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Jean and I started off from the half-full parking lot an hour before noon. We passed
several short spur trails which head through the trees to lookouts above the
Mossman River. We stopped at one before continuing up the main trail. There were
a few people playing on the rocks in or near the water. There would be many more later.
We continued hiking through a dark, dense rain forest. The trail was also dense
with people. We crossed a swinging bridge over a river and soon after came upon
a lookout of one of the highest mountains in the area (the name of which escapes
me). Shortly after that we came upon our first trail intersection. We came to a
T intersection; it didn't quite matter which way we went, since it was a big
2 kilometer circuit. We chose the path to the right.
Start of the loop trail
Jean was doing this entire hike in her Teva's, but it was no problem as it was mostly
level, easy walking. We passed large fig trees with buttress roots. Jean then
spotted a wild pig running across the trail in front of us. We tried to get a
closer look, but it gradually moved further and further away from the trail.
Perhaps it was looking for truffles.
Fig Tree
We took a short side trip to Ruwumbu Creek. We had a small little area by
the creek to ourselves. We sat on a large rock as we watched 6 or 7 small
fish swimming around in the silent waters of the creek. As we got up to
leave, two other hikers came to replace us. Perfect timing.
Enjoying a break at Ruwumbu Creek
Rejoining the circuit walk, we came upon a larger creek, about 30 feet across.
Rocks were strewn in its path and it snaked its way this way and that to get
around and over. It looked like the perfect lunch spot, so we rock-hopped
across and upstream to find a good spot. We passed a couple other people on
our way.
We spent over an hour by the creek. We actually spent some of that time standing
in the water, enjoying some of the small little natural whirlpools. The water
was cold at first, but easy to get used to. The sun started to disappear behind
the clouds as we ate lunch and watched fish roaming around underneath us.
Whenever we dropped a crumb into the water, the fish would dart right it, using
some acute sense to zero in on the splash. It wasn't food they were reacting
to, because they reacted the same way if we threw rocks in.
Fish in the creek at our lunch stop
We passed wait-a-whiles, getting our clothes stuck only briefly. We quickly finished
the circuit walk and went back across the swinging bridge. We walked along the
shore of the Mossman River trying to find a good rock to rest on, but couldn't
find anything sufficiently flat. All the good rocks were taken -- there were dozens
of people sunbathing or swimming in the area.
Mossman River
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