Ben Nevis Lite, Mt Cole State Forest Circuit - 9.9 Kms

 U3A Hike No. 189



Report by Joan

Though “red sky the in the morning, shepherd’s warning” was what I woke up to, I was pleasantly surprised that the weather turned its back on that saying and presented us a glorious day to enjoy our hike in the park.  The S.A.S (Seeking Adventure Seven) under the guidance of Gordon and Mark made our way down the Western Highway through Beaufort towards Ben Nevis, which is located in the Victorian Mill Scenic Reserve, part of the Mt Cole State Forest. This reserve was clear fallen for timber in the 1890’s as seen by the tall spindly revegetation which now characterizes this part of the forest.  Though we did not start the walk from the campground (the reason it was termed as “Lite”) we quickly realized that there was still a lot of steep, rocky uphill climbing ahead to earn its rating as moderate to difficult!

As we walked along the uneven rocky road we noticed the surrounding forest change into large tall  bushy trees with more native grasses rather than bracken scattered along forest floor.  Large granite boulders and flat rocky outcrops stood out among the gums trees to our delight!!  As we approached our morning tea spot, Red Rock, we could see that this was going to be a great place to enjoy the surrounding view.   The large flat granite rock was like being seated in a theatre with a 180-degree view of the farmland, the hills and the windfarms below.  

We could see how this is such an amazing and popular place for hiking, hang gliding and bouldering /abseiling!!  We understood Gordon’s instructions of not going too close to the edges as the drop off was steep and unforgiving!

We meandered along the road and then turned onto the Ben Nevis track which was sign posted quite well except for some posts that were hidden by the bracken.  A steady climb up, weaving around fallen trees and large rocks , saw us achieve our goal of reaching the top of Ben Nevis.   Ben Nevis bears the name of the famous Scottish mountain which translated means Venomous Mountain.  We were very glad not to see anything that was venomous!  The Telstra Fire Tower along with the original hut have been on the top of Ben Nevis since 1960.  

We walked along a short track that again gave us views of the surrounding area including a good view of Langi Ghiran.  Again, there were granite boulder outcrops that made for some fun time hopping from one to another.  Gordon explained that a memorial plaque was placed on one of the boulders up on Ben Nevis in 1960 for  5 RAAF members who died as a result of a crash  there in 1942 but seems it has been hard to find. 

Having achieved our goal to get to the top of Ben Nevis, we made our way back to the cars  for lunch , a nice cuppa and  to recall the highlights  of our adventure. 

Thanks to Gordon for another interesting hike and to Mark H for watching our backs!!

Photos by Mark B























LINKS

Comments

  1. Janet27 March 2022 at 16:29

    Sounds like a wonderful hike, great photos of fabulous views. And yes, managed to spot Wally!

    ReplyDelete

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