Hike Report by Geoff

A group of 20 participants met in the carpark beside the Ballarat East Netball Stadium this Thursday and, in convoy, we headed out to Mount Egerton Recreation Reserve, travelling past the Lal Lal wind turbines along the Yendon-Egerton Road.

We were surprised to find on arrival, that rain jackets were in order for the start of the hike. The light rain however didn’t last long and, as the walk progressed, we found ourselves walking in sunshine with the temperature staying under 20 degrees.

The first part of the walk saw us winding our way gradually up hill, along bush tracks to the top of Mount Egerton. The view here was very limited due to the tree cover, and we found the old, wrecked car seen on our previous visit, still there.

Continuing on down country lanes we worked our way to Mt Egerton Cemetery where we stopped for morning tea while appreciating this very peaceful and attractive, historic site. Before leaving, many of us took time to look at some of the headstones dating back to the 1860s.

From the cemetery we walked back to the outskirts of Mount Egerton and crossed the Yendon-Egerton Road to walk on up Walkers Lane, past some attractive properties, weaving our way along back lanes, including Trounces Lane and Steetley Lane. On reaching Main Road we walked up through part of the village, being particularly impressed by a flowering gum in full flower.

The walk then took us over the road to the gold battery, part of gold mining operations which continued until 2007.

Despite being close to the car park many of us chose to continue for another 2 kms, winding past some old mining sites including several tailings dams and settling ponds associated with the Mount Egerton/ Blackhorse gold mine to eventually arrive back at the reserve for lunch.

Thanks again to Andrew and Mark for leading this varied and enjoyable walk.