Barney Monument Queensland, Australia
By Beardman75 on 05-Jun-22. Waypoint GC9VQB1

Last time I went up Barney, I definitely mentioned out loud that I would do it again. And evidently I would be held to that by mates within earshot. Another overnighter at Rum Jungle is being planned for nearly exactly three years later and I'm invited, expected to come and of course, reasonably keen. What I would come to learn is that my memory had wiped the effort it takes to get oneself and ones overnight bag up the ridge, and also how going a little slower can make a big difference in climb times.This time I was a bit more prepared though. And our smaller group of KBreeAhh who was there three years ago, along with oz_bean_counter who we did say back then we need to take up and MissSpondonicle who has climbed very few mountains and never overnighted before set off yesterday morning. We're not fools, so it was South Ridge up to Rum Jungle for us.Overall it took us 6.5 hours up. We didn't rush things and took the rocky obstacles slowly. We paused for breaks to snack, admire the view and let the sweat subside. I still don't fully comprehend why I'm doing this a third time! Arrving at the campsite, we chose not to push out for more exploring and enjoy the night, filter some water, and get some rest instead.Next morning, KBreeAhh and OBC wanted to get up to East Peak. I wanted to attempt Barney Source. So the three of us set off, but estimating the time to Barney Source, I instead rerouted us to this multicache only. I lead the charge up from the hut to the co-ordinates. Dodging the biggest boulders and picking our way through the bushes. A couple hundred metres later, I spotted the bright white tile and dropped down to snap a photo for the numbers. And sure is an unlikely but interesting curiosity here!With that done, back on the track, the other two headed up to East, and I returned to camp to get packed up. Late morning we commenced the walk down. As expected it burned the legs and knees and it was hotter than yesterday. 4.5 hours later, we were back at the cars. A change of clothes and a lot of cooling down happened before the drive to the nearest pub.Yeah, along the way, the final for this was found. I was the lucky duck with the longest legs sent for the little detour and after a last good view, made the find. I was surprised it had been found previously today. I signed the logbook right after at 15:52. It's been a long day and still a while from home. I am though, happy to have another smiley to mark another ascent of Barney. Thanks for this geocache, Beardman75

Hubby and I are spending the weekend in this area and we climbed Mt Barney yesterday - my 6th summit over 35 years. We chose the SE Ridge which we have done twice before - six years ago and 32 years ago. Being a forecast hot day, we left early at 5.30am and we were at the top at 9am - 3.5 hours - not bad for a couple of seniors. Heading down to Rum Jungle, I bushbashed across to the posted coordinates and found the plaque - an interesting and unusual find. I calculated gz but after a 9.5 hour day and being too tired, I decided to leave this one until today which also meant it was my 6000th find!It was an easy find at gz. Log signed and replaced as found. All good here. Tftc and a fp

Mount Barney, you have been conquered!No lie, Barney is a hard hard slog. And made even harder by doing it with an overnight pack. We grunted, and groaned, and huffed and puffed, and complained, and held back tears, and supported each other - and eventually, we all made it. Exhausted but proud we set up our tents, refilled our water supplies, and enjoyed nature.In the morning, it was time to conquer the East peak, with a few minor detours of course! Turns out there isn't a single track up there, it's more like "choose your own adventure", and so we did. It was rock hopping almost the whole way. There are places that I previously would have turned around if doing it solo, and I'm so glad I didn't.The trip down was hell, and blisters made it worse. Again, perfect support from friends gets you there in the end.Thanks for a great weekend, and for a great cache!

Mt Barney has been on my bucket list for a few years and I made the decision to conquer it this year. I just had to gather some willing participants to go with me, Peppa and Beardman75 stepped up to the plate and a plan was made.

We climbed Peasants ridge with overnight packs yesterday, setting up camp in Rum jungle. After a chilly night and a few furry visitors, we packed up camp and set off up East peak this morning.

The views on East peak are stunning and I didn’t really want to leave but there was still unfinished business to attend to. We descended via the earth cache and headed roughly along the creek to the monument. This monument is so interesting and random at the same time. Hats off to the CO for discovering it and making a cache out of it.

It was an awesome couple of days spent on this mountain and even better to do it in great company. Thanks for your efforts Beardman75

Find #1

Davinells had a plan… she really wanted to climb Barney… so I said “sure” without really knowing what it was I agreed to… Beardman75 was roped in to play bushmaster/guide/hostess/general all round good guy…

Leaving Yellow Pinch parking area yesterday at 8am it took us, with overnight packs about 4 hours to get to Rum Jungle via Peasants Ridge…

I freely admit to being well out of my comfort zone… but with great friends talking me through the sketchy bits with good humour and patience meant I was able to climb the 971m to Rum Jungle…

For only the second time in my life, I spent a night in a tent… This time it was cold enough that I had to acquire thermals (and definitely not as a last minute purchase) but I appreciated that all my bits were covered…

What a fascinating and somewhat unbelievable memorial literally in the middle of nowhere… I may have said somewhat inappropriately “WTF!”

