293. Mt Egerton Forest and Lanes 10.3km

March 07, 2024

U3A Hike No 293

Hike Report by Anne Ottrey

15 people met at the Buninyong Tennis Courts to car pool and travel in convoy to Mt Egerton Recreation Reserve. A cool sunny day was forecast with a maximum of 24 degrees and many of us started the walk with jumpers on. We set off along some bushy tracks with a bit of up and downhill involved until we reached the summit of Mt Egerton. The view from the top was restricted by bush but it was a good opportunity to start removing some layers of clothes.

Leaving the summit, we wound our way around Mt Egerton, up and down through bush with a cover of bracken at ground level. We arrived at the top of Mt Egerton Cemetery and wandered through the graves, noting that there were recent burials as well as ones from past centuries. We settled on a spot at the lower end of the cemetery for a morning tea break.

After leaving the cemetery, we soon crossed a major road and took our traditional group photo under the street sign for Walkers Rd. We have taken a photo at this point every time we do this walk, and it is interesting to look back over previous walks and see how the members of the group have varied.

We continued on along the roads and lanes west of Mt Egerton, admiring the houses and occasionally coming across a beautiful distant rural outlook. Although we did not notice any wildflowers on this walk, the area appeared much greener than Ballarat and we passed some flowering gums.

We stopped at the corrugated iron shed which housed a gold battery, supplied by the government to crush quartz for the smaller gold mining operations. It was used until fairly recent times and can be visited once a month for those interested in seeing it in operation. The walk finished with a short loop up to Whipstick Road and back to the cars, for lunch together at the Reserve. It was a very pleasant walk with its combination of bush and quiet rural roads. Thanks to Andrew for leading and Jan for being the whip.