Mt Egerton Forest and Lanes Circuit - 10.8 Kms.

 U3A Hike No. 233

Hike Report by Fiona D

Today's 10.8 Km circuit hike commenced at Mt Egerton Recreation Reserve. This hike had been voted one of the most popular hikes the group has done- so there was an enthusiastic group ready to start the walk in cool conditions. On this occasion, however, we reversed the route. Mt Egerton was once a thriving gold mining town which boasted six hotels, six churches and two schools in the mid 1800’s.  Our hike revisited some of the gold mining history of the town.

The initial part of the walk involved a small circuit to the north east of the town along Whipstick Road. We came across a noticeable de-vegetated flat area associated with some earlier gold mining activities. The old Mt Egerton Gold crushing battery was also in this area. The corrugated iron structure housed the battery which crushed quartz to extract gold. Gold had been discovered at Mt Egerton in 1853 and the reef was found to extend to the summit of the mount. The Black Horse and the Mt Egerton mining companies worked the reef until 1910 when operations were suspended. Further attempts to extract gold occurred some decades ago but ceased in 2005 due to its proximity and disturbance to the town. The Mt Egerton Battery can be viewed more extensively on monthly Open Days.

(see the link after the photos for more historical information)

As we crossed the Gordon - Mt Egerton Road,  we continued to walk along the lanes and forest tracks to the west. The area was fairly undulating and we glimpsed the surrounding farmland through the trees. I noticed some late blooming wildflowers along the route - old button everlastings, blue pincushions and spotted hyacinth orchids.

We crossed the main Gordon - Mt Egerton Road again and climbed up the steep Cemetery road before stopping at the Mt Egerton Cemetery for our morning break and cuppa. Once we had gathered our strength we commenced the long uphill walk through the forest to the summit of Mt Egerton. Here we saw the evidence of an old mine shaft and trig point footings. We looked out over the surrounding countryside toward the wind turbines. We then made our way along the dusty forest tracks (accompanied by many butterflies) back to the Mt Egerton Reserve for a welcome lunch.

Congratulations must be given to Jan Herberger today- she successfully used the GPS for the first time today to navigate our hike and Andrew was impressed with her effort. 

A big thanks also to Andrew for leading the hike which was enjoyed by all.

Photos by Mark B






















LINKS



Comments

  1. Anonymous4 February 2023 at 20:19

    Thanks Fiona and Mark. Enjoyed viewing the blog on the Egerton hike. Rick

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jan5 February 2023 at 09:54

    Thanks for your encouraging words Fiona 😊

    ReplyDelete

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