In the upper reaches of the Paluma Range National Park, tangled in thick wait-a-while, covered in leeches, four adventurers battled through some of the worst Yasi damaged terrain to continue in our efforts to re-open a section of the PRB track for multi day hikes taking in some of the most beautiful creek lines, tributaries and historical points of interest in the region.
Michael Mohring, Jo and Arcadia hiked in on Saturday morning, tidying up the recently marked trail between Plantation Road and the headwaters of the Rollingstone West Branch (RWB)
By the time I hiked in solo on the Sunday morning, I wasn’t sure where this group of trail cutting hikers and explorers would be, so it was a pleasant surprise to receive a paper note, attached to a tree with pink tape along the RWB at the trail head to the PRB.
I came across this battle scarred band of adventurers buried in wait a while and fighting off the leeches among the dense rainforest on the PRB track close to the Banana Creek Turnoff.
We spent the afternoon cutting another section of the PRB towards 3 Ways Creek. We passed the end of the “Forestry Road” and started work on what was left of the trail that linked the road to Paluma.
We turned back late afternoon and cut a trail to Banana Creek. A Boyd’s Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus boydii) watched our every move and this marvel of nature even posed for a few photos for us! Michael mentioned it was the first of it’s kind he’d seen in this section of the National Park in nearly 15 years of exploring.
Banana Creek is spectacular and we were the first adventurers to witness this remote rainforest creek line in over ten years.
Banana Creek Pool was a sight to see – this massive deep pool underneath a terraced waterfall is where we will bring groups to camp for the evening when adventuring in this area in future. Should you join us on a future PRB adventure, let me assure you this is hammock country with few options available for the explorer who is used to pitching and sleeping in a tent.
After hiking back into camp on dark, we swapped adventure stories over a ‘feast’ on the campfire, before hiking out early the following morning.
Keep an eye out for our next PRB adventure, coming soon!
