Ben Major (East) - 14.4 Kms

 

U3A Hike No. 133

Hike Report by Jan H

Eight hikers gathered at the pre-arranged meeting spot in Lucas and then piled into two cars to drive out to the Ben Major State Forest which is north of Beaufort. On the way there, the clouds were looking pretty low over the hills and we wondered whether we'd see the wonderful views from the top, but the day turned out to be a perfect day for hiking - mostly sunny with a cool breeze.

We set off along Granite Track and walked easily along an undulating vehicle track noticing the abundance of yellow everlasting daisies. After an uphill section we stopped and caught our breath at a T-intersection and then turned right onto the Ben Major Track and followed this until we found a suitable log (burnt) for morning tea. There were many dead trees from the (Lexton) bushfire on 20 December 2019. Although it meant that we could see through to the shape of the surrounding countryside it was heartening to see that many of the trees had lush new growth sprouting from the base of the trunks. In a few years time, it will look very different. Andrew pointed out that the stems on some of the new growth are round in shape and red in colour, but blue gums have stems which are more square and blue.

Back on the vehicle track, we climbed steadily along a ridge to the top of Ben Major which was a broad grassy spot with a trig point marking the summit. There we were indeed able to see the 360 degree views of yellow rolling farmland and treed State Parks. There were comments on the extensive size of the Waubra Wind Farm and guesses of the names of other distant hilltops and locations. A group photo was taken.  Although it was still early we decided that it was a lovely spot for some lunch and rest.

From here the Ben Major Track looped around and headed generally downhill.  Along both sides of this part of the track there were more varieties of wildflowers. Unfortunately I don't know the names of any of them but there were pink, mauve, white, yellow and blue ones. Apart from some noisy cockatoos there was not an abundance of bird song today. 

We turned left onto Ration Track and followed it for about 4 km to where we'd left the cars. The chairs and thermoses were unpacked and we enjoyed a drink and a snack in the shade.

Thank you Gordon for finding and organising this 14 km hike.


Photos by Andrew and Marianne



















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