned bag.
I made my way down Naboloo Ridge and into Naboloo Gorge and then down to the Camping Ground....that took me all day until about 2:30
Before this trip I considered myself an experienced camper and hiker having been involved in this kind of leisure activity for many years, however in every trip of mine, conditions had been favourable. This was the first trip where things had unfavourable. Although many elements of my hike were not enjoyable, I am glad to have had some first hand experience with remote hiking in adverse conditions and also glad that wisdom prevailed to bring me home. I feel that this has added to my experience in two ways........firstly I will not be so quick to engage in similar activities on a solo basis, nor do I recommend anyone hiking on extended trips solo in the same area. Secondly, my future trips will be based on a worst case scenario rather than my usual optimism.
A few quick notes of interest:
-there was no parthenium in any of the places I visited
-there was however extensive damage to the terrain on the tableland - either pigs or horses is my guess
-Cabbage Tree Creek was almost dry (see photo) and will probably dry up in the next few weeks.
I also want to thank you Ross for the water drop..............I didn't make it that far, but I am appreciative of the efforts you went to on my behalf. I hope that my photos of the pig/brumby damage might be of some use. (photos below)
Thanks to you both again
David.
Below are the photos of the trip: (click to view full photo) There are also some additional photos on my computer at home. If anyone is intersted in seeing them I can mail a CD, but you will need to send money to cover the CD and postage. Contact me here.
This is a brown and white photo of the track up to Bulimba Bluff - just taken for fun
This is some of the country I encountered going Northwards on the Bluff - Jimmys Shelf.
This is a view of that high point (790m elevation) which is close to the start of Devils Ridge
This was the start of Devils Ridge - the grass is not so bad at this point.
This was about halfway up Devils Ridge.
This was towards to top of Devils Ridge.
This was the view from the same place as above, but taken downhill instead.
This was the photo of the country Northwards of the Ridge, slightly above this I hard to skirt around through this to get to the jumpup.
This was a "funny pink bug" but was actually more slug like. It stung me when I accidentally brushed against it whilst climbing Devils Ridge. I found it just shy of Ogres Thumb.
Finally at the top, via the easier jumpup found about 100m around to the North of Ogres Thumb.
An example of pig or brumby damage - notice the roots pulled out at the top right.
A pig or brumby track taken at Cabbage Tree - these tracks are everywhere on the Tableland and saved me some time whenever I found one.
Cabbage Tree Spring - having a cup of tea.
Cabbage Tree Spring - nearly empty.
The "country" on Naboloo Head.
View of the gorge from Naboloo Head.
Looking back up Naboloo Ridge from about a third of the way down.
and finally.....the panorama from devils ridge (5 photos stitched together).