Insulator Creek and Fig Tree Falls - Trail Maintenance
Track maintenance meets rainforest exploration on this Townsville Bushwalking Club outing in Paluma Range National Park, featuring Wilfred's Proper, old relics, Fig Tree Falls, Insulator Creek, and the drop at Insulator Falls.
Date: 20th May 2021
Leader: Wilfred
Our Thursday maintenance day started on Wilfred's property and drove up the range on the 4WD track to the top of the road near the tower before setting off on foot from there. The aim for the day was part track maintenance, part exploration, and it turned into a classic Wilfred outing - a bit of hard yakka, a bit of history, and a bit of creek wandering through the rainforest.
We cleared and improved sections of track as we went, shifting boulders off the walking line and trimming back overgrown sections to keep access open. Along the way, we stopped at an old clearing and found a few relics, including a large rusty wrench, old bottles, and an intriguing old marker fixed to a tree. There was also a blaze cut into another trunk, a little reminder that these hills have been travelled, worked, and remembered by others long before us. That sort of thing always adds a layer of quiet fascination - the bush is never just bush.
With Wilfred keen to check out the creek, we cut our way down through the scrub into Insulator Creek. While much of the creek is fairly unremarkable, the better sections are certainly worth the effort, and it was a pleasure poking around this tucked-away corner of Paluma Range National Park. After exploring a little up the creek, we reached a pretty cool feature where water was flowing through a fig tree. So we decided to nickname this "Fig Tree Falls", framed by impressive rainforest and tangled roots, and also checked out the drop just downstream. The creek itself had its usual mix of boulders, trickling water, dense vegetation, and that slightly secretive feeling these range creeks often carry.
It was a satisfying day out, combining practical track work with a good dose of off-track exploration. A few more obstacles were now cleared, some history was uncovered, and we came away with muddy boots, scratched legs, and that pleasant feeling of having done something useful in the bush. A very Wilfred sort of Thursday.
- Luen
