Kalkajaka: Australia's Black Mountain - The Myth and the Mystery

The Black Mountain - The Myth and the Mystery

Kalkajaka, otherwise known as The Black Mountain is a 781 hectare protected area in Queensland, (Australia), 25 km south west of Cooktown. The foundations of the mountain are unlike any other, with the mountain being created from massive Granite boulders, some reaching the size of houses.





This mountain has been associated with a couple of Aboriginal myths, with the first being:

The Aboriginal belief is that the mountain originated in the dreamtime with a man, being similar to a medicine man and also a chameleon, who had the taste for human flesh. He killed and ate a young chief and so was banished and fled to the mountains, occasionally surfacing to eat a human or two from his own tribe. On his last venture out of the mountains he turned into a goanna to escape his angry fellow tribe members and had the misfortune of being struck by lightening. Being no ordinary goanna he exploded and left large piles of charred rock everywhere.

The second myth behind this mountain is somewhat similar and it is represented as such:

Back in the age when the human race was young, there dwelt among the tribe in the vicinity of the mountain range a terrible medicine man whose name meant Eater of Flesh. So great was his craving for human flesh and so great was the dread the superstitious tribesmen felt before his powerful magic known to spirit away even a strong man that they sometimes allowed him to eat an old woman or a diseased tribesman. One day, however, being very hungry, he overstepped his boundaries and partook of a young chief, whom he found asleep. Caught in the act, the tribe rose up against him, but an evil spell helped him change into a monstrous snake. Hissing away, he made his home in the very heart of the barren and desolate Black Mountain. Only hunger could drive him out. Ever since then, people as well as animals have been disappearing there.

The Aboriginal people are terrified of the mountain, and have kept their distance for the last 300 or so years. They claim that the mountain has always been a place of evil and is cursed. Furthermore, many people who have travelled into the heart of the twisting tunnels below have never returned.

Many unexplained and mysterious disappearances have been attributed to these black mountains. Both humans and cattle have wandered into the vicinity of the black mountains and disappeared without a trace never to return. The first record of a mysterious disappearance was In 1877. A carrier, along with his horse, was out searching for some bullocks that had strayed into the boulders. He, his bullocks and his horse were never seen again. Thirteen years later, Constable Ryan, stationed at Cooktown, tracked a wanted criminal to the scrub at the edge of the mountains. He ventured into one of the caves and along with the criminal both disappeared.

A Prospector named Renn went in - never came out.

Harry Owens, a local station owner of Oakey Creek rode over towards black Mountain early one morning looking for stray cattle. When he did not return his partner went looking for him, first informing the local native Police Sergeant. Both men failed to return and the police set out to comb the mountain in an attempt to find them. Two of the native police entered one of the caves, one of them came out and was so unnerved by his experience that he could not give a clear account of what had actually happened to him. In 1932 a packer by the name of Harry Page disappeared and was found dead after a search by a black tracker. Two young men set out to solve the mystery behind the disappearances, they also were never seen again. Black trackers went in after them but even they succumbed to the great black mountains. All disappeared without a trace. All disappearances were thoroughly investigated by local police who combed the mountain in search of the missing persons. No bodies or even evidence that they were ever there has ever been found. The general thought is that they fell into one of the many deep cervices amongst the boulders, or became disorientated and got lost in the maze of caverns beneath. One man, however, did go in and come out.

As you can see, plenty of people have ventured into the mountain to never return. Perhaps the succumbed to the pitch black tunnels, only to wander around aimlessly. Perhaps they fell to their death due to the numerous holes which make up the inside of the mountain. Or perhaps, they were taken by something more sinister, a hungry snake magician which feeds on the unsuspecting.

There you have it ATS, Kalkajaka, the cursed mountain.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org...(Kalkajaka)_National_Park
www.castleofspirits.com...
en.mackerle.cz... (Makes a good read!)

reply to post by daaskapital


Firstly, welcome back to ATS, that was a very short break you took mate.

Secondly, good thread, and very interesting. It reminds me of this forest in Japan, where many people go to commit suicide. Local people never venture inside, and it has a very spooky atmosphere to it. At the base of mount Fuji it lies, and its said, it is the mountain that has this effect on the forest, and the people that venture inside it.

vvv

Originally posted by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Firstly, welcome back to ATS, that was a very short break you took mate.

