Tarilta Gorge.
First night in my new tent was a success.
Brekkies ready.
It was just before 8am when I finally shouldered my pack and set off down Tarilta Creek today. The nice walking continued this morning as I was able to utilise the many grassy creek side flats to aid my progress. First up this morning I was watching the map closely as I was looking for a substantial gully coming from the east. Arriving at what looked like the gully I was trying to identify I headed up to see if I could find the 6 metre high waterfall that Mr Thomas mentions in his notes. After rock hopping upstream for a hundred metres or so I arrived at the base of a fairly substantial waterfall, although being in Central Victoria at the tail end of summer the waterfall was bone dry on this visit - I'm thinking that this waterfall might be all the excuse I need to revise this walk again - next time after some substantial rain.
The pleasant walking along Tarilta Creek continued this morning.
Tarilta Gorge.
In some spots I picked up the remains of a very old 4wd track - if you squint you can see it dropping down to the creek in this shot.
Walking the creek side flats.
Tarilta Creek.
I found this waterfall a few minutes up a side gully - I guess that means that I'll have to return again, next time after some rain.
Tarilta Gorge.
Suitably chuffed with my navigation I retraced my way back out to Tarilta Creek and continued my walk downstream. Once again the fairly easy off track walking continued and it was only another ten minutes or so before I arrived at Limestone Track, it would be hard to miss this spot as there is a basic bridge spanning the dry creek bed here. Limestone Track is a possible short cut for this stroll although with my days distance already going to be a bit on the anorexic side I decided to continue on downstream for awhile. After crossing over Limestone Track the Tarilta Creek valley opens up even more and the walking is even easier, actually there was even an old 4wd track that I followed along the eastern bank for a fair distance. Once again I think that the camping along here would be both plentiful and good.
Tarilta Gorge.
Occasionally I walked the Tarilta Creek bed.
The Limestone Track bridge is a handy navigational reference point.
Things were a little on the monochrome side this morning - mostly!
North of the Limestone Track bridge I followed this grassy 4wd track
Eventually the grassy 4wd track that I'd been walking petered out and I now walked the steep slopes that came right down to the creek on the eastern side. I mention that because the creek side flats on the other side of the creek look very tempting however I was looking for the spot where I had to swing away from the creek and climb east into the hills. After contouring the loose slopes above the creek for a few minutes some cleared land came into view ahead of me, this was what I'd been looking for. I now had a short but solid climb east onto a ridge where I picked up the major Lancaster Road. Once on the dirt Lancaster Road I climbed gently up a ridge to meet Limestone Track again. From here Mr Thomas' route follows Lancaster Road and then Porcupine Ridge Road to the end of the walk however I decided to follow an off track route through the hills that is only fractionally longer but way more interesting.
When the creek side flats finished I stayed on this side of the creek and sidled the steep slope for a few minutes.
With some cleared land coming into view down the valley I turned east and climbed into the hills.
The climb up to Lancaster Road was pretty good.
Lancaster Road runs along the top of a ridge...
... and makes for easy walking.
To get on my route I swung right down Limestone Track for around 50 metres before picking up a very, very faint old 4wd track that climbed through the scrub up a broad ridge towards a high point in a SSE direction. Reaching the first high point the old track completely disappeared although the light scrub didn't really impede progress. It's very obvious, however it's important to identify this first knoll as from here on the route swings over to a easterly bearing as it heads for Porcupine Ridge Road over a series of knolls and saddles. All was going well for me this morning and thirty minutes later I emerged from the scrub onto Porcupine Road. Once on Porcupine Ridge Road all I had to do was to shuffle south along the dirt road for fifteen minutes before I arrived back at the ute and my walk was over.
After a couple of minutes on Limestone Track I picked up this old 4wd track climbing a broad spur.
At the first knoll I swung east and dropped into this saddle.
Once heading east I just followed a series of knolls and saddles.
I got some glimpses through the trees of the nearby Mt Franklin - although photos were a little harder to get.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 5.5 kilometres and climbed about 171 metres on what I'd call a medium grade walk. Today's walk was mostly off track so navigation is fairly important although the light scrub makes things a little easier. Once again I used Tyrone Thomas' notes out of his 150 Walks in Victoria book along with my GPS topos.
Over the two days of this stroll I walked around 12.8 kilometres and climbed about 295 metres. This walk was a nice little shakedown for my new tent and it's good one if you haven't got a lot of time but still want to head bush for a night. The camping down on Tarilta Creek is sensational although there are no facilities whatsoever so follow the LNT principles. The Great Divide Trail section of the walk on day 1 is well marked however after that things are mostly un-signposted with around 50% of the walk off track, something to consider if anyone follows my route.
Relevant Posts.
Climbing the last knoll I had a few saplings to negotiate.
From the last high point I could see Porcupine Ridge Road below me through the trees.
Easy walking along Porcupine Ridge Road to finish the walk.
Back at the GDT head - it was time to head home.
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