Mermaid Mountain

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My 3 year old grandson loves mermaids. He carries around a mermaid. I have told him about Dugongs and showed him photos of them and explained how sailors who had been at sea for a very long time thought dugongs were mermaids. I saw a baby dugong once many years ago in the Cairns Oceanarium. It had been caught in a barramundi net. I went to visit it and patted her. I was surprised she was very bristly.



My grandson was excited when I told him I was going to climb on a recent bushwalk. I'm looking forward to when he gets big and strong enough to come climbing mountains with me.



The climb was popular in my bushwalking club, so we ended up having two groups of 10 starting at different times. I was in the first group and a few times the other group caught up with us when we were having morning tea and lunch, so our group packed up and moved on.



I've been in the club for about 6 years and had never climbed it before. I did read there were a lot of steep hills to get to the top, but I must be getting fit because I managed pretty well.



The trail can be hard to navigate so people need to have navigation skills and or use GPS technology. I was with walkers who knew the area very well and had done lots of survey walks up there. It would be difficult because there were lots of intersecting dirt paths so you need to know which one to take. There aren't any markers or signs to show which route to take.



is in the southern section of D'Aguilar National Park, west of Brisbane. The walking track uses forest access and slippery fire trails through eucalypt forest and eucalypt woodland.



The walk is from Lake Manchester Road to via fire trails and an off-track section.

We started a few kilometres east of the Lake Manchester Dam. After going up a moderate rise on a forestry trail, we reached Light Line (forestry) road and headed left down this track. On reaching a creek, we followed a track that became very steep before reaching the ridge. We then followed the ridge to the top of the Mountain, where we had lunch. The return trip was back along the ridge, down a zig-zag forestry track and eventually back to the cars.



The walk was about 13Km and involved 700m of elevation gain. Poles would be an advantage on this walk. A good level of fitness is required. This walk is not recommended as a first walk.



From the top of Mermaid mountain, there are good views of Lake Manchester and Cunningham's Gap. On a clear day, these views extend to Mt. Barney and to the east, Mt. Cootha and Moreton Bay.



It is recommended to download the maps ahead of time, as the trails are poorly marked. For experienced and prepared walkers, take plenty of water.



You do need boots or shoes with good grip for the very slippery, eroded tracks. Walking poles were very useful too.
We had great views of Lake Manchester from the top of the mountain. I had only been to that area once before. I wrote about my Lake Manchester walk here
[LINK=https://www.weekendnotes.com/lake-manchester-hiking/]ake Manchester



On a clear day, you could see right out to Main Range.
I was wondering how got its name. One of my walking friends suggested it could be because with a bit of imagination Lake Manchester looks like a mermaid with a tail. If anyone knows how it got its name, please let me know.



The trail is only around an hour west of Brisbane, so it is a nice close walk without having to drive too far. The mountain is 384 m above sea level.



We were expecting rain, but it didn't rain and the weather was cool but sunny, which helped with climbing so it didn't get too hot. We came down a less steep track that zig-zagged a bit. Only one person had a slip on the way down but didn't get hurt.

It was a wonderful walk, and I will go back and do it again one day.

#daguilar
#health_fitness
#lookouts
#national_parks
#views
#walks
%wnbrisbane