Montserrat

25 September 2004

Thirteen of us gathered at Beaudesert to drive down to Rathdowney and then past the Mt May campsite. Luckily the road up to Cleared Ridge had been recently graded and we were able to drive up to the top of the ridge quite easily.

We set off along a dirt road and then turned off to follow a ridge to Montserrat Lookout. A wonderful display of King orchids awaited us. There were also magnificent views over to Mt Barney. Here we sat and had morning tea to admire the beauty surrounding us.

After our rest we followed Steve who knew of a quicker, more direct way to the Upper Portals. We descended a steep trail down to the creek and it was then a short scramble up and round a rocky outcrop to get to the Upper Portals.

While most of us had lunch, a couple of us braved the cold water in the Upper Portals and had a swim. One of our members had an accidental swim after slipping and managed to immerse his camera and mobile phone. Ouch!

It was then a slow walk back to the cars.

Thanks John for a great walk. Richard