It had been a busy few weeks! Las chicas were all in Argentina visiting the abuelitos and familia over there, while I’d been left with the mammoth task of moving house. It was bittersweet: I certainly slept a little better without tiny feet in my mouth and two daughters who like to wake me up by playing with or licking my ears, and I spent quite a few nights crashing at friends’ places or in the back of the car at Woodford, but I’d also been in a cycle of work - unpack - sleep - repeat which had fast become mundane. I had made plans with Nat to go for an overnight hike, but the cold nights and logistics of that turned it into a hiking weekend crashing in Paul the van. Unfortunately, ‘rona got her and she had to spend the weekend snivelling in bed. She was pretty devastated cos she’d missed out on another bushwalk due to pharyngitis and was realising how many bugs she’d picked up since starting as a nurse. Nat pulling out caused me to change my plans too, I decided against going away for the whole weekend and instead to finish up unpacking the essentials and just got for a day hike the other day. Woke up Saturday and said a big fat nup to even leaving the house that day, so Sunday it would be! I wanted something fairly challenging and I’d heard many times that Mount Maroon has one of the best 360 degree views in SE QLD, so that was that.
I left home with enough time to be at the base around 9 am. As ever, such a beautiful drive in, off the highway at Beenleigh, through Beaudesert and Rathdowney. My immediate reaction upon arrival at the carpark was surprise at how many cars there were. I assumed there would only be a couple of hikers on the mountain, basing that assumption off my hike at nearby Maroon, but I essentially got the last spot in the carpark, and I’m not even sure you could call it a proper spot, I just wedged in under a tree. It was a beautiful day, mostly sunny but with patches of cloud, and particularly around the peak of Maroon. I didn’t think much of it, had a little toke, and started on the trail. I’d seen a teenage son and father start the trail as I was arriving into the carpark, so I could hear and see them not too far up the mountain from me. The trail pretty much got straight into it. Again, comparing with Barney where there’s a nice couple of kilometers through fields before the ascent begins, Maroon is straight from the carpark. It was fairly steep, nothing you really need your hands for, but certainly a wake-up call for my thighs. Rather stony around the base, so I picked my steps wisely so as not to wreck my bare feet from the get-go. Within about 15 minutes I’d passed the father and son, both of whom commented on my bare feet and had a bit of a passing chat. After that I had some lovely meditative time by myself, stopping now and then to take in the views. There was plenty for me to think about: the past month living by myself, the new job, the start of a new chapter living in Cleveland with Alba getting cheekier by the day. My mind wandered and my feet kept moving me upwards, through the gums and over the rocks.
At around 10 am, the reason for all the cars at the base made itself known: a Meetup group. I met the group of around 20 at the bottom of a crevasse that involved a smidgen of scrambling. There was a real mixture there, from first-time members of the group, an older lady who looked like she had no idea what she’d got herself into, a very old and experienced leader and everything in between. And every single one of them commented on my feet! I overtook them, but not in any real hurry, and had a chat with a couple of them along the way. At this point on the mountain it was starting to get a bit darker and we were clearly starting to emerge into the clouds. Unfortunately I only had my phone with me (my camera was in an unknown box somewhere at the new house), but I took a picture of a rock column that I’m sure a more competent photographer could make a wall-piece of. Not too long after passing the Meetup group I came upon a campsite, which inevitably means the summit is not far away. Two men at the camp advised me to stick to the left and there would come a point where there was a cliff, at that point to turn left. In hindsight I know what they meant, but at the time I assumed they meant I’d reach a point where I was close to the top of a cliff, but really they meant you get to an open rocky section and would have to start climbing. I wouldn’t call that a cliff, which is why I missed it first time and had to track back when I started becoming suspicious about how thick the scrub had become. Markers to the rescue though, a short climb up the rocky peak and I was at the summit!
The difference between being on the summit and being about 2 metres below the summit was stark. It went from being very cloudy but totally calm, to suddenly being hit with strong, cool winds. There was a group of women who had also just arrived and we all had a laugh at the complete lack of view. I almost didn’t bring a windbreaker, but luckily I’m becoming older and wiser by the hike, so I quite gladly chucked that on, wedged myself in a little rocky nook that provided some protection against the wind. I hadn’t really stopped for food yet, but wasn’t feeling particularly hungry either, so I nibbled on my trail mix a bit and enjoyed my hidden secret: a beautifully warm Yeti flask of tea. Again demonstrating how old and wise I’ve become, I knew a cuppa would be well appreciated. One of my highlights from this trip was seeing the father and son arrive to the summit, they actually weren’t too far behind me. The son had been inspired to also take off his shoes and told me that it was actually easier than he thought. But my favourite was the dad, who got to the summit, stood there for about 5 seconds then went, nup there’s no way in hell I’m sitting up here in the wind, and headed straight back down! I had a good chuckle at that, and fair enough. I actually quite enjoyed the awful conditions at the top, its something I certainly don’t experience every day so I embraced the discomfort and had a few mindful moments.
The route back down was nice, I took the time to go a little off-track and take in some wonderful views from some rocky outcrops. Overall, the hike was roughly an hour each way, mostly just steep hiking with a couple of short scrambles, and significantly easier than Mt Barney. I know that Robyn is very keen to hike up Maroon for sunrise, so hopefully I’ll be back soon on a sunny day and finally see those views for myself.