Climbing Mount Beerwah

It was planned to climb a mountain today. Me, being used to the NC mountains, expected a nice stroll, coupled with maybe some steep hills. Little did I know. I stared up at this when we drove up.

It's called Mount Beerwah.

Elevation (feet): 1824
Elevation (meters): 556
Range: Glasshouse Mountains
Country: Australia
Continent: Australia/Oceania
Latitude: -27
Difficulty: Scramble

There was a hardcore mountain climber in the group. He said it's not that bad of a hike. Again, I expected some sharp hills to hike up. Sadly I was wrong. Here's a shot going up one of the many rock faces. This type of climbing went on for at least 2 miles.


About a quarter of the way I saw this creature and figured I should snap a shot of it.


We started off with 6 fellows hiking up the mountain. 1 ended up not wearing good hiking shoes. Half way up the mountain, a 2nd twisted his ankle. That took out him and another who helped him down the mountain. I was close to the feller who twisted his ankle, which was in a sandy area (as seen below)


The guy who was with him was the hardcore mountain hiker. So I figured he was in good hands, and it didn't look like my services were needed. I tried to catch up to the other two who were already a few minutes ahead of me. This turned into me hiking by myself. Which I knew was taking a chance. About right here, I didn't think I could make it any further.


The sun was out, it was in the 80s, and heat exhaustion was setting in. Being an 11-year old scout master, I remember going over the requirements for the Second Class Rank. We talked about heat exhaustion and what you should do. If I remember correctly, the proper steps were:

1 - Get out of the sun
2 - Lay down
3 - Drink water - slowly

Luckily the sun went behind some clouds, I laied down and drunk some water. I stayed there a few minutes until I re-composed myself. My skin was super hot. It almost felt like I had a fever. Anyway, I re-cooped and I kept going. Granted I stopped to take a breather about every 10-15 feet, but I kept going. And eventually reached the top!


Here's a few more proud pictures from the top:




I didn't expect the trip down to be all that easier than the trip up. But sure enough it was quite easy to go down. Which makes sense due to the fact you have gravity on your side.

There's a lot more pictures on my gallery.