Pyrites Creek Hike
U3A Hike No. 100
Report by Ian Egerton
“This will be a difficult walk in a remote location…” – it would appear that these were the famous last words for some, as only five intrepid walkers turned up at Kirks for this adventure - and it was an
adventure, charting new territory along the Pyrites Creek.
Early in the walk we came across the remains of an antimony mine which was worked in the late 1800’s. You may well ask ‘how do you pronounce antimony?’, and the consensus on the walk seemed to lean towards an emphasis on the ‘tim’, but this didn’t sound right to me, and I couldn’t check it online as there was ‘no service’ in the creek valley. I have subsequently found that there are multiple pronunciations according to various ‘authoritative’ sources, so take your pick. Apparently antimony can be used for hardening other metals, such as lead (why would you want to do that?), or for castings, because antimony expands when it’s frozen (like water) which helps it to fill small holes in casts, or for making typeset, because this lets it release. Who’d have known that (other than our alternate fearless leader (AFL), Gordon?).
True to leader–form, our AFL convinced us to climb the hill to look at the old antimony mine, just another large hole in the ground which was somewhat collapsed in, but who’d miss such an opportunity to walk up another steep hill? We then found the remains of the old processing plant on the other side of the creek with quite substantial concrete footings, so this was a good spot to explore further and then sit down for morning tea.
The next part of the walk was not so steep, following the creek as it meandered through this seldom frequented part of the Lerderderg Park. Fortunately there was wasn’t a lot of water in the creek as we had to traverse it fifteen to twenty times over the next couple of hours as we wandered through light bush from creek flat to creek flat, avoiding the steeper sections on each side. It would seem that this part of the creek was too remote for gorse and blackberry, but there were some thistles and stinging nettles and lots of logs to negotiate.
One of the team found out the hard way why gaiters were recommended and needed the assistance of our medic to apply a band-aid to a gouge on his leg. Another team member, who shall remain nameless, tripped over a branch sticking out of a log and took an even bigger gouge out of his arm – more band-aids, with extra tape to hold them on. It was even suggested that we may need arm gaiters – do they make them?
There were some interesting navigational challenges along the way, given that none of the maps show the correct line of the creek. If you look at the satellite images of the creek they often don’t align with what’s shown on the map. Andrew said that he is authorized to fix this, so all will be well next time, if there is a next time! We also found that there are at least two hidden gullies that you walk past before realizing that you have gone the wrong way. Thank goodness for modern mapping systems or we would have all been lost this time, especially as there is no definite track to follow. Nevertheless, we can’t have been too remote as we found some footprints of either sheep or goats (cloven hooved) in the mud at a couple of drinking holes, but didn’t actually see any of them. There was also lots of evidence of wombats – both their holes and their droppings, which I am told are squareshaped (the droppings). There was also quite a variety of fungi, some of which, apparently, look like elephant droppings. This lead to some discussion around whether they were like the droppings of smaller - or larger-eared elephants. Our resident elephant expert assured us that, given the size of the ‘droppings’, they must be from the smaller-eared variety (you had to be there). As you might be starting to gather, the walk was taking longer than expected and we were starting to run out of interesting things to talk about!
All-up we took about five and a half hours to complete the walk (we now know that the fine print says the walk will take about six hours), including the obligatory uphill stretch at the end (even over barbed wire fences!), and it ended up being about 15.8 km and 716 m elevation gain, according to me.
Altogether, it was a great walk, with good company, good weather, and an enjoyable coffee in Ballan to complete the day. Thanks Gordon.
Photos by Andrew Parker
Click the first photo and then you can tab through.
Report by Ian Egerton
“This will be a difficult walk in a remote location…” – it would appear that these were the famous last words for some, as only five intrepid walkers turned up at Kirks for this adventure - and it was an
adventure, charting new territory along the Pyrites Creek.
Early in the walk we came across the remains of an antimony mine which was worked in the late 1800’s. You may well ask ‘how do you pronounce antimony?’, and the consensus on the walk seemed to lean towards an emphasis on the ‘tim’, but this didn’t sound right to me, and I couldn’t check it online as there was ‘no service’ in the creek valley. I have subsequently found that there are multiple pronunciations according to various ‘authoritative’ sources, so take your pick. Apparently antimony can be used for hardening other metals, such as lead (why would you want to do that?), or for castings, because antimony expands when it’s frozen (like water) which helps it to fill small holes in casts, or for making typeset, because this lets it release. Who’d have known that (other than our alternate fearless leader (AFL), Gordon?).
True to leader–form, our AFL convinced us to climb the hill to look at the old antimony mine, just another large hole in the ground which was somewhat collapsed in, but who’d miss such an opportunity to walk up another steep hill? We then found the remains of the old processing plant on the other side of the creek with quite substantial concrete footings, so this was a good spot to explore further and then sit down for morning tea.
The next part of the walk was not so steep, following the creek as it meandered through this seldom frequented part of the Lerderderg Park. Fortunately there was wasn’t a lot of water in the creek as we had to traverse it fifteen to twenty times over the next couple of hours as we wandered through light bush from creek flat to creek flat, avoiding the steeper sections on each side. It would seem that this part of the creek was too remote for gorse and blackberry, but there were some thistles and stinging nettles and lots of logs to negotiate.
One of the team found out the hard way why gaiters were recommended and needed the assistance of our medic to apply a band-aid to a gouge on his leg. Another team member, who shall remain nameless, tripped over a branch sticking out of a log and took an even bigger gouge out of his arm – more band-aids, with extra tape to hold them on. It was even suggested that we may need arm gaiters – do they make them?
There were some interesting navigational challenges along the way, given that none of the maps show the correct line of the creek. If you look at the satellite images of the creek they often don’t align with what’s shown on the map. Andrew said that he is authorized to fix this, so all will be well next time, if there is a next time! We also found that there are at least two hidden gullies that you walk past before realizing that you have gone the wrong way. Thank goodness for modern mapping systems or we would have all been lost this time, especially as there is no definite track to follow. Nevertheless, we can’t have been too remote as we found some footprints of either sheep or goats (cloven hooved) in the mud at a couple of drinking holes, but didn’t actually see any of them. There was also lots of evidence of wombats – both their holes and their droppings, which I am told are squareshaped (the droppings). There was also quite a variety of fungi, some of which, apparently, look like elephant droppings. This lead to some discussion around whether they were like the droppings of smaller - or larger-eared elephants. Our resident elephant expert assured us that, given the size of the ‘droppings’, they must be from the smaller-eared variety (you had to be there). As you might be starting to gather, the walk was taking longer than expected and we were starting to run out of interesting things to talk about!
All-up we took about five and a half hours to complete the walk (we now know that the fine print says the walk will take about six hours), including the obligatory uphill stretch at the end (even over barbed wire fences!), and it ended up being about 15.8 km and 716 m elevation gain, according to me.
Altogether, it was a great walk, with good company, good weather, and an enjoyable coffee in Ballan to complete the day. Thanks Gordon.
Photos by Andrew Parker
Click the first photo and then you can tab through.
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