U3A Ballarat Hikers

 U3A Hike No. 253 Hike Report by Geoff It was a crisp, four degrees when we met in the Bunnings car park Delacombe, before driving to Linton Recreation Reserve. Eleven hikers present today, and although conditions were cold the air was dry and the forest provided protection from the light wind, providing for relatively pleasant hiking. We started the hike following the Skipton Rail Trail south from Linton. Being a rail trail, walking was easy as the gullies had been filled in and the hills excavated on the well maintained gravel track.  The hike took us alongside Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary. The sanctuary covers 530 hectares of former farmland where a number of wetlands were created by former owner, sheep farmer, Gordon Clarke. Commencing in the 1960s Gordon worked to remove gorse and other invasive weeds to replace them with with a wide range of Australian native species. Clarke's efforts were successful in providing suitable habitat for numerous birds with over 155 varieties  bein

U3A Hike No. 252 Hike Report by Jan After meeting at Kirks Reservoir we carpooled to the Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve carpark. It was very misty all the way to Hepburn and the whole length of our hike too. Quite atmospheric! It was a  good winter turnout comprising eighteen hikers.   The hike consisted of two circuits, kind of like a figure of eight, with morning tea and lunch both at the “waist” of the figure. The first circuit included (in no particular order) brief stops at Argyle and Wyuna Springs, crossing Wild Cat Creek, lots of tall trees, a fenced off adit and gentle-ish ups and downs.  The second circuit was longer and seemed to have steeper hills, more understorey, patches of very prickly tall gorse along the track, a couple of creeks to cross, many deep mineshafts following a reef close to the edge of the trail, an adit, some mullock heaps and a rustic swimming pool! Geoff knew a lot about this swimming pool and gave us a bit of a run down about how it was saved from clos

 U3A Hike No. 251 Hike Report by Chris Eight walkers enjoyed the trip to the Mt Lonarch/Berumgower State Forest.   We ignored the overnight rain and passed Raglan and some considerable areas of pine plantations before commencing the walk at a remnant patch of Box Ironbark Forest.  Your author is pleased that the exploitation of our native forests for wood chipping is to cease next January.   We noticed that the granite outcrops of the Mt Cole region had given way to predominantly sandstone outcrops as we travelled easterly.  We heard the local parrots and the various sounds of the breezes as we climbed Hills Road then the steeper Tower Road. Small mobs of grey kangaroos and a black wallaby hopped away. Scattered heath and other understory plants gave way to grasses and sedges as we came to the more open bushland as we topped Mt Lonarch.  The Southern Pyrenees would have been visible from the fire tower in less misty conditions.  We made good time on the downhill return and found an ide