Carlisle Circuit and Redwood Forest - Day Four of Apollo Bay Camp

 U3A Hike No 275


Hike Report by Leona

Yesterday was a walk of challenging river crossings, but today was definitely a walk of tough hill climbs. There were two scratchings from today's event, one with an undisclosed condition, the other with an injured fetlock. This left 12 starters in the field. 

After about an hour's drive north of Apollo Bay we arrived at the Old Carlisle Track, our start and finish point. The track was in fair condition as we bounded off downhill, then up a long gentle slope. It wasn't long though, before we were gasping for a cuppa, which we had perched on the safety barriers at Boggy Creek. At this point Gordon announced there were "bunches of contours ahead" This could only mean one thing - STEEP HILLS! and sure enough upon turning left onto Rapier Ridge Track, what initially appeared to be a longish gentle slope turned into a very long hill climb. Up we went. At last we reached the crest, but wait, was that another hill beyond that crest? Righto. Upwards and onwards. 

Underfoot and stretching into the distance were deep grey sandy tracks with a covering of fine white sand. Our English companion Alan remarked  "It's like a coating of snow, isn't it?" while the Aussie contribution was "I feel like I'm at the beach" 

We  turned left onto Boggy Creek Track and a very pleasant treed hilly view opened out before us, AND we were heading downhill. But what goes down must go up and we sure did. The track continued to be a wide vehicle access road, which the kangaroos obviously thought was made for them as their tracks were evident for kilometres in the deep sand. Another left turn and we were on Peppermint Parade and yes, another "bunch of contours" It wasn't long before we needed another cuppa, sitting on a grassy roadside bordered by a broad swathe of grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) thriving in the sandy soil. 

Eventually we turned onto the homeward stretch, Cricket Pitch Road. Hmmm. Definitely not ODI worthy. However, we were on a very pleasant flat, then downhill run. Lunch was enjoyed about four kms from the finish line at the Old Carlisle track which we reached feeling rather weary. We headed for the comfort of our waiting vehicles. But - hang on. What about the Californian Redwood Forest? It's just up the road a bit. Surely we could muster the energy for a little meander on the way home. We did of course, but that's another story.

Thankyou to Mark for leading us uphill and down dale, Gordon for keeping us on track and Andrew for looking after the back markers in the field!

Photos by Alan, Andrew and Teena



























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