Spring Creek this morning - this is the best I can do without a tripod.
When the Corona virus hit Australia and the country pretty well locked down it not only curtailed all of my travel but it also meant that I'd spend a fair bit of quality Iso time chasing money from various accommodation, transport and concert operators around the country. Needless to say when the restrictions did start to lift a little I was a little gun shy when it came to booking any travel. Eventually though I decided to jump back in and booked a weekend away for Sam and myself up at Beechworth and all was sweet...for a day or two!
Yep, as I was inserting in my credit card number the security guards that were meant to be guarding our overseas quarantine hotel guests were doing a bit of inserting as well....yep, with the guests that they were meant to be guarding in quarantine (allegedly!). Needless to say these guys got the virus, they then returned to their families with the virus and fuck me, the virus is back and speeding around Melbourne at a rapid rate. So Sam and I spent the week before this trip anxiously watching the news waiting to find out which suburbs would be going back into lock down again for the next 4 weeks and who would be able to travel... and as you've probably already guessed we dodged the bullet... for now. Although with a fair chunk of our population getting their information from Facebook or believing in conspiracy theories, and an equally large number not giving a flying fuck about anything other than themselves I'm not sure how long we've dodged the bullet for... by the time this post is published I'm thinking everything will be clearer.
I was lucky to be able to walk out my front door and start walking this morning.
Beechworth was still pretty quiet when I set off this morning.
Anyway after successfully setting ourselves up at Beechworth for our long weekend I decided to head out and do a bit of exploring. Beechworth is fairly well known for its gold mining heritage as well as being the spot where a certain Mr Burke lived before he set off an an ill fated expedition to cross the country with his mate Mr Wills. Now days Beechworth has been gentrified somewhat and is a popular spot for a weekend away, with plenty of mountain bike and walking tracks, great food, drink and arts, yes it's a nice spot. My plan this morning was to explore both the town a little as well as the surrounding hills.
Ford Street, Beechworth.
With us staying almost in the centre of town I didn't have far to go this morning to pick up my described walk, 50 metres after leaving my front door I turned north up Camp Street and was on my way. After one block on Camp Street where I successfully avoided the temptations of the famous Beechworth Bakery I turned left up Ford Street. Ford Street is the main drag in town and the wide boulevard is lined with numerous historic buildings some dating back to the 1850's, early on this very cold winters morning though Ford Street was pretty well deserted. Reaching Church Street I wandered down to check out the still standing facade of the Ovens District Hospital, for many years this was the only hospital between Melbourne and Goulburn.
Ford Street, Beechworth.
Eventually I turned down Church Street...
... you'd never guess it but Church Street features a few...churches.
For a long time this was the only hospital between Melbourne and Goulburn.
After checking out the old hospital site I zigged and zagged my way across to Camp Street and headed out of town. After dropping down to cross a gully Camp Road enters the Beechworth Historic Park and soon arrives at the old Powder Magazine. Built in 1859 this robust building was used to house blasting powder and it's an interesting spot to check out, apparently there are guided tours through here later in the day although everything was still pretty quiet this morning. Leaving the Powder Magazine I headed off on my favourite section of the walk as I explored the Beechworth Historic Park. Crossing Gorge Road I picked up a good track and climbed a little Gorge Road running almost parallel with me a little further down the hill.
Dropping out of town via Camp Street.
The Historic Powder Magazine.
I'm guessing that this is some kind of a lightening rod (™Feral Fact).
I picked up this track on the north side of Gorge Road.
My walking track passed by this old quarry.
After weaving my way through the Cypress Pine and boulders for awhile my walking track eventually met up with Gorge Road again and I turned to the right and dropped down towards the Spring Creek Bridge. Now here's a Feral tip for anyone out there reading this waffle - if you ever find yourself in Beechworth with 30 minutes to spare then jump in your car and drive the Gorge Road loop, it's a very scenic little loop. Being mid winter I was happy to see a good amount of water gushing down Spring Creek this morning and couldn't help think that this would be a magic spot for some wild swimming in warmer weather. Arguably the best spot to view the water gushing down the valley is from the Spring Creek Bridge on Gorge Road and I mucked around there for awhile this morning trying to do some justice to the scene before me, with the sun now breaking through the early morning mist things were looking pretty good.
While the forest is mostly of the dry Cypress Pine type the surrounding country was cloaked in a covering of moss.
The sun was still to make its appearance this morning...
... looking across the Spring Creek Gorge it wouldn't be long though.
I'm about to drop onto Gorge Road for a short stretch.
The old Gorge Road bridge makes for a good spot to view the cascading Spring Creek.
Morning sun on Spring Creek.
Soon after leaving the bridge I also left Gorge Road and started dropping down a rougher walking track to The Cascades. While the track down here was clear enough I had to be a little careful on the numerous wet rock steps and the occasional rock slabs as I dropped into the valley. The Cascades are where Spring Creek drops down out of the Spring Creek Gorge, there are a couple of informal lookouts as the walking track descends that are worth checking out. Continuing on after The Cascades my track dropped down to meet an old 4wd track before shortly after arriving at a track junction. Avoiding the Woolshed Falls Track on the left I followed the 4wd track right and dropped down to ford Spring Creek, thankfully finding a spot where I could rock hop my way across without getting my boots wet.
