357. Mt Franklin Views - Dry Diggings Hike 11.1km

 U3A Hike #357




Hike Report by Anne Ottrey

Fifteen hikers turned up on this clear, crisp winter’s morning. The BOM said it was -3.6⁰ at 7am, but felt like -6.9⁰, so the drivers carefully travelled through the potentially icy roads of Daylesford to our starting point on Porcupine Ridge Road. We were car shuttling for this walk so there was some standing round on the frosty ground while the cars were organised. 

We started off walking past some interesting rural properties – a Buddhist retreat and a property which formerly had many sculptures scattered around the grounds, now sadly gone except for one too large to move.

When we reached the top of Porcupine Ridge the landscape opened up into rolling farmland with sweeping views of Mt Franklin, and a little to the south, Mt Kooroocheang. We found a handy sunny bank to sit on and enjoy the view while we had our morning tea break. After morning tea, Geoff demonstrated his sheep handling skills by encouraging a stray sheep back into its flock in the nearby paddock. 

Shortly after this we took a left turn onto Sawpit Gully Rd which doubles as the Dry Diggings Track (part of the Goldfields Track) which we wandered along until we joined the Midland Highway at a very interesting collection of letter boxes. A group favourite was a guitar-shaped letter box belonging to a musical instrument maker. We walked along the road reservation parallel to the Highway for a short distance, crossing at The Chocolate Mill. No visits were allowed! The track here undulates southwards through the bush for the second half of our walk. We passed through a heavily eroded moonscape section called Beehive Gully, with widespread signs of former mining. 

We finished off with lunch at the cars before the reverse shuttle took place to retrieve the missing car. It was a great day for walking, cool but sunny, and the varied rural and bush sections made for an interesting walk. Thanks to Andrew and Gordon for organising and leading the walk. 


Photos by Andrew Parker



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