Secondly, good thread, and very interesting. It reminds me of this forest in Japan, where many people go to commit suicide. Local people never venture inside, and it has a very spooky atmosphere to it. At the base of mount Fuji it lies, and its said, it is the mountain that has this effect on the forest, and the people that venture inside it.

vvv

Thanks mate. Yeah, a day or two is pretty short, but enough time to clear my head from all the recent nonsense floating around haha.

Oh wow, i havn't heard of that forest, sounds like a very interesting place, with a dark history behind it. I think i need to do some research

reply to post by daaskapital


Really interesting and creepy. The guy that did go in and come out is that the guy that was to shoked to speak? I would say that maybe now people could go in with a bit advanced equipment but perhaps its best just left unknown and enough lives have been lost from it already.

reply to post by daaskapital


My first guess would be toxic gases emmitating from the interior that sufficated explorers , physco-active gases hence the one confused surivior.

Originally posted by eyesdown
reply to post by daaskapital

 

Really interesting and creepy. The guy that did go in and come out is that the guy that was to shoked to speak? I would say that maybe now people could go in with a bit advanced equipment but perhaps its best just left unknown and enough lives have been lost from it already.

The one guy that went in and came out is a modern bushman

His chilling story follows. I stepped into the opening, like other Black Mountain caves it dipped steeply downwards, narrowing as it went. Suddenly I found myself facing a solid wall of rock, but the the right there was a passageway just large enough for me to enter in a stooping position. I moved along it carefully for several yards. The floor was fairly level, the walls of very smooth granite. The passage twisted and turned this way and tat, always sloping deeper into the earth. Presently I began to feel uneasy. A huge bat beat it's wings against me as it passed, however I forced myself on, to push further. Soon my nostrils were filled with a sickly musty stench. Then my torch went out. I was in total darkness. From somewhere, that seemed the bowels of the earth I could hear a faint moaning which was then followed by the flapping of wings of thousands of bats. I began to panic as I groped and floundered back the way I thought I had come. My arms and legs were bleeding from bumps with unseen rocks. My outstretched hands clawed at space, I expected solid walls and floors, but could not find it. At one stage where I had wandered into a side passage, I came to the brink of what was undoubtedly a precipice-judging by the echoes. The air was foul and I felt increasing dizziness. Terrifying thoughts were racing through my mind about giant rock-pythons I have seen around this mountain. As I crawled along, getting weaker and loosing hope of ever coming out alive, I saw a tiny streak of light. It gave me super strength to worm my way towards a small cave mouth half a mile from the one I had entered. Reaching the open air I gulped in lung fulls of it and fell down exhausted. I later found that I had been underground for five hours, most of the time on my hands and knees. A Kings ransom would not induce me to enter those caves again.

www.castleofspirits.com...

Originally posted by jbmitch
reply to post by daaskapital

 

My first guess would be toxic gases emmitating from the interior that sufficated explorers , physco-active gases hence the one confused surivior.

I think you may be right, considering this occurence by a survivor of the Black Mountain:

Soon my nostrils were filled with a sickly musty stench. Then my torch went out. I was in total darkness. From somewhere, that seemed the bowels of the earth I could hear a faint moaning which was then followed by the flapping of wings of thousands of bats. I began to panic as I groped and floundered back the way I thought I had come. My arms and legs were bleeding from bumps with unseen rocks. My outstretched hands clawed at space, I expected solid walls and floors, but could not find it. At one stage where I had wandered into a side passage, I came to the brink of what was undoubtedly a precipice-judging by the echoes. The air was foul and I felt increasing dizziness.

I love this kind of stuff, thanks for the thread
s&f
Maybe they found an entrance to the inner Earth cities...
but I would probably go with them falling to their deaths.
One can dream though...

Originally posted by SilentE
I love this kind of stuff, thanks for the thread

s&f
Maybe they found an entrance to the inner Earth cities...
but I would probably go with them falling to their deaths.
One can dream though...

