Kline Nature Walk, Murray~Sunset National Park - May 2019

Lake Crosbie just after dawn.

I’ve never really featured the Murray-Sunset National Park on my blog. Probably the main reason for that is that it’s so far from home however I decided to rectify that this week. With the park being so far from home I decided to head up after finishing work for the week on a Thursday night. By the time I’d thrown all my gear into the ute and had some dinner with Sam it was around 7pm when I set off on the long drive. With some good rain up in northern Victoria in the previous couple of days there was plenty of standing water around on my long drive north tonight, something that is a bit unusual up here, but it added a bit of interest to my drive(it doesn’t take much to occupy my mind;). I pulled into the almost empty camp near Lake Crosbie just before 1am, had the tent up and was into bed within twenty minutes after what had been a long day.

It takes a bit to get me out of the tent before the sun arrives - but this'll do it!

Lake Crosbie

Waking next morning just before the sun arrived over the horizon I pulled on the warmest clothes that I had, grabbed the camera and emerged into the cool morning air. This place is magic at sunset and sunrise and with a bit of recent rain the nearby Lake Crosbie had a shallow sheen of water on it which only added to the scene this morning. The lake having a nice pink hue to it this morning. The pink colour isn’t caused by the salt (they are all salt lakes up here) but by a species of red algae that can tolerate the salty environment. Eventually I decided to head back to camp, scoff down some breakfast and pack up camp.

Lake Crosbie

Lake Crosbie

Saltbush at Lake Crosbie, it's easy to see the inspiration behind the indigenous dot painting style of art.

Parking the ute at a picnic area about 100 metres from the spot I'd camped at, I grabbed my pack, reset the GPS and set off onto the signposted Kline Nature Walk. This walk sets off along the eastern shoreline of Lake Crosbie, the level sandy track passing through mostly salt bush with the occasional larger tree to add a bit of interest. For me though the main interest was still the early morning light over Lake Crosbie although the pad largely stays around 50 metres away from the actual lake shore, that said it’s easy enough to follow one of the many animal pads down to the salty shoreline if you want a closer look.

The walk is fairly well signposted and marked.

The track is a short walk from the salty shoreline of Lake Crosbie.

The walking is all fairly easy.

After ten minutes or so I met a track junction and turned east away from Lake Crosbie and started a gentle climb up and over a low ridge, the views over my shoulder back towards Lake Crosbie only improving as I climbed. I was now climbing through sparse woodland that is fairly typical of the country up here, Cypress Pines, Mallee and Buloke being the predominant trees up here along with the occasional Yellow Gums. Reaching the highest point I suddenly not only had views of Lake Crosbie over my shoulder but also Lake Kenyon in front of me and to make things very civilised Parks Vic had even installed a seat for me to sit on and take it all in.

After leaving Lake Crosbie I climbed this low ridge.

I got some nice views back towards Lake Crosbie over my shoulder.

Cypress Pine...sweet.

Dropping off the low ridge I now meandered my way down onto the western shoreline of Lake Kenyon, another salt lake with a pinkish hue. It was along the shoreline of Lake Kenyon that I started to encounter a few relics left over from the old salt mining days up here. My track followed the red sandy shoreline of Lake Kenyon for around twenty minutes, the fairly open country making it very easy to get some great views of the virtually dry lake.

Lake Kenyon

It was when I reached Lake Kenyon that I started to come across some relics left over from earlier times.

Lake Kenyon

The pad beside Lake Kenyon was also pretty easy to follow.

I'm not sure if the old plough was used in the harvesting of the salt or it was left over from some nearby pastural endeavour?

Paperbarks at Lake Kenyon.

Reaching the western most tip of Lake Kenyon I started to climb west back over the same ridge that I’d climbed earlier, once again the low ridge hardly making for an arduous climb. After meandering around a little checking out various (signposted and un signposted) points of interest I arrived at the crest of the ridge, my route now tracking north west a little close to the crest. There are some more remnants of the salt mining days up here including an old truck that is slowly rusting away under the desert sky. It’s worth poking around the old relics for awhile, although you’d want to be careful of snakes if you get too inquisitive around this old machinery.

Climbing away from Lake Kenyan back onto the low ridge.

I did say it was a low ridge.

Looking back down to Lake Kenyan from the ridge line.

Restorer's delight.

The rear (?) end wasn't far away.

My walk now dropped back down towards Lake Crosbie again, the track looping around to the north near some old carriages that were used to transport the salt before arriving at the Open Air Salt Museum. The grandly titled Open Air Salt Museum not only features more rusting relics of the bygone era but also some very large left over mounds of salt that look a little like mounds of snow after the snow making machines have been busy in our alpine areas. If anyone reading this waffle wants to visit this spot but isn’t keen on the walking bit then you can drive here along the 2wd Pink Lakes Road.

I'm guessing that these old carriages were for transporting the salt.

I was dropping back down towards Lake Crosbie again now.

The very easy walking continued.

The Open Air Salt Museum featured a few left over large mounds of salt.

Salt.

Crossing over Pink Lakes Road my walking track once again starred tracking along the eastern shoreline of Lake Crosbie, although now with the sun a lot higher in the sky I wasn’t mucking around as much taking photos as the harsher late morning light was no match for this mornings soft light. After passing my outward route I retraced the last few hundred metres back to the ute with plenty of time for morning smoko before I’d set off on another stroll - but that’s another story.

There is some more rustic machinery at the Open Air Salt Museum.

Heading back to the ute beside Lake Crosbie.

Lake Crosbie

The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 5.4 kilometres and climbed 54 metres on this easy stroll. The track is fairly well signposted and defined and there are quite a few information boards erected around the walk. While the track is mostly sand it’s not overly soft, although walking up here in hot weather would ramp the degree of difficulty up substantially. This walk has been written up by quite a few walking guide book authors over the years including Mr Thomas, Mr & Mrs Daly and Ms Ball. I used Melanie Ball’s notes and map out of her Top Walks in Victoria book today as they are the most currant. Parks Vic also have a lot of free stuff online.

Relevant Posts.
Hattah Lakes Circuit, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, 2018.
Lake Hattah to Ki Bend, Hattah-Kulkyne Circuit, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, 2018.
Black Flat to Remote Camp via Lake Brambruk, Remote Camp Walk, Wyperfeld National Park, 2017.

And another nice little stroll has come to it's end.

It's a harsh environment up here.