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| This is as far down Ingliston Creek as I got today. |
It seems the harder I try to keep fit the sicker I get this year, so far I’ve had two severe cases of man flu, the first one needed antibiotics to finally shake after about four weeks. The second dose of man flu is now well into it’s third week and to be honest I don’t seem to be getting any better. To top it off this year I had a big stack on my bike and caused some serious damage to my lower back, yep, it’s been an annus horribilis that’s for sure. Thinking that I was getting a little better I figured a nice easy walk would be the go on this Saturday, so that’s how I found myself in the dusty Ingliston Gorge Carpark pulling on my boots this morning.
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It was another cracker of a day today...although a little rain wouldn't go astray as things are getting pretty dry.
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| The walk starts and ends on this 4wd track. |
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As is pretty common I’ve done this walk before, so I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to tax me too much and setting off along a 4wd track things were looking good. Today was a cracker of a day in Melbourne and my spirits were high as I soon met up with the turn off down on Sloss’s Gully Track. Heading down the shallow gully that is Sloss’s Gully things were still pretty good in my Feral world although after 15 minutes meandering my way along the dry gully the pad left the gully and started an easy climb up onto a ridge, suddenly things weren’t so sweet. Starting the short easy climb I had nothing, the climb was probably only 30 metres elevation over a few hundred metres but it was a two photo stop climb for me this morning!
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Sloss's Gully is where I left the 4wd track....the walking improves immensely from here on.
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Sloss's Gully
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There are a few track markers along Sloss's Gully...don't miss the spot to turn out of the gully though.
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| This little climb was a two photo stop climb this morning! |
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Reaching a gas pipeline easement I crossed over and thankfully started a gradual descent. After stopping at an informal rocky lookout over Inglston Gorge my track started descending a bit more seriously, eventually dropping into a gully and arriving at the bottom of Inglston Gorge. Before continuing on the marked circuit this morning I decided to turn left and head down Inglston Creek. There is no formal track on this little side trip but the going is pretty easy, after our super dry September there was no water in the creek to negotiated so the bed of the creek was sometimes the better option for walking. The gorge along this little side trip is arguably more spectacular than the formal section of the walk I’m thinking and the grassy opening where I met the old fence line would make a nice spot for a picnic, you certainly wouldn’t be over run with other walkers down here.
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The scenery on my little off piste side trip was pretty sweet.
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It was just as easy to walk in the dry creek bed sometimes on this section.
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| Meeting the main track again there was a pretty reasonable pad. |
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My old recollections of this walk had me walking largely off piste up the creek along here, but today I found a pretty good and well marked track. The track criss crossed the bone dry creek quite a few times on it’s meandering journey north though, but each change of direction gave me another great view of the walls of the gorge. Thankfully the scenery was nice though because I was feeling decidedly shitty now, I was drenched in sweat and really had nothing to give when it came to energy output now.
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Ingliston Gorge
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Rocky walking along Whitehorse Creek in Ingliston Gorge.
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Have I mentioned that it was a pearler of a day?
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Arriving at the exit of the gorge I stopped for a bit of a breather as I contemplated the climb out. Thankfully the climb out this end of the gorge didn’t seem quite as solid as the drop in the other end, but it still required quite a few photo stops before I emerged onto the 4wd track up near the carpark again. The climb is actually a really nice one, the track being benched into the steep hill side and passing through the ubiquitous dry, open Ironbark forest, even in my slightly less than optimal state I enjoyed it. Arriving back at the ute I chucked my boots in the back and set off home with a new plan, I’d settle down on the couch for the rest of the weekend and watch Bathurst - that shouldn’t require too much energy!
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Don't miss this turn.
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Even though I was feeling absolute crap the climb out was a good one.
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The Dirt.
I walked 6 kilometres and climbed 179 metres on today’s easy stroll. There is a short off track section on this stroll but it follows a creek, so it shouldn't present any real navigational issues, it's easy enough to omit this section if your not wanting to walk off track though. Ingilston Gorge is within the boundaries of the Werribee Gorge State Park and while Inglston Gorge isn’t anywhere near as grand as the nearby Werribee Gorge, it’s still well worth a look I think. I used Glen Tempest’s notes today out of his ‘
Melbourne’s Western Gorges’ book, Tyrone Thomas has also written this walk up in some of his old books. Another author that covers this walk is a guy called Jack Myers, his 2002 book ‘
Jack’s Track Notes, Day Walks in Bacchus Marsh District’ is the absolute definitive guide to these western gorges, I think.
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