2012 Training Creeks

I was just having a look through my racing and training photo albums for an image to use in promotion of an upcoming Rogue Adventure race, when I came to the realisation that a lot of the bigger training missions we do in South East QLD are based around creeks.  This is probably because of a combination of the warmer weather (particularly over summer) and the fact that if you want to get off trail in SEQ, then unless you are on a grazing cattle property, you’ll probably need to find a nice open creek line as the vegetation is otherwise too thick for off-track travel.

So, below are a collection of photos from some of our training missions over 2012 and their respective creek lines!

Cedar Creek

With Craig, Glenn, Deb and Mike.  An awesome little swimming hole usually over run with bogans due to it’s accessibility by car, we hit Cedar Creek early enough to have it to ourselves.  Climbing up the creek line will get you away from the crowds, we went in search for a waterfall on a side creek we’d heard about.  We eventually found a waterfall – we’re just not sure if it was the right one!  Tied in with return ride through Bunyaville, this makes a great training day out.

Cedar Creek – Liam and Craig

Cedar Creek tributary – Deb.

Natural slide downstream from waterhole – Liam.

The ride out from Cedar Creek.

Kobble Creek

With Craig and Glenn.  Another training favourite.  Kobble Creek is located off the back of Tenison Woods Mountain behind Mt Glorious.  Access to the creek line involves a fire trail run in, descending past a set of falls before a scramble down the creek itself.  The training miles are earned with a solid climb back out to the trail head.  Normally this is a pretty dry creek line, but it was a wet summer last year and Kobble Falls were in full flow making for some slow, but exciting travel.  A good reminder to always carry a headlamp!

Below Kobble Creek Falls in full flood – Liam and Craig.

Scrambling out of Kobble Creek – Glenn and Craig.

Obi Obi Creek

With Trev, Dan and Luke.  The Sunshine Coast Hinterland has some great areas to explore which I’m only just scratching the surface of.  On this training day we took in a run on a section of the SCHGW trail including a scramble/swim down Obi Obi Creek, which was flowing nicely.  The day was topped off with a MTB ride in the Mapelton region.

Obi Obi Creek with Liam, Dan and Luke.

Squeezing through Obi Obi Gorge with Dan and Trev.

Cabbage Tree Creek

With Leo, Bec, Ray, Mike and Trev.  Done as a training day for Godzone, Trev had heard rumours about this creek line for a number of years before giving it a try.  With a couple of steep pitches, the trip was best done with ropes.  Located only at the back of Mt Nebo hidden amongst the trails we regularly ride, this creek line was a gem of a find, and tied in with a MTB ride on South Boundary Road, makes an excellent day trip training session from the front door.

Mike abseiling Cabbage Tree Creek, with Trev looking on.

Bec and Liam cooling off in Cabbage Tree Creek.

Leo taking the plunge.

Enogerra Creek

With Craig.  Enogerra Creek runs into the back of Enogerra Reservoir and is probably the most accessible creek line to practice scrambling skills in near Brisbane given its close proximity to so many trail heads.  Normally you can get through with just a wet pair of shoes, however with the heavy rain over the 2011/2012 summer, Craig and I added a bit of extra adventure to the trip on Australia Day.

Even getting to the creek involved some flooded trails with Craig.

Liam on the descent down to Enogerra Creek.

Craig floating Enogerra Creek.

Northbrook Creek

With Sally, Steph and James.  One of my favourite training missions is the hike through Northbrook Gorge out the back of Mt Glorious.  It can be tied into a full solid day with a MTB ride out to Mt Nebo and on to Miala, where you dump the bikes and run/trek the single track through Miala before heading off track over Eagle Peak and down into Northbrook Creek.  The gorge itself involves a swim and the hike back out makes for solid training.  On this particular trip, we did the hike one way so that I could collect the car after running the 22km Mt Glorious trail race that morning.

James on Eagle Peak

James in upper Northbrook Creek.

Liam and Sally in Northbrook Gorge.

Sally descending Northbrook Gorge.

Patching up Steph, a victim of the scramble into Northbrook Creek.

South Pine Creek

With Craig, Todd, Tim, Mike, Glen, Trev and Glenn.  Our foray into paddling and river boarding down the upper section of the South Pine River during heavy flow has already been well documented by Craig in his report here.  This is a trip that can only be paddled in high flows, which only occur once or twice a year if you are lucky.  However, if you head further upstream on the South Pine, it makes for an excellent rock-hopping scramble that is easily accessible from Mt Glorious Rd – I’ve yet to explore the full length of this creek line to its limits.

A quieter spot on the river to practice rolling.

South Pine River whitewater paddling.

Mike loaded up in Trev’s van with the kit on day 2.

Setting off. You can see Glenn losing it in the first rapid in the background.

Craig floating the South Pine River.

Mike river boarding.

Little Nerang Creek

With Ray, Leo, Bec, Brett, Gary and friend.  As part of our 2013 Godzone training, Bec and I joined the Gold Coast crew for a training day out on the back of Little Nerang Dam.  This involved some characteristic Brett lantana bashing, followed by a swim across the dam and a scramble up Little Nerang Creek.  In a recurring theme, the heavens opened up and the creek flooded, making for slow progress and some scary crossings.  A shortened hike out including a climb of one of the local peaks saw us back to the cars in time to find out we had been flooded in.  A long detour around and some quick tree felling work by the local SES saw us on our way home eventually.

Liam and Leo scoping out the next creek crossing.

Little Nerang Creek in flood.

So as the winter solstice approaches and the mornings get darker and colder, we can at least sit back and remember the summer good times.  A full collection of 2012 training photos can be found here.  Which reminds me, I need to buy a new waterproof / shockproof camera to replace the one broken at the adventuregaine, and (judging by the photos above) I apparently need to work out a good way to keep water off the lens.