White Swan - Sawpit Gully, Glen Park State Forest Circuit - 10.5 Kms

 U3A Hike No. 245



Hike Report by Geoff

As the song goes it was a case of drip drip drop little April showers today. But that didn't lessen the resolve of the 11 walkers who joined Gordon for our hike through the forest to the north-west of White Swan reservoir. 

Most of us have never started a walk in steady rain before. Andrew was a notable absence as his presence seems to have assured us good weather through many years, although some of the group thought he let us down on the recent Enfield walk when thunder storms were experienced.  Nevertheless all members of our group were in cheerful spirits and it was nearly a case of singing in the rain, but not quite.
 
Our route led us north-east  from our car park, a little north of 'Fiveways' intersection, where we walked along sometimes sloshy, water affected tracks through the Glen Park State Forest. Gordon would have described the route as gently undulating and, on this occasion, it was true that there were no hills to challenge us too much. A few fallen trees were our greatest obstacles. Slipping on muddy slopes was also a potential threat and Teena ended up experiencing a muddy pool of water too closely. Fortunately no apparent damage done.

Mostly we followed narrow, single file tracks, periodically progressing onto gravel roads, including Shuttleworth Road, Wolfe's Road and Forest Road, crossing the Goldfields Track at several points.  We were never far from Slatey Creek and, on some occasions Gordon found water races for us to follow. 

After walking for over an hour the rain eased, allowing us to take a break for morning tea. After resuming we were however tricked when we found whip Mark in the lead and Gordon at the back. We had been given clear instructions at the start of the hike to always stay ahead of Mark, a very difficult task in these circumstances. A short deviation from our track near Forest Road, at the southern end of our walk led us to the lookout which provided an impressive view over Ballarat.

When we finally finished the walk the sun had come out to help get us dry and warm. Well done to Myra who completed her first walk with us and once again, thank you to Gordon.

Photos by Leona and Mark H

















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