As part of my preparing for an upcoming expedition, I did a walk in the mountains.
Fruit Flower Mountain gets its name from the flowers and fruits that abound in the fruiting season.
At over 4600 feet, it is covered by hill forest and with cloud forest on the upper slopes and ridges. As the name suggests cloud forest is evergreen tropical montane forest which is often covered in cloud. It is cool and can be chillingly cold when you sweat as you will on the steep slopes
Sometimes there is no real rain when rain clouds are lower than the mountains and the forest get its water through mist drip when cloud condenses on the leaves and branches.
The high moisture results in lots of epiphytes and trees are covered in ferns and mosses.
It has the appearance of an enchanted forest with mossy nooks rocks and trees at bizarre angles often right at the edges of a precipice all designed to baffle you.
In this case it leads to a drop
This one I call Stairway to Heaven as the path seems to lead to the sky.
This is the true path
Some of the rock and tree landscapes remind me of pastoralist paintings and I expect to see a Grecian shepherd leaning on a rock or nude woodland nymphs running about in a glade (see how you can lose your mind in the forest!)
This looks to me like the knee and leg of a walking tree
While it is fascinating it is not that easily accessible and a stiff walk is needed along trials that in places resemble the toughest parts of the Kokoda trail.
The paths are crisscrossed with roots to trip the unwary and vines dangle to snare you. A moments carelessness and the enchanted forest becomes menacing.
The video does not show it properly but I walked off trail onto a mat of vegetation overhanging a drop. It was quite strong and able to hold my weight but sometimes stick or boot can go right through and cause a dangerous fall.
I certainly would not like to be lost here or remain in the dark without the right kit
Fruit Flower Mountain gets its name from the flowers and fruits that abound in the fruiting season.
At over 4600 feet, it is covered by hill forest and with cloud forest on the upper slopes and ridges. As the name suggests cloud forest is evergreen tropical montane forest which is often covered in cloud. It is cool and can be chillingly cold when you sweat as you will on the steep slopes
Sometimes there is no real rain when rain clouds are lower than the mountains and the forest get its water through mist drip when cloud condenses on the leaves and branches.
The high moisture results in lots of epiphytes and trees are covered in ferns and mosses.
It has the appearance of an enchanted forest with mossy nooks rocks and trees at bizarre angles often right at the edges of a precipice all designed to baffle you.
In this case it leads to a drop
This one I call Stairway to Heaven as the path seems to lead to the sky.
This is the true path
Some of the rock and tree landscapes remind me of pastoralist paintings and I expect to see a Grecian shepherd leaning on a rock or nude woodland nymphs running about in a glade (see how you can lose your mind in the forest!)
This looks to me like the knee and leg of a walking tree
While it is fascinating it is not that easily accessible and a stiff walk is needed along trials that in places resemble the toughest parts of the Kokoda trail.
The paths are crisscrossed with roots to trip the unwary and vines dangle to snare you. A moments carelessness and the enchanted forest becomes menacing.
The video does not show it properly but I walked off trail onto a mat of vegetation overhanging a drop. It was quite strong and able to hold my weight but sometimes stick or boot can go right through and cause a dangerous fall.
I certainly would not like to be lost here or remain in the dark without the right kit
