Mount Samson Queensland, Australia
By
Geocaching Australia on 02-Jul-23. Waypoint TP13603
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | TrigPoint |
| Container: | Other |
| Coordinates: | S27° 18.150' E152° 48.072' (WGS 84) |
| 56J 480329E 6980043N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 681 m |
| Local Government Area: | Moreton Bay |
/152.8012,-27.3025,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
This is a TrigPoint Cache. There are no physical geocache containers with logbooks or swap items relating to this cache here. To log a find on the Geocaching Australia website, you will need to include a picture of the TrigPoint, along with your GPS receiver or your geocaching name on something or yourself.
Mount Samson
Initial installation for the Trigonometrical survey of SE Queensland, 1893. See MAP.
Cairn, post and discs.
A new installation in 1944: Wooden quad with discs. Ground mark 3/4" hole in rock. Height to centre of vanes 17.6'
Current status: Wooden quad structure is gone but you can see where it once stood. Partial cairn with post sits next to where the wooden quad sat. No vanes.
——-
Trig points are generally located at the top of hills or points of prominence in the landscape. Many provide unique views and challenges, with some being difficult to get to.
These points were regarded as valuable to surveyors, providing reference points for measuring distance and direction, and assisting in the creation of maps.
You are encouraged to leave a description of your journey in your log to help others in finding the trig point.
Please respect local laws and regulations when searching for trig points. If you believe that a trig point is located on private property or in a dangerous location, you may archive the cache, by clicking on Log this Cache and place an "Archived" log on the Geocaching Australia website.
If you feel that you can add to the description of this trig point or adjust the difficulty / terrain ratings, please feel free to edit this cache and amend the information suitably. Vandalism of the cache description or other information will result in your account being terminated.
——-
Access: Muliple options. The tradtional route up is no longer a legal option. We got to the summit via the Mount D'Aguilar trig which means the entire route is inside National Park. Here is a rough route I suggest looking at..
Navigation and map reading skills essential. If you can't 'read' the map image then in my opinion you should not attempt this one. Research required. ~15km return, allow 10 hours - don't underestimate the volume of wait-a-while vines.
Hints
Xabj lbhe yvzvgf. |
|
Decode |
Logs
The information in the cache description came from survey notes.
[click image to enlarge]
Title
Trig station at the summit of Mount Samson, ca. 1937
Description
The original marker was said to have been built by Henry Gold about 1868 during the period when the surrounding district was being opened up for closer settlement. This was refined to become a more substantial trig station during the early 1890s. The quad beacon shown in this photograph was added by Australian Army surveyors during the 1930s.
I mentioned I was going to try to access the Mount Samson summit from the Mount D'Aguilar summit and due to the long period of dry weather we have been in, next Sunday was the day. He said he was keen to join the expedition so plans were made!
We met at dawn, 6:30am at the parking coordinates and were away by 6:45. An easy walk to the Mount D'Aguilar trig, arriving 7:30. There was better lighting on this trig today so images taken.
Old trig remains from around 1890
During the week I had analysed topo maps and set some rough waypoints. We decided to continue south along a spur then turn east for a few kms, up and over a large knoll. Vines and wait-a-while plants made walking slower than desired. We then went NE to avoid a deep gully. We decided to try to access the summit from the northern side so we headed to another large knoll. Have I mentioned wait-a-while plants OMFG! Unfortunately we arrived at a ridiculous wall of lantana. Oh well, we are less than 2km to the summit, let's do this!! 45 minutes later we had bashed and cut our way through 330m metres of this south american bitch that shouldn't be here! Once past the wall it was a pleasant walk to the summit through ferns, banksia, and 'nice' flora. We arrived at the trig location and summit at midday and it was time for a well deserved break! A cairn with a post sits beside where the later quad structure from the 1940s sat. You can see where the quad structure was positioned. It would have been a grand site standing over 5m! We didn't rest for long due to the fact that Queensland has very short days in this time of year so it was a quick rest/lunch/drink then time to head west. We wanted to try avoid the lantana so towards the bottom of the first spur we talked about heading south. It turns out someone else had been here and put reflector squares on a bunch of trees heading towards a southern knoll. This proved to be a good route and we followed it for a while but left this route and headed NW around the deep gully we previous avoided. This route avoided the big lantana wall but it didn't avoid the copious amounts of wait-a-while vine, we were both getting very tired of this awful plant. We decided to take a different route back to the summit of Mount D'Aguilar. Beardman75 had a bushwalking club's route loaded on his GPS. It was a trek up and over the Mount D'Aguiler summit then semi-circled around it. We joined this route once past the gully and wandered down a dry creek bed and gorge. This was one of the nicer parts of the hike. As we got closer to the Mount D'Aguilar summit there were small patches of lantana but they were easy to get through. The wait-a-while was not easy. Also, we encountered ferns with barbs.. WTF EVOLUTION, WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN! It was so nice to reach a track! The last hour was an easy stroll back to our starting point. No vines. No wait-a-while. Completed 5:15pm
This was a tough and mostly unpleasant hike but I wanted to see if it was possible. It's the toughest trig hike I've done (so far). I have some multiday trig adventures on my list that may be more challenging. Time will tell.
