Mt Macedon Circuit, Macedon Regional Park - August 2019

There was a light dusting of snow coating the bracken first up this morning.

I’ve always wanted to visit Mt Macedon when the mountain had a dusting of snow, however on the rare occasions when snow falls low enough to coat the mountain I always seem to be at work. With snow predicted down to 600 metres on this Friday I figured that today could be the day, Mt Macedon tops around 1000 metres so in theory I should be in the snowy zone. Leaving home well before sunrise I was through the city before the traffic got too bad. After a quick stop for a coffee and a couple of toasties I pulled into the car at McGregors Picnic Ground just after sunrise to be welcomed by snow flurries…sweet!

McGregors Picnic Ground was pretty quiet first thing this morning.

With the weather meant to be deteriorating over the next couple of hours things were looking good as far as snow on the mountain goes. After getting my gear on in the front of the ute I emerged into the cold morning, grabbed my pack and set off. I wasn’t walking the more common Macedon Ranges Walking Track (MRWT) this morning though, instead I was walking a shorter circuit that incorporated sections of the MRWT as well as the summit. Being on lesser tracks though (and with my notes many years out of date) finding the start of my walk required a bit of detective work. Basically I crossed Cameron Drive and picked up an un-signposted old 4wd track heading into the scrub.

Crossing Cameron Drive...

...I picked up this old track heading into the bush.

Mildly confident that I was on the right track I shuffled my way on through the occasional snowy flurry. I was passing through an area that had been logged years ago so there were a lot of old tracks heading off on random tangents so it was important that I concentrated on my navigation…which is exactly what I told myself when I unexpectedly emerged from the scrub back onto Cameron Drive only a few hundred metres from where I’d left it half an hour ago….bugger. The good news now was that I had a track in front of me that was signposted and mapped. Clyde Track dropped fairly gently around the eastern slopes of Mt Macedon, passing through some freshly logged Radiator Pine Plantations on the way, with a fresh dusting of snow the logging coupes reminding of a scene from the Western Front.

Conditions were cold...but not too bad really.

After unexpectedly arriving onto Clyde Track I now knew exactly where I was.

Walking through the devastation of a clear felled logging coupe on Clyde Track.

Looking south towards Melbourne the weather didn't look too bad.

Just as I started to meet some of the large country estates on the outskirts of the Mt Macedon Village I picked up the lesser Hoods Track on the right and contouring around the mountain again as I made my way south and then west to meet up with the MRWT. The deterioration in the weather had, for the most part not happened so far this morning, yes I’d been walking through some snow flurries but nothing was really settling. On meeting the well sign posted MRWT I started the zig zagging climb up towards the summit. I was now a little bit more exposed to south westerly winds but really conditions were nowhere near as bad as they could of been (or I’d hoped for!). The climb up here was the steepest of the walk however it’s not a long one, before long I found myself shuffling through Snow Gums and a few minutes later I emerged from the bush onto the Mt Macedon Memorial Cross Walking Track.

Hoods Track

Hoods Track

Climbing steeply up the southern slopes of Mt Macedon on the MRWT.

With little in the way of long range views (or snow) I was starting to look for something else to photograph now.

Climbing Mt Macedon on the MRWT.

Up in the Snow Gums on Mt Macedon.

The view to the west was a little bleak.

Looking around it appeared that my hope to see Mt Macedon under a fresh coating of snow wasn’t really going to happen this morning, sure there was a very light dusting in spots but for the most part it was just cold and wet. Not to worry, shuffling my way to the Memorial Cross I took the obligatory photo before retreating back to the café to warm up for awhile and suss out the weather. With my hands quickly thawing out as I nursed a hot coffee I grabbed my phone out of my pack and checked out the BOM radar. The predicted dodgy weather had indeed arrived however for the most part it was hitting the eastern side of Melbourne (I was north), apart from a few showers it looked like Mt Macedon was going to miss out this morning.

Mt Macedon

There is a sealed path from the car park at the end of Cameron Drive to the Memorial Cross - the MRWT comes in just before the cross.

It's mostly manicured European trees up here (think old English Hill Station and you'll get the picture).

The Mt Macedon Memorial Cross.

Time to warm up a bit.

I wish all my walks were this civilised ... (actually I don't really;)

So after sussing things out I decided that there was no point hanging around up here this morning, finishing my coffee I grabbed my pack and wet weather gear and set off back towards the ute. I wasn’t retracing my route though, I continued on along the MRWT which now largely contoured along the western slopes of Mt Macedon. There are a couple of spots along here that allow for some long range views to the west, although conditions today were a little sub optimal when it came to views. The MRWT is a very nice walk along here though, initially passing through some sparse Snow Gum forest before entering some taller Alpine Ash forest.

MRWT

The scenic lookout was more on the moody side this morning.

The snow had turned to rain showers now.

After avoiding a few intersecting tracks the MRWT started to pass above some private country estates that were visible through the trees below me, now in this case when I say ‘country estates’ I’m not taking the piss, Mt Macedon being some of Victories most desirable real estate. The private land appearing signalled the end of this mornings stroll, the MRWT now taking a short sharp climb up to McGregors Picnic Ground and my waiting ute. After returning home I jumped online to see reports of big snow falls in the hills to the east of Melbourne, oh well there is always next year! Ironically enough Mt Macedon received it’s heaviest snow falls of the year over the next two days…but I was onto my next Feral adventure by then…

It's nice walking along the MRWT along here.

This bloke was hopping up the track towards me.

The Dirt.
I walked 9.8 kilometres and climbed 410 metres on this medium grade walk. This is a walk of two halves really, the first half following a series of old 4wd tracks around the eastern facing slopes below Mt Macedon, the second half following the well defined MRWT along the western slopes. There is a nice picnic ground at the start (or end) of this walk and also at the car park at the end of Cameron Drive, there is also a café at the end of Cameron Drive near the Memorial Cross. I used notes out of the second edition of Glenn Tempest’s Day Walks Around Melbourne book, the notes are years old and were a little out of date until I met up with Clyde Track, from there on everything was sweet. I may not have really got my hoped for snow this morning but this was still a nice little walk, any walk that features Snow Gums and a hot coffee can’t be too bad in my eyes.

Relevant Posts.
Macedon Ranges Circuit, 2016.

There is some very expensive real estate around Mt Macedon.

One final climb and I was back at McGregors Picnic Ground.