This experience was beyond all my expectations, and even though we were all wrecked by the time we were off the mountain, I wouldn’t have changed a thing…

It was embarrassing though when the CO had to offer guidance at GZ… did I mention we were wrecked?

Thanks Beardman75

A truely memorable adventure with great friends…

Found with Muggle65, Ruzzelz, FlutterBeryl, and KungfuChickenPanda and Green Geckos.
After spending time setting up camp and attending an event at Rum Jungle a little time was set aside for some caching. That is some interesting info there. Can't believe I have probably walked right past it with out spotting it on previous visits.
Thanks Beardman75 for bringing me up here again.
TFTC

The Geen Geckos , Muggle65, Stairman1, FlutterBeryl, KungfuChickenPanda and l went caching attending an event just around the corner from the listed coordinates for this cache. After setting up camp at Rum Jungle we ventured along the creek in search of water and it appears assistance of Devine intervention.

After playing around with the numbers we managed to locate this cache the next day.

After a group ascent with Muggle65, Stairman1, Ruzzelz, FlutterBeryl, and KungfuChickenPanda, we set up our tents then went caching. We intended to do the Earthcache first but curiosity got the better of us and we went here first. Couldn't help but wonder how many visitors have actually seen it?? Well we definitely have. The top of the monument is definitely really strange. A change of mind? The stonemason quit? Anyhow, sums done and coords looked good. Thankyou for the experience Beardman. So glad you found this wee treasure. A fave point from me

Log as a group helped type of find...
Day 1 of epic hike.
Early start, grabbed a bite from the Aratula bakery.
Half day hike to Rum Jungle camp site later...

As KungfuChickenDingo and I set off up West Peak with Stairman1; Ruzzelz Green Geckos and Muggle 65 hiked to this multi.
They collected the information, and we spotted them on their way up from West Peak.
Certainly a very interesting unique event occurred here (at multi location).

We continue on to the peak, as the others faded to the right for the earth cache.

Nice new cache. Photo from nearby gz..

Rum Jungling at the event put on by FlutterBeryl. Between the climb and the event the crew went in search of caches and find them we did. We were amazed at the monument placed in such an isolated place amongst boulders, long grass and a variety of shrubs.
This waypoint not being on the main track mustn’t have seen many visitors over the years it’s been here.
Nice find Beardman75 & thanks for bringing us here.

This FTF was a pleasant bundle of serendipitous events.
I've had a hike planned to do Eagles Ridge on Barney for about 3 months.  I had a couple of friends booked in to do this walk and we were all set to go.
The week before, I met Captain Terror at an Ocean Crusaders event.  We were talking and he mentioned that there was a FTF on Barney.  I checked out the details and it would be a small diversion from our original planned route but possibly doable depending on how we were going.
My group of buddies dwindled down to two of us which was the necessary quorum.  I got up at sparrows fart 4AM to drive down to Barney.  Picked up my hiking buddy at Yellow Pinch to do the car shuffle across to Lower Portals.  Who should we meet in the Lower Portals car park?  Seffnjarah!
My immediate thought was that there was going to be a race for the FTF.  Seff assured me that the bromance team was there for some cache maintenance rather than some epic mountaineering scramble for an FTF prize.  Seff declined our offer to join us on our quest and we set off as we had a long day ahead of us.
The plan was to hike out to lower portals and take the Eagles Ridge up to East Peak and then down SE ridge or South Ridge if we were up to it.  David and I are fit and keen bushwalkers with a little bit of experience in rock climbing.  Boy did we meet our match on Eagles Ridge.  This route is relentless and is THE most challenging day walk I have EVER done.  The vertical exposure is extreme and should only be attempted by very fit, skilled and experienced bushwalkers / climbers.  Our total ascent for the day was 1700m over 17km and took us almost 12 hours to complete.  It was punishing.
We started at 06:30 which required a 04:00 wake up and drive down.  The walk out to lower portals was quick and after reaching Mount Barney Creek we left the comfort of a travelled path and began our ascent onto Eagles Ridge.  Initial progress was slow as there was a lot of regrowth/undergrowth after the fires a couple years ago.  Once we started getting higher on the ridge, the shrubs gave way to more granite boulders and outcrops.  Our first negotiation was Toms Tum.  My buddy Dave was braver than I, lead the climb up Tum South, I followed with the aid of the rope that he had secured in place.  
Our climb off Toms Tum and on to Isolated Peak was a persistent scramble down and then back up.  The weather was patchy with heavy clouds intermittently passing over.  The clouds would pass over, wet the grasses and the rocks which would make our footings slippery.  We had to continually monitor our dynamic risk assessment.  Luckily the clouds would pass over and the dew would dry out before we had to attempt any of the more challenging slabs.  We were not going to attempt any of the harder sections with moisture on the rock and we were ready to pull the pin if there wasn't a clear window in the weather.
From Isolated peak we tried to pick out the route up the Eagles slabs.  Sitting on Eagles it was unnerving seeing the Barney Massive spread out in front of us in all its glory.  We downed a snack and pushed on.  We were keen to give it a shot knowing that we could turn back if we needed to.  The first half of the Eagles slab was straight forward with some scrambling.  Getting up to the main slab was fine.  Upon reaching the main slab we realized after 6 or so hours that we had reached the crux of this route. 
We took a bit of time assessing the climb to find the best way up.  After a fair amount of routefinding, scrambling, reassessing, climbing and with the use of our rope we made it through the main section and with some relief onto the main ridge proper.
After reaching the main ridge, we knew the worst was behind us.  We had done North Ridge the previous year and we knew the route from North Peak up to East peak was some fairly straight forward scrambling through the rocks and shrubs.