No worries mate



I wouldn't mind going up there and checking the mountain out myself. If i ever do, i'll grab some footage and share it here.

reply to post by daaskapital


Wow how disorientating, I wonder how cattle would have got through such a small gap as he descibes and how he managed to lose five hours! It sounds horrible in there. I wonder wether the sickly musty smell was perhaps from bat droppings or as suggested it was some sort of natural gas.

Originally posted by daaskapital

Originally posted by SilentE
I love this kind of stuff, thanks for the thread

s&f
Maybe they found an entrance to the inner Earth cities...
but I would probably go with them falling to their deaths.
One can dream though...

No worries mate

I wouldn't mind going up there and checking the mountain out myself. If i ever do, i'll grab some footage and share it here.

You got a death wish or something?
You just said in your OP that people go and don't come back........

If you do ever venture up there, i'll be looking out for the thread, providing you come back.

Originally posted by SilentE

Originally posted by daaskapital

Originally posted by SilentE
I love this kind of stuff, thanks for the thread

s&f
Maybe they found an entrance to the inner Earth cities...
but I would probably go with them falling to their deaths.
One can dream though...

No worries mate

I wouldn't mind going up there and checking the mountain out myself. If i ever do, i'll grab some footage and share it here.

You got a death wish or something?
You just said in your OP that people go and don't come back........

If you do ever venture up there, i'll be looking out for the thread, providing you come back.

Haha, i'll take my chances. Hopefully modern equipment won't fail me I don't fancy getting eaten by a big snake magician.

reply to post by VreemdeVlieendeVoorwep


I've seen a paranormal investigation into that Japanese forest and the evidence they caught was stunning!!!

Anyways.... What's up w/ cutting off the article? 1 man did go in and came out?? Well? What did he see? And I was hoping to see up close the granite blocks as big as houses?

Guess I have to go and google....

I love mysteries like this...

I found the rest of the article by looking further into the comments... Thanks freaky
Now alls I need to find is better pics =0)

I watched an older movie that was supposedly based on the disappearances there. It was called Picnic At Hanging Rock. A bunch of school girls disappeared into the rocks. Don't know if an actual group of school kids disappeared there in reality, but the movie made the wheels in my brain start turning.

I tend to agree with the whole "toxic fumes" theory, but more than likely it's one of those mysterious places that we'll never figure out! Maybe the Aborigines know more than they are telling. It's possible that they could be aware of some kind of toxicity of the area, but the myth makes a better story.

reply to post by tracehd1


It was my fault for the choppy quoting, sorry.

About the pics, it is quite tough to search for up close pictures of the mountain. Information about it is also fairly scarce on the internet.

reply to post by tracehd1


Here is a pic. Can't upload, somethings screwing up on my computer :/

blog.travelpod.com...

Originally posted by littled16
I watched an older movie that was supposedly based on the disappearances there. It was called Picnic At Hanging Rock. A bunch of school girls disappeared into the rocks. Don't know if an actual group of school kids disappeared there in reality, but the movie made the wheels in my brain start turning.

Hanging Rock is down near me in Victoria. The mountain mentioned by the OP is about 4000kms away!
Hanging rock is also a spooky place but I'm pretty sure the missing schools girl myth has been proven to be false.

reply to post by homerJ

I don't really know much about the geography in Australia. The descriptions of the disappearances caused me to assume it was probably the same place. You know what they say about when you "assume". Thanks for the correction!

reply to post by daaskapital


Great point! The stench and dizziness proves that some of those holes are releasing natural gases. Does not mean that the Serpent People dont live there!

reply to post by daaskapital


well if you ever want to go up let me know im down for the adventure or a bit of time wasting.

Regarding the story i found it not true as it used the work YARD. where in Australia would you find a person to say YARD?

But in all seriousness i will be down as long as abit of preparation and thought goes in to it. Also that part of the world has No camping allowed nor any walking trails so it be straight out bushlands and weather is something to consider. last thing you want is a down fall when you in a cave or something
will need a team of 4 or 6 like to keep in it in doubles
all personal must carry out confined space training at least a basic version.
rock climbing skills is a must.
also local guide would be good to but might be useless in today generation i think and yet might not be such a bad idea.
map reading and so on


hit me up to discuss more.

happy to consider any other mysterious places to look in to.