Sailor's Falls and Old Tom Track
U3A Hike No. 106
Hike report by Fiona Deutscher
Eleven U3A hikers completed the 16.6km circuit hike led by Gordon Talbett around the Sailors Falls area. The hike included sections of the Wallaby, Old Tom and Ryans Tracks. We drove to the starting point at Sailors Falls in the Hepburn area through very cold and frosty conditions. The roads were icy and the countryside was pristinely white and picturesque.
Hike report by Fiona Deutscher
Eleven U3A hikers completed the 16.6km circuit hike led by Gordon Talbett around the Sailors Falls area. The hike included sections of the Wallaby, Old Tom and Ryans Tracks. We drove to the starting point at Sailors Falls in the Hepburn area through very cold and frosty conditions. The roads were icy and the countryside was pristinely white and picturesque.
We began our hike by climbing carefully down the frosty iron
staircase to the Falls. We walked past some mineral springs in the area before
joining the Wallaby track leading along the creek bed. The track initially
headed northward and descended downward through eucalypt forest. We were amazed
to see condensed moisture falling from the trees- as rain through the shafts of
sunlight. The sun also assisted us to ‘thaw out’ as we powered along the track!
We eventually crossed Sailors Creek and turned southward onto
the Old Tom Track. The track climbed up onto a ridge which we continued along
for some time. After crossing Telegraph Rd we continued south along Ryans
Track. Much of the vegetation along the remaining track had been subject to a
controlled burn earlier in the year. The
burnt remains made an interesting contrast to the untouched green forest on the
opposite side of the track. We saw a few pink and white heath plants and fungi
along the way. We also stumbled across a few old water channels & mullock
heaps.
Lastly, we were puzzled about the intentions of two young
men we saw walking out of the bush to their car carrying two large empty
cardboard boxes!
We completed the circuit hike by making our way back to
Sailors Falls via the Wallaby track. The final climb of 150 stairs up to the
picnic area made us ready to enjoy a cuppa afterwards in the sun.
Thank you to Gordon for leading us on this enjoyable walk.
NOTE: Many of the hikers on this walk recorded longer distances than 16.6km. I will prepare an article for the next newsletter with some explanations for this. Andrew
Photos by Gordon
.png)
Comments
Post a Comment