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Spring Mountain Ridge Walk

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Detailed briefing for registered participants

Though not a very prominent or recognisable peak, the Spring Mountain upland area is a watershed for many watercourses, including Bundamba, Woogaroo, Mountain, Opossum and Oxley Creeks. The walk takes in outlooks in all directions at various ridge-top locations.

Leaving from the outskirts of residential acreage in Greenbank, this eight kilometre return walk (4km each way) will ascend a spur to the Spring Mountain ridge and follow the ridge to the Spring Mountain peak itself. The return will follow the same route.

The degree of difficulty is generally moderate to steep so participants should be of moderate endurance fitness.

This walk is brought to you by Save Our Riverfront Bushland (SORB), under the auspices of Oxley Creek Catchment Association (OCCA) as part of the Peaks to Points Festival.

PARTICIPANTS - please carefully read the following information to assist your prior preparation to enable an enjoyable trip on the day:

DIRECTIONS:
Meet at:
Platypus Drive, Greenbank by 8:00am, Wed 23 July 2008 (Brisway 636 Q6 or UBD 277 B3);

.. Platypus Drive is reached via Spring Mountain Road, Spinebill Drive and Parrot St;
.. The road to take to reach Spring Mountain Road is either Pub Lane (from Middle Road/Teviot Road) or New Beith Rd;
.. While the walk leaves the settled area at Thornbill Drive (following the spur upwards via the service reservoir), vehicle parking is more satisfactory in Platypus Drive;
.. Prior briefing will commence at 8:15am with a departure by 8:30am;

SATELLITE IMAGERY
Google Earth images, annotated to show the walking route
(click on image to view full sized image - or right click to save target/link)

Oblique view:

Plan view:

MAPS
The following maps in PDF are for your reference and open in a new window:

The ROUTE
.. Refer to the above Google Earth imagery which shows the approximate route;
.. We will have a break for morning tea at a vantage point on the ridge, while lunch will be had at Spring Mountain peak itself;
.. The route one-way is less than 4km of which most is on firetrails but a length of about a kilometre (the east-west southern-most portion) is a narrow 'goat-trail' along a narrow part of ridge;
.. Starting elevation is approx at the 100m contour level and the destination Spring Mountain is 354m;
.. As you would expect of a spur and ridge walk the grades are not uniform and there are some steep and undulating stretches, but we can take our time at these locations;
.. The anticipated time of return is 2pm to 2:30pm depending upon the number and extent of stops the group wishes to have. (The return walk retraces the upward route. For your guidance, the return walk without significant pauses, is about 1.25 hours maximum.)

WHAT TO BRING:

Essential:

  • Comfortable, sturdy walking boots or shoes with good grip and ankle support;
  • Hat and sunscreen
  • Personal basic first aid (antiseptic cream for scratches, bandaids, saline wash, etc.)
  • Water (need to be self sufficient for the day - no water available on site);
  • Wet weather protection (some showers are forecast);
  • Backpack to carry your gear

Provisions:

  • Morning tea
  • Energy snacks, scroggin
  • Lunch

Optional:

  • Camera
  • Maps
  • Binoculars

OTHER INFORMATION
For your information, we have negotiated details for this walk with both Logan City Council and Ipswich City Council and ICC has issued a recreation licence for this event. Their respective guidelines and requirements, which are as you would expect for a natural area, will be included in the briefing on the morning. The route traverses parts of Logan's "Spring Mountain Forest Reserve" and Ipswich's "Spring Mountain Conservation Estate".

In the event of extremely inclement weather on the day, please contact me on the morning (say from 6:30am) to confirm whether cancellation is foreshadowed. The forecast showers are not sufficient at this stage to warrant cancellation. If you need to withdraw for any reason, please notify me as soon as possible (contact details in signature block).

Enquiries: Ed Parker, ph 3376 1389 or email info@sorb.org.au

Return to SORB's P2P Festival activity listing.


Last update 22-Jul-08
Domain registered Feb 2000
Website established Jan 1996
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URL for this page is: http://www.sorb.org.au/p2p/springmtn_details_prn.htm