Murray. Remember throwing an empty bottle of pesto at a rat? Thumb Saddle. Will never forget the noise. Yr the man mate. My knees are ruined - but enjoy seeing you still at it! David
Thanks for sharing your trip with us Murray. A lot of Hinchenbrook island is not accessible to many and seeing your clip gives us an insight into a wonderful work of nature.
Yes. There is a single, small tent site in the North saddle. You could probably fit one, three person tent. Hammocks may allow you to sleep some people. The tent site can be seen at the 2 minute 33 second mark of this youtube clip. The man in the red shirt is standing in the middle of the tent site.
Yes. But it is a long day. And if you take a wrong creek branch you can lose a lot time. Do not attempt in wet, slippery conditions. The rocks are extremely slippery when wet. Dangerous.
You do not need abseiling equipment to get to the Thumb. However, one of the descent routes (South East Ridge) from the Thumb saddle requires an abseil. The other routes (mainly creeks) are difficult/dangerous in wet or hot weather. Very slippery granite rock slabs.
Hi Diamond Dave. I would appreciate any more photos that you have from the 1995 trip? I think I have handful of the photos. Not sure if you took any more. I don't recall having any navigation problems to that saddle in 1995. However, on a trip on a few years ago, we were all over the shop, taking several wrong creek branches. And we had two GPS on the later trip. I had to be hauled up a rope when we came to a dead end in the creek.
Hi. Yes. Here are my tips: 1. Try doing the hike in the cooler months if possible. 2. The ridge I chose was extremely easy direction wise but had some incredibly loose granite boulders/slabs in loose soil. It thought it would be quite easy for a granite slab to fall back onto a hiker. I would probably go up a creek next time and only access the ridge towards the top. 3. Carry loads of water. 4. There is a nice large saddle about 15 minutes from the summit. It had a lovely breeze when I was there but that might depend on wind direction. 5. Get National parks approval/permit just in case they are doing a burn off. 6 The other Mount Bertha youtube clip I did has some good photos which provides more detail. Good luck.
