U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No. 174 Hike Report by Jan On a grey, cool Thursday morning it was a group of five adventurers who met briefly at Kirks Reservoir, headed off in a two-car convoy to Guilford to say hello to The Big Tree and then continued on to the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. We parked at the Spring Gully Mine carpark which was the beginning and end of our 10 Km circuit hike.  To quote the track notes, some of the walk was on the Goldfields Track, some was along a rarely walked section of the Poverty Gully Water Channel and some was on remote bush tracks.  There were signs of mining activity all along the walk, including deeply eroded gullies, deep mine shafts and an elaborate water race snaking across the hillsides. Every now and again, Mark kept us updated on the likelihood of rain, and sure enough, there was a light but thankfully temporary shower which wasn’t enough to even dampen our mood. Golden everlasting wildflowers were scattered along most of the route and th

 U3A Hike No. 173 Hike report by Martin The leadership team: Gordon led with as Ken as whip. A small group of twelve meet at Kirks at the usual time, and once formalities conclude we were on our way to Hepburn Springs - our meeting place was the carpark at the Hepburn Mineral Springs Regional Park.  The morning was partially overcast with the weather having a problem deciding whether it should rain, or not.  Fortunately, the day improved as it progressed. We saddled ourselves with provisions for the walk and our first destination, Wyuna Springs, about 150 m east of the start point.  Continued on to Argyle track, which runs along Wild Cat Gully, we noted a number of fenced off adits and mineshafts.  Nearby were Wild Cat Cascades.  Shortly we arrived at Argyle Mineral Springs and after a short pause to contemplate the natural environment we turned north, crossed Wild Cat Creek and went off-track until we located a 4WD track which led us along a series of ridges until we arrived at th

 U3A Hike No. 172 Hike Report by Chris Six hikers travelled to Shepherds Flat for our walk around Bridle Path Gully in the Wombat State Forest.   We parked to the west of Cricket Willow, the quirky museum to the greatest game. Gordon had included the terms ‘remote’ and ‘steep hills’ in his description so we were forewarned about the nature of the terrain. The mild day and the unseasonal green growth about presented us with pleasant vistas. Lyn identified lots of orchids, lillies and yam daisies among the native plants flowering. The gullies showed signs of considerable alluvial mining activity from the gold rush.  Some of the rubble has been turned over again by recent prospectors.   The area has many distinctively named features. Frying Pan Hill is easily identified.  Gullies such as “New Zealand” and “American” were probably named for the most recent origins of the diggers. Perhaps Bridal Path Gully indicated a need for those on horseback to dismount and lead their charges. We did en

 U3A Hike No. 171 Hike Report by Annette Today our enthusiastic hikers met at Kirks just after 7.30am, were divided up between three cars, then set of towards Mt Egerton and onto the edge of the Bungal State Forest. It is not a big forest but looked very green and inviting.   The weather was on our side, and we even saw some sunshine, which after yesterday's rain was 'warmly' welcomed!! Our leaders led the way along a 'gently' rising track (and not up the very steep tracks that we were eyeing off with trepidation).   At one stage we left the track and went ‘cross country'.   The walking was easy as there was not heavy foliage to go through. It was almost like walking on a carpet, as parts of it was blanketed in moss. We came upon an old Iron Quarry (not GOLD, as one hiker wanted us to believe!) which overlooked Green Hill Gully and its creek.   Onward we went, scrambling over, under and around some trees that had fallen over the tracks (due to the heavy wind

 U3A Hike No. 168 Hike Report by Geoff It was a cold start to the day as we rose to icy windscreens and mist rising over Halls Gap partially obscuring the mountains behind which were looking spectacular as the sun rays gradually lit up their red sandstone edifice. It was 6° when our group of 12 left Halls Gap to head up to the Mount Rosea carpark. We were all delighted that the sun stayed with us the whole day, ensuring that we had a perfect day for hiking as the temperature climbed to 16°. Today’s walk took us to the summit of Mount Rosea, one of the highest points in the Grampians at 1009 metres. A major feature of our ascent was our climb up the Grand Stairway. This is the natural ramp which hugs the massive cliff running along the east side of Mount Rosea, to reach the ridge hundreds of metres above. With a width of around 3 metres, we kept close to the cliff face but found this to be an impressive way to approach our goal. This was part of the earlier tourist walk to climb Mount