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The Evil That Haunts The You Yangs Heights


Kingerz

13-Apr-2005
4:45:52 PM

Yesterday’s sunset was an amazing sight from the still sun warmed granite of Corio Ridge Tor, the fingertips sore from the twenty routes of the day. On the way out of the park, I had stayed back alone and wandered up to check out the routes on this lonely granite outpost in readiness for the next visit. There was no track and by the time I found the climbs, the sun was setting. Some strange effect had created a plume of rainbow-coloured light in the atmosphere above, and the unusually hot for autumn 30+ degree day was slipping away in a blaze of tragic glory. By some trick of the environment, or because of natural acoustics, I could not hear the distant roar of the Melbourne-Geelong road carrying thousands of commuters home in the fast-gathering dusk. There was almost no sound at all. Corio Bay took on the same sheen as the orange-rusty granite I sat upon as I watched. I knew that the 500 metre bush-bash down to the car would be unpleasant in the gloom, but such was the wonder of the view that could not bring myself to leave just yet.

That was a mistake. But I was happy, even with fingertips sore from the day’s crimping on razor sharp crystals. I was feeling pleased at having ticked some good routes like Question of Ethics and Slip Slop Slap (at last).

It was then that I became aware of that unsettling feeling of fear that has sometimes been rumoured to haunt the high places of the You Yangs at dusk…

‘It has never been easy being the You Yangs writes Bill Andrews in the VCC guide…and never a more accurate phrase. If the You Yangs did have a guardian spirit, it would have to be angry…The place is an environmental wreckage, its trees slowly being strangled by dense thickets of South African Boneseed weed, absorbing what little moisture the native trees get from the six-year drought. Feral goats roam at will. I used to see koalas, but one wonders what they would eat now. The atmosphere is one of a landscape suffering a long, slow, thirsty and drawn-out death. Most of the trees are dead or dying. The crags are fast becoming overgrown with weed and some are now truly inaccessible. At Corio Ridge, I felt as if I was the only climber to have seen the excellent starred routes below me in months. The easily accessed outcrops like Urinal and Royalty Wall are soon all that will be left.

The day would soon end in a nightmare of terror, but there was at first no sense of this as I watched the day fade from the pinnacle above Blood On The Tracks. It is true that I had heard the spooky stories. A few months ago I had been helped out by the RACV when I had locked myself out of my car. The mechanic told me then that one of the guys in his workshop – a pretty tough fellow in all other ways – had fled the You Yangs in fear one night after being called out there in the late 90s. He would not say what had happened, and he had ever since refused to take calls at dusk in the You Yangs, even though that placed his RACV contract at risk. And then too, there is the experience of Russ Crow as told in the 2001 VCC SW Victoria Guide: how he also ran from Gravel Pit Tor in fear:

“Russ Crow therefore felt particularly satisfied when, many years ago, he sat atop the tor. He had just spent several hours on the main routes using a hessian rope as a self-belay. He was climbing well and felt pleasantly tired. He lit up his one remaining cigarette and watched the slight wind stir up small dust whirlpools on the ground 20 metres below. It was now late evening and the setting sun cast long surrealistic shadows across the hillside. The evening sky was slowly turning steel blue and a slight chill began to grip the air.
As the last of the daylight slipped away, a full moon rose behind the tor and bathed the area in soft light. Russ stubbed his cigarette and decided to head for home. He coiled his rope, packed his sack and made his way towards the descent gully. Then, without warning he was overwhelmed by a sense of fear. His head began to spin. He looked up to the skyline, the profile of the tor was moving and swimming before his eyes, the whole earth was moving. He felt the blood drain from his head and his body shook uncontrollably. He staggered, his body drained of strength, lurched forward and he stumbled. Gripping the side wall he dragged himself towards open ground and the relative safety of his car.
After what seemed to be an age he reached the car, fumbled for his keys, sat inside and ran his fingers through his hair - it was bolt upright! Fear gave way to panic, he switched on the engine, found a gear and made for the open road. Only when he reached the main Geelong Road did he stop, get out, and was instantly sick.”

But these meant little to me…after all, the You Yangs are no sort of obvious spiritual outpost, about as far away from Ululru as it is possible to get. True, Aboriginals once frequented the area, and held parts of it sacred we are told…but this seems impossibly distant and remote now.

All I can say is this: the same sort of thing happened to me last night. There is no ‘ghost’ as such…but I believe that there exists in the You Yangs something that neither science nor even common sense can explain

Suddenly, a presence made itself known and I was inexplicably terrified: a more-than-horror-movie kind of fear that I had not known since childhood nightmares. What was it? I can’t explain…it is some sort of knot of malignant ill-will that stares at us with an active hatred of life and possesses an invisible but actual physicality. I sensed its sudden and very near presence, just as I imagine I would if I awoke at night and some stranger was in my house, even in my very room: without seeing them, you would somehow be sure that they were there. Whatever it is, when it happens there is a moment of vertigo and almost a blurring of vision. There is no sort of creeping fear…the horror is not at all such as you might feel when a climb goes wrong. It envies our energy and life and does not wish us well.

I will not write here of the frantic downclimb from the pinnacle, or of the wild, leaping escape I made as I ran in terror through the dying wattle forest of the Corio Ridge, crashing through snapping trees and through cobwebbed tangles of boneseed.

Laugh or scoff as you like. Are we not climbers, who can rise above fear? Be that as it may, I shall not again want to be alone on the heights of the You Yangs at dusk.

S King
April 13th 2005


nmonteith

13-Apr-2005
5:45:12 PM

Holy crap - this gives me the heebie jeebies!