I was dropping steeply down beside Spring Creek towards that valley.
While it was a reasonably steep descent it was also pretty enough to take my mind off my knees.
The Cascades on Spring Creek.
Nearing the bottom of my descent I met up with this old 4wd track.
I managed to safely negotiate Spring Creek with dry boots.
Once across Spring Creek I continued up the 4wd track through some old mine workings until I arrived at an old diversion dam. While this dam was interesting enough (especially the moss covered retaining wall) it also marked the spot where I had to pick up an old, un-signposted walking track that was heading up a broad spur. Once I'd successfully found the old track the going was pretty good again as I climbed through the open forest up to The Precipice, the main thing to watch out for as I climbed was picking up the track again after negotiating fallen trees. The Precipice is a formal lookout that allows for a great view down the mostly rural valley of Spring Creek and it made a good spot for morning smoko today.
After crossing Spring Creek I followed the 4wd track through some old diggings...
...before I arrived at this old diversion dam.
The old dam marked the spot to pick up this un-signposted pad heading east up the hill.
The old track faded in and out a bit however it wasn't too hard to follow.
The Precipice view.
After a bit of a break I grabbed my pack again and set off on a bit of an meandering route to Ingram's Rock. Instead of climbing straight up to the rock I took a contouring track out to Fiddes Quarry before almost doubling back and making the climb to Ingram's Rock. Accessing the top of Ingram's Rock I arced around the rock before climbing onto the rock from a small carpark from the east. James Ingram was a Scotsman who lived in the area and died just before his 100th birthday back in 1928 and his rock, complete with it's small tarns made another nice spot for a break this morning. One thing I have to say though is that it pays to be very careful on all the rocks and rock slabs up here in winter, when the rocks are wet or icy they are incredibly slippery.
Once past The Precipice the track got more defined.
Fiddes Quarry
Ingram's Rock
Ingram's Rock
Ingram's Rock
Leaving Ingram's Rock I picked up One Tree Hill Track as it undulated its way south. After a quick side trip out to check out One Tree Hill Lookout I dropped down Gorge Road to emerge at the outskirts of Beechworth on Sydney Road of which I immediately crossed and followed Cemetery Road up to the Beechworth Cemetery. This is a big and historic cemetery, there is even a self guided walk around the extensive grounds. With more time I would of explored a little more extensively, maybe even a night visit with a torch and my camera would be interesting, this morning though I was interested in checking out the Chinese section of the cemetery. A large number of the old Chinese miners paid a big price in their search for gold and the Beechworth cemetery provides a poignant reminder of those times. I think it is lost on a lot of Australians the long history we have had with Chinese immigrants, our Chinese history is almost as long as our European history... and don't get me started on our under appreciated indigenous history!
One Tree Hill Track.
One Tree Hill Lookout.
The Golden Horseshoe Monument on Sydney Road. Apparently the first politician elected to the Victorian Parliament led a parade through town on a horse with gold shoes.
The Chinese section of the Beechworth Cemetery is worth checking out.
The Burning Towers were used to burn paper prayers for the dead.
I'm thinking Beechworth Cemetery needs to be explored a little more. There is actually self guided walk around the grounds if anyone wants to check it out.
I now zig zagged my way through town as I meandered my way down to Lake Sambell, checking out the historic Beechworth Prison and the extensive Queens Park along the way. After a somewhat convoluted route through town once I'd arrived on the shore of Lake Sambell everything was pretty sweet again when it came to navigation... I just turned right and followed the water. Lake Sambell was originally a mining site but now days the man made lake is a very popular recreation spot for the locals, with a great children's playground, a swimming pontoon and plenty of walking tracks this is a nice spot. After making my way anti-clockwise along the lake shore I left the lake near the spillway and dropped down to pass through a nice little Chinese Garden before making my way Camp Street, crossing the bridge over Silver Creek and finishing off what had been a pleasant little stroll.
I now meandered my way back through town towards lake Sambell - passing the historic Beechworth Prison along the way.
I passed through Queen Victoria Park - judging by the cannons on the rock they must of been expecting some trouble?
I dropped out the bottom left corner of Queen Victoria Park...
...crossed over Silver Creek...
... successfully negotiated the maze...
... and arrived on the shore of Lake Sambell.
The Dirt.
I walked 13.5 kilometres and climbed 400 metres on this Easy-Medium grade walk. This walk is really a walk in two parts, there is the historical Beechworth township part of the walk and then there is the surprisingly rugged in spots, Beechworth Historic Park bushland section. I suppose it would depend on your personal interests as to which part of the walk would be the most enjoyable however for me it was the bushland section, Spring Creek Gorge is particularly photogenic. There have been a lot of notes published on walks similar to the one that I did today and they are all adequate, for what it's worth I used Melanie Ball's notes and map out of her Top Walks Victoria book this morning.
Relevant Posts.
Lake Sambell features a nice swimming pontoon... although maybe it would be better appreciated in summer I'm thinking.
I followed a short section of board walk around Lake Sambell.
Reaching the Lake Sambell spillway I dropped into this Chinese Garden. This bloke bares a striking resemblance to your Feral correspondent.
Leaving the Chinese Park I passed beneath this old bridge...
... before climbing up to meet Camp Street again.
Our accommodation... much more civilised than my tent! (thanks Sam for the sketch).
