Little Crystal Creek.
Little Crystal Creek hike, Dec 1976: a full day of rock-hopping, swimming in deep pools, jumping from boulders, and spotting orchids along the Mt Spec rainforest creek. A classic North Queensland bushwalk with waterfalls, slides, and refreshing swims in crystal-clear waterholes.
Sunday 12th December, 1976.
Participants: Deb Edwards, Ruth Heinsohn, Sue Baker, Les Hyland, Ian Godfrey, John Simpson, Mark Richardson, Daryl Wright, Morrie Damon, Roy Williams, John Riley, Jan Forsyth.
Access: Mt. Spec Road - Park At Little Crystal Creek Picnic Area.
Map:
Left Townsville 6.30am & arrived at the Little Crystal Creek picnic area where we parked. At approximately 7.45 we headed down the steps beside the bridge & began walking downstream. Here, as with most of the length of creek which we covered, it's mostly a matter of rock-hopping or picking your way round or over the large boulders. It's also a good idea to keep an eye out for green ants as these were plentiful. So were March flies.
The creek was still flowing, though fairly low & rather slimy in the shallower pools, as this was the end of the Dry Season. There are some parts at this top end where you need to walk round impassable parts of the creek bed, & on the whole the left-hand bank is the easier one.
About 9am we stopped at a narrow, inviting pool, & most of us quickly disrobed to our costumes & plunged in. It was fairly cold! Someone soon had a fire going & billies merrily boiling. After tea or coffee & the sharing of mangoes, bananas, dried peaches, etc, we moved on, 9.45 am.
Looking around us as we went, those of us interested could see plenty of beautiful orchids, with some in flower. And occasionally one caught a whiff of delicate scent from some flowering native plant.
Such is the magnetism of water that soon we had once more stopped, 10.35 am. This also allowed everyone to catch up & have a breather after our big scramble. Here there was an overhanging rock off which we jumped into the pool, which was pretty deep. Under the overhang it was shallow & we could sit there & watch the jumpers plummet down! Great fun!
11.10 am saw us once more on our way. At approximately midday we found a series of rounded pools which should have good small slides operating between them after the Wet Season. One has a small fall which can be operated like a shower. Naturally we stopped, but not long after there were shouts announcing a better lunch spot & pool a little further down.
It was indeed! Long, narrow, deep at one end, with good walls to jump off, & shallow at the other end, with a sandy bottom in parts. At this end also there was some shade where we relaxed to eat lunch after a good swim.
This was the furthest point downstream that we reached. Previously the road had roughly followed the curves of the creek, although higher up, but here it had begun to swing away & there was less noise from the occasional cars. Here the creek has much larger boulders & much less shade.
Finally we gathered ourselves together, & started on the trip back at about 1.50 pm. It was fairly hot but we made good time & had reached the morning tea camp by 3.30 pm. Not long after, we stopped at what many felt was the best pool - very deep, & 2 members of the group were jumping in from fairly high up.
We left at 4.15 & were back at the cars in 20 minutes, heading for Townsville at 5pm, & arriving at 6pm.
An excellent walk, & would be even more so after the Wet. It would be interesting to walk right down, too.
Abbie M. Edwards.
