Addressing my fears on Mt Edith Road — David Taylor - Master Jeweller

22nd February 2026

Danbulla Road weaves it’s way around the back of Lake Tinaroo. It is a well maintained gravel road that is easy and fun to ride even in the wet.

There is a road that turns off Danbulla Road and heads out to Mt Edith and then back out onto Danbulla Road at Kauri Creek. I think the total journey is about 35 kilometres. This road was closed for a long time after Cyclone Jasper and has recently been reopened. In the wet season it can be extremely slippery.

I intended to ride this road to address my fears of slippery red clay and wet rainforest foliage covered tracks. With all the rain we have been having I knew it would still be wet.

Slippery wet season roads is something I need to learn to deal with better so I decided to hit it head on rather than fearing it. I just never intended to hit it so hard that day.

For the first half of the ride I had sunshine. Most of the road was still very slippery but in spots where the sun had cut through the rainforest canopy and dried the track it was easier to ride. I still needed to concentrate as one minute there would be grip and the next very little.

Time to sit and have a read and think about what was to come that day.

During a break near the Mt Edith lookout I sat and read my book for a while whilst enjoying the stunning views down into the valley below. Off in the distance there was a sign that things were about to get very slippery on Mt Edith Road.

Off in the distance I could see rain clouds heading my way and shortly after that the thunder started. I quickly packed up and got on the bike again to do the last third of the journey into Kauri Creek. Or so I thought.

A couple of kilometres down the track a large fallen tree was blocking the track and I had to backtrack all the way out in heavy rain! Oh the joy.

Taking a Milo break once I made it back to Danbulla Road.

By the time I made it back to Danbulla Road it was bucketing down so I headed to the day picnic area at the Chimneys to take a break and enjoy a Milo before heading home down Gilles Range….in the rain on the black top on offroad tyres. Oh the joy!

The road into Gillies Lookout back in 2020.

On the way back out to Gillies Range I noticed that the track into Gillies Lookout has been reopened. For well over a year now it has had a closed sign on it.

Back in the day I would park the Swift at the trail head and walk in as the road was too rough for the rally car :) Now with the motorbike I should be able to ride all the way in.

From Gillies Lookout there are stunning views into Wooroonooran National park and down into Goldsborough Valley. I think the next test of wet weather riding on Himi will be into Gillies Lookout :)

An early morning view of Goldsborough Valley from Gillies Lookout, March 2020.

I was quite surprised to survive the day without dropping the bike once. The closest I came to a fall was when I road into a deep long rut hidden in grass on the track. Time to touch some wood!