Two major pluses about this three day hike: I have now completed the Great Dividing Trail (the Goldfields Trail which I finished last year formed the main part of this) and, of more significance, I did not fall over, trip or even merely stumble on this walk. No injuries, bruises, grazes or anything.
This track starts nominally at Bacchus Marsh railway station but I skipped the first few kilometres because it would have been really dull and isn’t even signed, and Denis came with me to the entrance to Lerderderg State Park where the track really gets going. We had an undulating few kms on the Blackwood Ranges Track high above Lerderderg Gorge, grand views of forested mountains and a deep valley, and then he left me to continue alone. Pretty soon I was into forest and descended into Foxy Gully which was greener than the higher forest. I came up out of this gradually and got to the bare hillside where I had the steep climb up to Mt Blackwood; I had been here 3 weeks ago so didn’t bother to summit again. Once I descended I was able to walk in a new (to me) part of the park for a while.
I descended steeply to Whisky Creek. There was water in the creek - this is unusual - so I sat down there and made a cup of coffee. Then I had a steep climb back up and a long walk through dry forest. It seemed a shame that this track basically keeps to the tops as the gorge itself is wonderful. Picture from previous trip:
Camping opportunities are few and far between, actually barely any, and I ended up camping at Margarets Corner where I had camped on my previous trip, on exactly the same patch of grass. Just shows that I had chosen well last time.
My middle day of walking was the nicest. It started out misty and cool and remained cool to cold all day. I began with single track on Byers Back Track, along a forest shelf above the Lerderderg River. I was passed by several groups of runners. I had a lovely stretch along the river to Blackwood, now entering Wombat State Forest, and a long chat with one of the runners I had met just before. I made a coffee at Blackwood mineral springs park, and soon found myself buying a cookie at the Blackwood shop, just because it was there. And I was hungry.
After this I had a lot more track alongside the Lerderderg River, with lots of gold mining ruins. It was very green and damp and must have rained a lot recently. The creeks unexpectedly had water.
The track was well signed with marker posts, but I had a problem in the afternoon: I came to a place where I could see the track clearly on my two gps apps but could not find the physical track even when I was apparently standing right on it. By coincidence two other walkers arrived just after me and, even with a different gps app, could not find the track. They opted to take a random track and left. I walked back and forth and then decided to cross the river and take a longer trail that would lead to the same destination eventually. But when I crossed the river I looked again at the map and saw that I could go back and more easily follow the gravel road close to the trail I couldn’t find, so I went back. As I got to the point where the track should have been (yet again!) I saw what could have passed for a log strategically placed across the creek. I wasn’t going to risk standing on the mossy log but I slid down the creek bank and crossed the creek, whereupon I could see a vague trail which became more of a real trail, mine.
I was planning to camp at Nolan’s Creek where I knew that there was a picnic area. When I got there it was a lovely grassy oasis by a gurgling creek but I could see that camping wasn’t allowed; I noticed a place in the forest across the road that had been used for camping and looked fine. There were two things stopping me: it was quite cold and only 3pm and I didn’t know how I would fill in the time until bedtime in the cold, and the campsite was in full view of the gravel road, busy with 4WDs, and I like to be more hidden when I camp alone.
I sat for a long time having lunch and coffee, then decided to continue to Balts Camp, which is not a campsite but the disused location of a postwar refugee camp. I thought it would at least have flat ground, which was at a premium along the trail. The walk undulated through dry and then wet schlerrophyl and had a lot of muddy bits. Trail bikes had been through (illegally) and churned up the trail, which had then seen lots of rain that had filled the ruts. I saw a few kangaroos retreating into the bush as I came by. I only reached Balts at 7pm. I went down a trail behind the fireplaces, all that remains of the camp, and saw a group of people camped there; they barely noticed me and I walked a bit further and found a nice sheltered spot to camp. It was very windy.
In the morning it was cold and I walked in all the clothes I had with me. I followed gravel roads and bits of trail with a lot of turns - I could have been going round in circles for all I knew. I didn’t have breakfast at my campsite but waited until I reached my first creek, after about 3 kms. The forest was quite grey in the dull light and overcast day.
The highlight was crossing the Great Divide, and as I descended the forest took on a greener hue, also the sun started to emerge but the wind was cold. I came to Jubilee Lake and had been planning to stop there, but in the end I didn’t because I thought I was so close to my finish in Daylesford. There was a curious bridge across the outflow from the lake.
But I was not close to Daylesford. I had to walk a long and tedious path where there had been a railway line, lots of it infested by blackberry, and climb over Cornish Hill, passing mining relics. Then I came to the outskirts of Daylesford and the track markers vanished. I chose to call the central roundabout my finish line. I had walked a total of 79.5 kms over three days of 26 kms, 31.5 kms, 22 kms.
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