Dave C

13-Apr-2005
5:55:51 PM

Well I spent a lot of time in the You-Yangs back in the 80s (and made quite a few after-dark escapes) but never came across this myself but I did hear some stories from local people when I was living at my folks place in Little River. I hadn't heard Russell#s story before but that may have happened after I left the area.

Anyway, I do have this pic of Lindblade's 'Slip, Slop, Slap' to illustrate the story.

BoaredOfTheRings

13-Apr-2005
10:01:11 PM

My virginity to the first who spends a night alone in the bowels of the Youies!!!!

And what brand of cigs were they??


JBM

13-Apr-2005
10:39:32 PM

Is this for real?! Very well written - I feel as if I was there.

I have had similar experiences on Native American burial mounds in North America in the middle of the night. We used to describe it at "He who walks the ridges". The "envies our energy" is a good way to put it.

I was recently mountainbiking out at they Youies on an overcast/rainy afternoon and got the creeps when going through some of the plantation area below GP Tor. Got sort of a "Blair Witch Project" vibe.

I reckon we need to arrange a big bivvy group to suss this out. Who's in?

gfdonc

13-Apr-2005
11:00:03 PM

Ooh! Yess! The first ever Chockstone Sleepout!

BoaredOfTheRings

13-Apr-2005
11:36:42 PM

All Right, I'm up for it!

Just tell me where and when and i'll be there.

What colour panties should I wear??


Tel

13-Apr-2005
11:48:56 PM

wow thats a great read .... Half of me is wanting to go and see for myself and the other half is saying 'are you off ya head, stay the hell away'
excellent


Megan

14-Apr-2005
4:55:46 AM

Argh, the hairs on the back of my neck are all up. Spooky.


neats

14-Apr-2005
7:47:00 AM

Ohmegosh!


climbau

14-Apr-2005
8:43:56 AM

Very freaky stuff!
I had a similar experience in the Blueys once.

The Black Fella's have all sorts of stories of things like Hairy Men, Rock Dogs, Yowies, etc.

Basically Rock Dogs attack The first and last in a line of travellers, and Hairymen & Yowies are like the keepers of the environment. If you do something unfriendly then the Hairymen and Yowies make themselves known to you.....and you will be scared!

Also the spirits of the elders are very powerful, if you have good intentions then there are no worries, but if you are there in a disrespectful mindset then they can influence your destiny whilst you are onsite.

What's the moral of all this? Go out with a clear and respectful mind and never walk at the head or tail of the line!

deadpoint

14-Apr-2005
10:32:52 AM

Atlantis in the Blueys is pretty freaky, I have experienced the 'something is watching' us twice whilst at the crag. Others have also reported similiar experiences, one of Oz's top sports climber won't go there anymore. He reported that they got so freaked they did the bolt back to the car.

Don't know about Russell's experience, maybe he stuck gold on the bush weed....


Richard

14-Apr-2005
1:16:04 PM

still coming on our urinal wall trip, sunday, neats?? bring some candles, hair of toad, and blood of bat...


phil_nev

14-Apr-2005
1:46:53 PM

Really enjoyed reading that.

Funnily enough, the authors initials are the same as a certain famous horror author....
S.King

Bob Saki

14-Apr-2005
1:59:44 PM

who's up for a late evening mission to break this mystery down!!!!
it reminds me of the house in the original amityville horror, sounds quire exciting

don't know if any of you have climbed the viewing tower at beckett park in Balwyn but after dark this place too becomes enveloped in a wierd prescence, totally strange considering it's in the middle of subrbia


nmonteith

14-Apr-2005
3:06:40 PM

I believe humans freak themselves out at night. We have poor eyesight and are generally a social animal. Put us in an unfamiliar place, by ourselves and at night and I reckon we switch to 'flee' mode.

Bundaleer is a real freaky place to be wandering around at night. The gully leading up to the top just left of Angular is a place I tend to run through if I am by myself. I reckon the dreaded lunch eating monster must hide out there. Last time it ate all 15 of our un-opened torillas, a kilo of chocolate, an entire container of dip and several packets of chips. We never heard or saw it.


Superstu

14-Apr-2005
5:29:52 PM

I stopped hanging around crags by myself a while ago. The climbing experience is so intense, the memory associations with the cliffs are so strong, that I now find there is a melancholic weirdness about those places.

Times past, grand adventure with friends (most who have moved on and don't climb anymore, or left my life entirely), crazy youthful endeavours, plans and dreams about hard routes to do, it's all there tied up with the cliffs, and its all too much to soak up on a rainy, between-climbing-partner rest day by yourself. Messes with your mind it does.


alrob

14-Apr-2005
7:18:58 PM

On 14/04/2005 nmonteith wrote:
>I reckon the dreaded lunch eating monster must
>hide out there. Last time it ate all 15 of our un-opened torillas, a kilo
>of chocolate, an entire container of dip and several packets of chips.
>We never heard or saw it.

yeah, kent can be pretty sneaky sometimes........

kieranl

14-Apr-2005
7:43:57 PM

This sounds about as scarey as the nightly run down the back verandah to the toilet when we were kids. That was pretty bad, but we grew out of it.

restraining bolt

15-Apr-2005
2:01:24 AM

yo guys lets get a van,a greedy dog and a couple of girls who like triping over logs etc. and losing their glasses......... then

we can then shoot on up to the you'ees and solve this god dam mystery.

i wanna be there when we catch the janitor and rip his mask off, and hear his "pesky kids line"...

on a serious matter

i know sk and he dont scare easy....................

There are 49 messages in this topic.