Beeripmo Walk

 A shortish overnight walk in a place I had never been to, recommended on the bushwalking website, interesting name, so off I went. Strangely enough what I gathered is the most amazing feature in the area, a cave, is not quite on the route so I planned to make the detour. The walk is in the Mt Cole and Mt Buangor State Forests near Beaufort. 

April 1 I began with a climb in the forest to Raglan Falls, not much water but enough for a skinny cascade

and continued climbing a little, first among dry stringybarks and then into ferny forest. It was alternately sunny and then an icy wind. I came onto a ridge with views of forest clad Mt Cole and the farmland below, then Mt Langi Ghiran and the Grampians in the distance. 

After 5 kms I stashed my pack and did the out and back to the cave, Bukkertillible. This involved a long descent on loose slippery dirt with many granite slabs to cross and was slow going but when I got there the place was phenomenal: more of an overhang than a cave, it was a massive granite outcrop, maybe 30 metres long, partly cut away to form a shelter over a sloping granite base. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to stumble across this by chance deep within the forest. 

I rejoined my pack and stayed on the ridge getting more views of Langi Ghirang, windfarms and then, after a zigzag climb, Mt Sugarloaf. 

By now it was really windy and I was concerned about camping under trees. When I got to the campsite the wind was loud but mostly in the tree canopy and the spindly trees were swaying without too much ominous creaking. I was definitely not expecting it to be so cold. 11.8 kms 

April 2 The wind gusted and shook the trees all night and in the morning I could see I was just outside a cloud that engulfed the forest. I walked to the Mt Buangor lookout for a surprisingly good view westwards despite the cloud and continued to the peak. The track to the top was fairly non existent through ferns and small boulders The peak was in the cloud and any view obscured by trees anyway but there was a cairn of moss covered stones and the trees were atmospheric in the mist.

Next I took another detour to Dawson Rock, a large granite slab with a view to the east for a change: more forested ranges. When I arrived at the slab two wallabies were sitting at the edge. I descended to Mugwamp campsite, with a corrugated iron hut and toilet but no water and stopped for a break. It was a nice forest enclave with ferns and mixed eucalypts. 

When I left I walked right below Dawson Rock exactly where the wallabies had gone. I could have climbed it from there and saved myself the detour. All downhill after that as I contoured a series of gorges above creeks and then crossed them; closer to the creeks were bright tree ferns. I had seen three people on the walk so I was surprised the car park was full when I got back. 13 kms