We reached East Peak at about 14:30.  We were both feeling a bit low on energy and stopped for a lunch break.  We assessed how we were feeling and quickly checked the find status of the cache.  We agreed we were up to taking the longer South Ridge back to Yellow Pinch and pick up the Geocache on the way through.  We descended west off east peak and found the waypoint without difficulty.  I retrieved the necessary information and we stopped at Rum Jungle to calculate the final destination.  With the location of the final passing the smell test we set off down South Ridge back to Yellow Pinch. 
The descent down south ridge was hard as our knees were starting to complain a bit and our muscles ached from the endurance of the hike.  We finished the second half of South Ridge in the dark with our head torches.  Getting back onto the flat was such a relief for our legs and we picked up the pace back to the car park.  We arrived back at the car park a little before 18:30.  So happy to see the tail end of the hike and to be calling it a day.
We drove out to the location of the final and after a quick search had the cache in hand.  We finished our car shuffle and stopped at Beaudesert for a well earned pub dinner.
This was an epic day out and has reset my benchmark for the hardest day I've done on Barney.
Thanks Beardman75 for this cache.  I've done Barney many times and never seen this monument.

*FTF* by Mr EMC. Log to follow.

Published

The night before this adventure I camped at the base of Mt Barney with my current favourite bottle of heavily peated whisky. On sunset I could see a silhouette of the East Peak which I would be visiting the next day with some geo-buddies. It was a cold night and the whisky went well with the smell of nearby campfires. I was reading about the Earthcache we would be visiting and was very interested to see this area, and to of course hit the East Peak summit. Last year I visited the West Peak and the East has been on my list ever since and with a newly published Earthcache.. well, it became time

Morning showed up and it was all about starting with a great coffee. My new setup in the geo-van means a perfect coffee each time I make one. A quick light breakfast and it was time to meet my geo-buddies and start heading up this mountain. We hiked the up SE Ridge Track which I thoroughly enjoyed. My last venture up here I went up the South (Peasants) track which I found a little boring. Beardman75 bought a rope which proved advantageous more than once. The East peak summit was reached in about 4 hours. Lunch and a chat with some muggles before taking in the great cloudless views. The Traditional Cache was found and signed and I checked out the Trig marker before we all headed down towards the Earthcache GZ. It definitely wasn’t a straight line journey but we got got there eventually. Observations were noted during the descent and at GZ. An excellent Earthcache. It was decided to head back via Rum Jungle and the South Track. Part way to Rum Jungle we discovered an interesting treasure. BM75 decided this would be a worthy waypoint for a multi-cache. Myself and Davidwazza smiled and agreed.

We arrived at Run Jungle and had some snacks and a short rest. Then it was long descent down. A 9 hour hike all up and thoroughly rewarding with great company.
Thanks for the cache.

Today, a plan was arranged to hike up Mount Barney. I joined Beardman75 and wayn0 on the full expedition, while GurTheWanderer made the partial ascent. An early start to the day was made by driving the two hours, and then it was a full day of hiking on the mountain until returning back to the car as the light started to fade. I then returned home via Rathdowney in order to make a strategic dinner stop in Beaudesert. It was a cracker day with clear and spectacular views from Mount Barney's East Peak. I managed to squeeze in a few *BEAUTIFUL BEAUIE* Adventure Lab Locations before tiredness got the better of me.

In terms of the hike, it was a long day, departing Yellow Pinch at 08:00 hr, and returning back to our cars at 17:00 hr. We travelled a distance of 17.5 km over an elevation of 1223 m, so although it wasn't the longest hike that I've undertaken, it was the addition of the change in elevation that made it a tough day. Our route involved ascending via South East Ridge to East Peak, scrambling down to Barney Creek and then to Rum Jungle, and then following Peasants Ridge (South Ridge) down, crossing a causeway that flooded our ankles. I really enjoyed the adventure of South East Ridge, with a few required scrambles and slab sections, however caution was exercised with wet patches from previous rain that made it challenging. The scenery and views were fantastic, and this hike has got to be one of my favourite South-East Queensland hikes to date!

I remember being with the CO whilst following Barney Creek, and we both looked over wondering what on Earth was that, looking back at us? It just seemed so artificial given its surrounds. So Beardman75, wayn0 and I were very much surprised at this monument, and in particular what it was signifying! So I was quite glad when Beardman75 made a multi-cache out of its presence. Hopefully, others will appreciate the remoteness and unique nature of this plaque/story. Thanks Beardman75 for the cache placement and ongoing maintenance.

Note: Just adding the *Write note* until such time that the podium is filled.