Mount Bartle Frere

I was in far North Queensland once, and there was this mountain I seen one time. Actually, I might have sighted it twice.

From the valley below, Mounts Bartle Frere (left) and Bellenden Ker (right), especially when both are clad in cloud, appear mysterious and forbidding, yet also enticing. 

From a swampland beneath, the mountains (Bellenden Ker above and Bartle Frere below) with their rugged profile look inviting. There is possibly crocodiles here in Eubenangee Swamp but surely there’s no crocodiles up there on the highest mountains of Queensland.

 As far as crocodile-free mountains go, there’s no crocodiles either in Kosciusko (highest mountain in Australia) or Mount Wycheproof (lowest mountain). However, there are people or tourists there. So I went for the jungular… I tossed a coin and and it came up Bart not Bell, so the very next day…

It was easy going up to Broken Nose turnoff at Majuba Creek (about 3.5km). But this mountain IS a mountain, and sure enough the going got tough.

The trail is mostly under the cover of high and thick tropical canopy. The cleared and maintained trail generally follows the path of least resistance through the various typical yet altitude-specific rainforest trees and vegetation. The path also sometimes follows the slopes of least gradient through the tropical yet latitude-specific vegetation and trees. The trees get smaller and hardier, the higher you go up the mountain.

There are distance markers every kilometre, supplemented by signposts and other trail signage. Though the daylight is dimmed significantly by the canopy cover,  you’d be trying hard to get lost here.

The path is well-trodden as the challenge of hiking up this highest mountain in Queensland is now quite popular with keen outdoors and climbing enthusiasts. 

Every now and then there is a place in the forested slopes with enough room for a makeshift camp and fireplace.

Side trails are rare, because the jungle is plain dense and there’s only one destination – the summit. But the intrepid curious explorer will somehow find a great viewing point just on the side. You only have to clamber over boulders and climb a couple of fallen trees, to get rewarded with magnificent views that very few people see. 

Looking down the mountain, you see out to the canefields of the Cassowary Coast, and beyond to the islands of the Great Barrier Reef in the Coral Sea.

Onward and upward,

or downward.

The climb from Majuba Creek to the summit is mostly ascending and unrelenting. It’s no wonder that someone put up a hammock perhaps just for a break, and perhaps left it to lighten the load.

There are numerous birds on the slopes of Bartle Frere. They’re seen on the trails but mostly heard. They feed on the various fruits of the rainforest.

When climbing, I’m not inclined to look up, unless the inclined trail or birds invited me to. And I tried but can’t decline, so I also looked down the decline. Many photos of the steep trails here have been posted online and elsewhere, but very few show the reality. A camera has to be side-on to capture the profile of the mountainside and there is no such spot on the cliff slopes of Bartle Frere.

But back to the gnarly roots, and rocks and boulders, and more boulders.

At around the 6km marker, the trail suddenly exits the gloom of the dense rainforest and enters the exposed 'boulder field' out to the clear (or cloudy) sky. There is hardly any shade here, and the climber is compelled to turn and have a look around. Had he just kept going, the first views would have stopped him in his tracks. So don’t grumble or you'll stumble, maybe mumble but be humble. Do fumble for a camera, and scramble on - over the boulders.

The Eastern Camp site has a tin shed and next to it a helipad for emergencies.

A little further on up the boulders is the best location on Bartle Frere for viewing.  There are great views to the East and all of the southerly directions and then southwest and west to the Atherton Tablelands.

A field of boulders (boulder field) wraps around just below the main peak of the mountain.

The final ascent to the mountaintop is in the highest cloud forest.

Here the trail winds through the denser though smaller hardier and highest trees along a rocky narrower trail. 

There’s more viewing points just below the summit.

And on the highest boulders, you may encounter the high altitude only (at 900m or higher elevation) cool lizard. The Bartle Frere Cool-skink (Techmarscincus jigurru) is found only in and around the summit. At least that’s what I think this lizard is.

The canefields down on the coastal plains are well in sight,

but also apparent is the remoteness of this mountain wilderness.

It is a privilege to set foot on the summit of Mt Bartle Frere. At 1610m, this is the highest mountain in Queensland.

There is a survey mark installed in a boulder there on the summit of Bartle Frere by the Queensland government Department of Transport and Main Roads.

I tarried for a while in the aerie fresh air, up there on Mt Bartle Frere.

Really, I could have stayed all week away from sin, just taking the sights in.

But all things must pass, and the day will soon end.

So I made my way back, down around the bend.

Some boulders have grooves or striations or even serrations.

Now there’s survey marks and rock marks and Cleopatras & Marks. And you may believe in Marx, or the gospels including Mark's, but the kilometre marks here are waymarks only. Many of these are more a location post rather than an indicator of true distance from the trailhead.

Back on the coast, there was this sign I seen one time. I must have driven past it a hundred times…

It's a common sight on the Bruce Highway. Had I actually read the sign, I might have saved myself the trouble of having to climb Mount Bartle Frere to find out that it is the highest mountain in Queensland.

Bartle Frere from Mungalli.

Mount Bartle Frere is part of the Bellenden Ker Range. These jungle clad mountains and cloud forests have their own weather system and cooler climate. The summit and surrounding ranges are typically 10 degrees cooler than the coast. With an average of 8000mm, Bartle Frere mountain gets the most rain in Australia and is one of the most rainfall intense areas in the world. The Bellender Ker range is the watershed for the adjacent towns in the Cairns and Cassowary Coast regions. It feeds three rivers and numerous creeks.

Back on the plane, I saw this mountain I stood on one time, I might have even sat on it twice. And yes, back in the air, there was this flight I took one time, I might have taken it twice (return flight I think). Anyway, I was gazing out the plane window, to the mountain Bartle Frere. Flying away I could see it for about 15 minutes, or 50km as the Woonooroonan crow flies. Yes even in the tropics in the north of Queensland, time flies like an arrow, and fruit flies like a banana.