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Thursday 27 July 2017

Frying Pan Hills

Thursday 27th July 2017

The walk today was to Frying Pan Hills which is west of Mount Wellington and not far from Lachlan.
There were a couple of reasons to do this walk and one was to check out a couple of old sawmill sites for old machinery and second to walk to a rocky outcrop with the hope of some views.
I set out from the Jefferys Track and walked uphill before entering Wellington Park where the "gate"had been repaired since my last visit.
New Gate

Uphill in Wellington Park
Soon I came upon an old relic beside the track.

I kept going uphill to where I turned off to Mount Charles last time and took the left track today which immediately started going downhill to where Oneys Creek crossed the track. I could here a small waterfall just off the road and decided to check it out on the way back. On the way there were a few views to the north west.
To North West
After a while I reached the site of the first sawmill. I only saw one old tank lying around but made a note to check it  out further on the way down.
Sawmill Site

Sawmill Site
I branched off the main track here to check out the second site. I did not expect to see anything at this second site but just wanted to have a look. Sure enough there was nothing to see so I kept going through the bush before rejoining the main track. At the top of the ridge I left the track once again and walked down to the rocky outcrop that I wanted to visit. This was a good idea as there were some good views as well as some sandstone caves.



Mount Dromedary


Looking across to Gumtop

Looking North West

Collins Cap
I walked back uphill to the track and then north west along it to another rocky knoll. There were not many views from here. I was going to keep going down the track but parks or someone had felled trees and brush across it which made it unpleasant walking. I just retraced back up the track and had a look around at a few other tracks before descending to the first sawmill site. I had a look around and did indeed find some more relics.



From here I walked down to Oneys Creek and then down to the waterfall. It was only a small waterfall..dainty I would call it but it was nice in there.


After this I regained the track and walked back to the car.
This was a much better walk than I was expecting and it produced a few unexpected surprises.
Distance: 12.5 kms.
Time: 5'14"
Ascent: 590 metres
Click here to download GPX file.



Friday 21 July 2017

Merton Ruins

Friday 21st July 2017

Merton Ruins
It turned out to be a glorious winter's day today and not the really cold conditions that were predicted. The aim of the walk was to visit the ruins at Upper Merton, not by the direct route on the Tolosa Fire Trail, but to make a more circuitous trip.
I parked in Lower Tolosa Park and set off up to the Knights Creek Trail and then along the Quarry Trail to the quarry.
Small Weir on Humphrey Rivulet

Quarry
Not long after the quarry I decided to take to the bush and walk along the ridge line because I knew of a steep slippery section up ahead from past walks. This proved to be a good idea as it was easy walking and I easily avoided the problem section, and was soon back on the Knights Creek Trail.
Along Ridge Line
After a short distance I left the Knights Creek Trail and walked quite steeply downhill to Humphrey Rivulet where there is another weir.
Humphrey Rivulet

Humphrey Rivulet

Humphrey Rivulet
From here it was up to the Ruins Fire Trail before branching off and walking along the cleared section that contained the ruins.
Mount Wellington

Cleared area containing the ruins




 I just continued walking along the cleared section until it came to an end.


From here I noticed a bike track heading up so thought I would follow that to see where it went. It just ended up doing a loop and rejoined the trail near the intersection of the Ruins and Tolosa Trails. It was quite nice walking in there anyway. I then walked along Tolosa Trail for a short distance before deciding to head uphill to the North South Track. It was easy walking through the low scrub. After reaching the track I followed it until I took a side track leading to the Downhill Track where I stopped for lunch. After that it was a simple matter of following the Priest, Merton and Park Trails back to the car.
A really nice short walk on a perfect day.
Distance: 9.4 kms.
Time: 3'43"
Ascent: 560 metres
Click here to download GPX file.



Saturday 15 July 2017

Trestle Mountain

Saturday 15th July 2017

Trestle Mountain
Today's walk was to Trestle Mountain. The route taken this time was up from Myrtle Forest to Collins Cap Trail, along to East West Trail and then up to the summit and return the same way. The fire trails were icy, as was the ascent of the mountain, but the weather was almost perfect. The temperature ranged between 2 and 5 degrees for most of the walk and we had a minuscule dusting of snow on the way back.
A really enjoyable walk on a good day.
Distance: 11.1 kms.
Time: 5'14"
Ascent: 785 metres
Collins Cap Trail

Collins Bonnet

Collins Cap

Beside Collins Cap Trail

Trestle Mountain

Collins Bonnet and East West Trail
From Summit-Collins Cap and East West Trail

From Summit-Huonville

Trestle Summit

Trestle Summit

Collins Cap
Trestle Summit Ridge