U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No 10 It was generally agreed that today’s section of the Lerderderg Track, from Blackwood to O’Briens Rd./Gribbles Track, was the most picturesque so far. Most of the route followed a former water race, situated above the Lerderderg River, that afforded views into the narrow river valley, onto stony river beaches and rocky river courses, and over ferny gullies guarded by tall, straight eucalypts.    The section might also be described as the ‘squiggly section ’. Following a water race that ever so gently descended through contour lines meant that the track followed numerous tributary valleys, crossed the tributary at a sharp U-turn only then to return to the main valley. At times it was possible for the leaders of the fifteen-strong party, going in one direction, to chat comfortably with the tail enders , yet to get to the U-turn and travelling in the opposite direction, across a steep valley but less than ten metres away. In places the track was quite narrow with a stee

  Hike Report Gordon Talbett Nolans Creek Picnic Ground to Blackwood . After the dustiest drive of all our walks, we were more than happy to leave our cars behind. We set off along a cool creek-side track, and then over a huge sawdust pile; the remains of Frith’s Sawmill. Next was a long stretch of dry sclerophyll forest skirting a hillside, where numerous fallen trees were a test of the length and agility of our hikers’ legs. A day’s hiking would be incomplete without a steep climb and a steeper descent, and a ridge crossing provided this and a reminder that the day was becoming hotter.    A very welcome rest followed in the shady valley of the Lerderderg River at the site of the Crown Dam. This dam was part of the gold mining activity of the mid 1800s and the associated water-races contouring along the hillsides provided level walking to the Garden of St Erth . The cottage here was built by a Cornish stonemason in 1861, who named it after his home village in Cornwall. He ran a Gene