Current water situation in hinterland Sunshine Coast

[gbagua]

Is there anyone familiar with the level of water in the following creeks:

-Booloumba Ck
-Yabba Falls
-Baiyambora Gorge

-Can't climb because it's too hot and dry. Been holding off Ruby of India at Maroon for nearly a month either due to fire bans or a threatening storm. First attempt mid-Oct. we had to run back to our cars due to an incoming storm after doing the first pitch, now is one bushfire threat after the other. It's a like a freaking bad joke!
-Can't hike in Barney because of fires.

Cheers

[Moocattle]

I was up in the South Conondales for surveys this past week. The Major creeks I visited had a bit of flow, although very low (Kilkoy, Booloumba), there was enough for there to be some semblance of waterfalls. So, unless there are good springs up high, the creeks are all dry. Creeks that are usually flowing over the causeway, like at Sandy, were just little puddles. I imagine Yabba would still be flowing pretty well, though I didn't get to the North section.

[Aardvark]

A little off the subject in so far as location. Sunshine coast that is.
I just got back from Running Ck in the SW corner of Lamington NP. A regular haunt of mine, particularly back in the eighties and nineties when i went more than half a dozen times every summer. Water may be down some but still a magic day today with lots of sun at the falls and some great dips to cool off.
It's easy to be put off by all the talk of fires of late but some risk has always existed. It's only the second all day walk we've done in recent weeks because of the fire drama going on. Apart from all the smoke haze around in the distance and the vegetation being dryer than most times, it was much like any other time. Quicker and more direct travel on the creek with the water level lower. Probably saved half an hour each way.

[gbagua]

I imagine Yabba would still be flowing pretty well, though I didn't get to the North section.

Hmmm. I’ll think about it. Is a fair drive & walk to get there; wouldn’t like to see it nearly dry. Not fun.

This is the Severn river (photo taken on April this year) in Sundown’s Broadwater section:



The Permanent Waterhole had 3m of water at the end of Dec. 2018. It was completely dry in our April’s trip. Probably an unprecedented event.

The Australian big picture does not look good:

http://theconversation.com/the-darling- ... ght-109880

Running Ck in the SW corner of Lamington NP. A regular haunt of mine, particularly back in the eighties and nineties when i went more than half a dozen times every summer. Water may be down some but still a magic day today with lots of sun at the falls and some great dips to cool off.

Going to get started again, so the Running Ck Falls added to my list of upcoming hikes. I’ll also include the following:

-Coomera Gorge. A repeater. Did it last year and it had plenty of water in it. Challenging rock hopping. It was fun but slippery.

-Black Canyon. Never done it before.

What would be the current water level in these two?

Cheers.

[dalehikes]

Going to get started again, so the Running Ck Falls added to my list of upcoming hikes. I’ll also include the following:

-Coomera Gorge. A repeater. Did it last year and it had plenty of water in it. Challenging rock hopping. It was fun but slippery.

-Black Canyon. Never done it before.

What would be the current water level in these two?

Running Creek is still running but well below average. Rock hopping is quick.

Coomera Gorge: Just beware that mystery has been cracked down on by the rangers. Fixed rope chopped, camera trap fixed, restricted access sign erected, notice sent to all bushwalking groups to cease organising hikes down it. Rock hopping from gwongoorool would be quicker than normal flow times, however the large amount of tree falls remained a big time waster as of autumn this year, I'd still allow for 5 hours in the creek each way to be on the safe side.

Black Canyon: I went in 2 weeks ago: Rocks are bone dry, creek is low. Easy going for this usually harder section of creek. We practically sprinted across the top of the boulders. The steep route down is very dry and lots of dry leaf debris makes it slightly more treacherous than normal.

[gbagua]

Thanks for the update.

Now, rangers got nothing better to do than hassling people. They should stick to their job.

What is next? Are they going to start banning rock climbing too??

The Mystery Track is a walk in the park!

How much water was running in Coomera Gorge? Enough I hope.

Planning to do Back Ck too. Rappelling a dry gorge is OK but having some water in the pools is more fun

[dalehikes]

Thanks for the update.

Now, rangers got nothing better to do than hassling people. They should stick to their job.

What is next? Are they going to start banning rock climbing too??

The Mystery Track is a walk in the park!

How much water was running in Coomera Gorge? Enough I hope.

Planning to do Back Ck too. Rappelling a dry gorge is OK but having some water in the pools is more fun

Part of a rangers job is to protect and uphold the integrity of the parks conservation/natural values.
The trail was observed to be sustaining very quickly deteriorating erosion patterns, as well as a growing social media driven attraction that was drawing inexperienced and naive walkers that, in effect, was causing long and tricky rescues.

Rock Climbing is already banned in sections of the park, and for good reason. (Whitinbah is a good example of vegetation destruction) Not only is it mostly poor quality rock, Lamington has an Australian and worldwide renown for its incredible diversity of trees, birds, reptiles and mammals. It's a special place where we should not push our luck where conservation efforts should be most important, even if it means keeping humans out. Eg: a certain ridge banned from walking due to being inhabited by a critically endangered bird. There are plenty more adequate rock faces for climbing in the region outside of Lamington.

Coomera gorge would be like everywhere, low volume run. This would eliminate many of the good values of doing Coomera gorge, like the numerous tributaries dropping in over the edges high above, and yarrabilgong is certainly dried up.

Also, access is likely not before April now as the road works are going to take a lot longer yet...

[gbagua]

No I was referring to other areas outside Lamington. Certainly not a climbing crag

No idea the track was so popular. I understand what you mean and fully agree.

So there is no access to the gorge due to roadworks? Is this correct?

Ta.

[dalehikes]

So there is no access to the gorge due to roadworks? Is this correct?

Ta.

Correct. Main Roads have indicated that work cant be satisfactorily completed until after the wet season.

The steep slopes above and below the road are now severely depleted of shallow and deep vegetation, tree root systems have been burnt out and rockfalls are happening daily.
They need a big rainfall to occur to assess how the slope will act when it is water logged. Until then safety is completely unknown.
This means Binna Burra too, is closed until then… devastating!

The other option, that being the Illinbah cedar road entrance, was devastated by the fire and will be closed for some time. Not only that, the walk in from there is prohibitively too far.

As for Back creek… water levels are super low and dirty. Yuck!

[gbagua]

Thanks again...you saved me from a big headache + wasted driving. Not keen either of jumping into a stale gorge. Let’s hope rains will arrive soon.