Training – Mt Barney

[Fluppy]

If you are located in the Brisbane, Ipswich/Boonah way, I highly recommend doing this mountain for your training.

Lots of hills, tree roots, boulders, climbing and scrambling – although can be quite harsh on the knees/ankles on the way down.

We walked/climbed/scrambled for around 6 hrs and still didn't make it to the top. Adviseable to leave around 5am/6am to complete the walk. Track is only marked twice (as far as we made it – nearly to 'the saddle'), so make sure you stick to the track.

A lot of people in Brisbane do their training on Mt. Cootha. This mountain (Mt Barney) makes Mt Cootha look like a miniture speed bump on a child's playset. So don't attempt it if you think Mt Cootha is 'difficult'

A bit of bush, a bit of rugged terrain, a bit of rainforest, a bit of walking on the edge of ridges (single file only), a bit of small pebbles the size of bricks and a bit of boulders the size of a giant marshmellows on steroids. A bit of everything really. A good walk.

Right shoulder is killing me and my calf muscles are going to explode out of the skin in my legs, but all is good and I have never appreciated a hot, hot shower before the way I did when we got home!

fluppy

[Brian]

Hi Folks

Mt Barney would certainly be a good training ground that is for sure but the terrain there is different to Kokoda.

I most certainly would not recommend it to anyone other than experienced bush walkers and even then to consider going alone would be most foolish.

Please heed the warnings of the National Parks if considering Mt Barney.

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/parks_and_forest…ional_park.html

Brian

[Fluppy]

I agree with Brian – do not attempt this mountain alone.

It was excellent training – best I've found yet given the area we live in, but it is pretty tough. Good solid boots are a necessity as is adequate water & food for the day and sunscreen is a must.

My walking pole was invaluable on the way down (although in some parts I spent quite a good deal of time sliding down on my bum!). My pole (spring loaded) was a great help on the way down as it helped to prevent the strain on my knees and lessoned the strain on my ankles.

Amazingly I am not sore at all today – which just goes to show that the past 18 months of training and bushwalking in preparation for Kokoda has really paid off. A self-massage on my shoulders in the car on the way home and stretches before we got back into the car to head home obviously helped as well.

We are hoping to do the other side of Mt Barney next weekend. Or we might just take it easy and do Mt. Coolum or something near coastal areas so we can stop in at the beach on the way home

Please seriously heed the warnings on the EPA website and the signs when you get there. Leave enough time to hike back as you do not want to be walking this AT ALL in the dark.

As another member has stated on another thread, if you need to do something or have a look around, stop and do so, but for God's sake don't do it while you are walking! I always had this memorable piece of advice in the back of my head, but as I found out quite quickly, the advice also just as quickly got moved to the front of my mind!!

Other than that, spectacular views and well worth all the effort. Happy Training

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