Mt Egerton Forest and Lanes Circuit - 11.4 Kms

 


U3A Hike No. 129

Hike Report by Lyn Hooper

This was my first hike since restrictions had been significantly eased and it was wonderful to see so many fellow hikers congregating at Kirk’s Reservoir.

After a brief welcome and recap on directions to Mt Egerton Recreation Reserve, 26 participants headed off.  Most of us made it to the reserve in a timely fashion but one group insisted on going the scenic route and arrived about 10 minutes later, probably seeing parts of Mt Egerton that they had never seen before.

Once we were all together again, we left our cars and headed off using the bush tracks to reach our first destination – the top of Mt Egerton.  The climb was not too challenging with a view limited by trees although on the way up you could see many wind turbines.  The weather was just perfect with blue skies and an ideal temperature for walking.  Leaving the summit, we continued on bush tracks going up, going down, going around.  I had no idea where we were and as normal, was trusting in our very competent leader.

Before I knew it, we were at the Mt Egerton Cemetery.  Situated on the side of a hill, it was a lovely spot to have morning tea.  I was impressed that so many headstones were still intact.  Andrew gave an insight into the history of the Cemetery, informing us that it was in use before being gazetted.

We continued our walk around the outskirts of Mt Egerton.  I noticed that some bluebells (Wahlenbergias) were in flower together with blue pincushions (Brunonia) and button everlastings (Helichrysum).

Soon we came to the Mt Egerton Gold Battery, a corrugated iron structure in excellent condition although no longer operational.  Hopefully it will resume its Open Days in the near future. 

Continuing on, we found ourselves tantalisingly close to our cars but most of us decided to walk another two kms.  We arrived back to the cars just in time for lunch.

A big thank you to Andrew once again for organizing this walk together with the history snippets.  It was lovely to finally catch up with everyone again.  I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did. 


Message from Noel Andersen at the Gold Battery 'Our Open Days are back on for the last Sunday of the month from January 2021 from 10am to 12.30pm. If any of your members are interested we would be chuffed to see you visit.'






Photos by Mark Bevelander

























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