Brisbane Ranges Anakie Gorge to Steiglitz

Brisbane Ranges Anakie Gorge to Steiglitz

This was another group hike and we started without really knowing what to expect from this hike but for the sake of being close to nature and to get away from the busy lives. As usual, we had bit of trouble finding the exact meeting point as these remote places are never easy to locate on Google map, let along GPS. Nevertheless, we manged to meet the group on time near the Old court house at Steiglitz.

The drive was very pretty with farmlands and endless plains, but overall it looked like the place hadn't seen much rain lately. So we expected this walk of 17 Km would be tiring in the sun and made sure we carried a lot of water.

We started on a narrow walking track in a long line. Met a few lizards, on the way and I guess we freaked them out more than they us. Someone identified them as blue tongue lizards but well, it wasn't easy spotting their tongue in such a sudden encounter. We strolled between bushes and trees and the scenery looked the same for the most part.

After about an hour or two, we reached the lower stony creek reservoir and the damn which was very massive.

 

 We had a sneak peek in to the whole in the damn which had a mechanism to control the gates. It looked pretty rustic and looked like abandoned. 

All were very eager to see whats on the other side of the damn and so we climbed easily on to the damn wall and entered through a broken fens. The scenery wasn't the best I've seen but of course it was pretty with the waters and the nice breeze. It was the perfect place for a morning snack.

We spent a considerable time there chit chatting and observing the beauty around before descending back on to our walking track. As we continue to walk, we could see the reservoir and the damn from a distance in a different angle. 

The further we walked, the more prettier the reservoir got.

The rest of the hike got a bit tiring as we had to walk uphill for a few hundred meters. It started to get very dry and the skin felt burning despite the cool breeze. 

Hills

  

After the climb we entered a flat terrain which was even more drier but it had flowers all over the place. There were small puddles here and there with little water.

 

After another hours walk, we reached the Old Mill camp ground, where we had planned to eat our lunch. The camp ground was for overnight hikers and it had toilets and water. We had lunch and rested a while before picking up our hike to complete the circuit.

The rest was all about climbing and hopping and cutting through bushes. It was a fun terrain, with lots of diverse tracks to follow.

After struggling through the dry bushes, we were graced by a lush greenery all of a sudden. It was lovely to see some fresh grass after a long hike in the dried out bushes.

And here we saw some tracks of abandoned mines but they looked like rabbit holes so were not very picturesque or prominent. The greenery was a sign we are reaching some place and before long we were in the border of a huge farm land. 

We walked passing a few more properties and were nearing the end. But not so fast, there was another steep slope to tackle before the finish line.

This was extremely steep that we could almost kiss the ground (not really) and it was good exercise to those lazy calves. Just as we reached the top, we could see the rear of Old court house,our starting point. 

a close by pond

court house

We had managed to complete the circuit before noon and it was time to thank the organizer and say good buys before parting to head home.