Lenghth: 18.0km, Circuit
Duration: 2 days
Medium: Steep
terrain, dry rocky and scrubby forest
Start/Finish: James
Camping Ground (Creek water needs to be treated)
Closest town: Lima
East, Southwest of Swanpool
Distance from North of Melbourne: 130km
Maps:
Rooftop’s,
Strathbogies Ranges Forest Activities Map, ed.April 2005
VicMap: Tallangalook, 8024-S, Scale 50k Topo, 1st ed 2007
Suggested: Updated
topo map, long trekking pants, gaiters, garden gloves, and a trekking pole.
GPS route with waypoints
I had been solo to Strathbogies twice. Once had been up and along the spur of the
eastern range. The other had been a
return to retrieve my fit-over glasses, which had been left behind at a lunch
spot near Scott’s Peak on the range.
It was a rather long drive from Melbourne’s southeast
and it took about 3 hrs to get to James Camping Ground with facilities
including: toilets, tables, fire rings and creek water, which needs to be
treated before drinking.
In the morning, I enjoyed the company of two blue-wrents
while doing the packing. There was no walking track signpost at the campground and
there had been no information available on ParksVic website. With an internet search, I found one or two written reports of an
overnight walk in the area, but an appropriate route map is still not yet
available. Hence, this was mainly an
exploratory trip with the plan of a clockwise direction to tackle the western
range, to take in a north-eastern ridge, and then to pick up my own way back
via around the base of the range or out to Lima East Road. It was about midday when I got ready, so
extra food and cooking water for the night and the next morning were also
packed. One usual final step before
shouldering my pack was to take a GPS waypoint of the starting point, which
would be useful for the return trip.
The walk started with a crossing of Moonee Creek
(Charlie Crk, Campground section), which was just ankle-deep. The bank on the other side of the creek was
rather scrubby with blackberries. This
reminded me of the garden gloves, which were left at home. Long pants, gaiters were in great help.
Strathbogies Forest
I then made my own way up a ridge, heading west,
then southwest until I reached a pole at 440m elevation. A bit further was a cairn (464m), which was
built on the open rocky slabs, which provided views of Scott’s Peak on the
eastern range and the mountain range to the south. This 190m zigzag climb reminded me of a tiger snake I had
encountered on one of the two previous walks in the area.
View of Scott's Peak on the eastern range
Southern range
Following the open slabs for a short distance
led me to a faint path. Continuing
on the path, I arrived at a rocky
outcrop (504m), where I had late lunch (about 3.00pmish) with the view down a
slope full of fern trees.
After lunch, about 1km of walking up and along
the path took me to the Bamford Track, which was an old vehicle track. Crossing the track, I headed up a ridge
towards White Rock. The terrain up here
was rough and scrubby and it was getting rather late. Hence, on arriving at a saddle (about 600m), I started looking
for a camping spot. Unlike the noise of
loud music at the campground the night before, it was so beautifully quiet up
here. The night was rather windy and I
tossed and turned a bit
One of many giant boulders in Strathbogies
Dry, scrubby and rocky forest
Camping in the forest
In the morning, I abandoned a side trip to White
Rock. The initial plan heading
northwest to reach Rocky Ned Falls was also changed due to the condition of the
terrain, which was rough, scrubby and steep.
Instead, I headed west. The
closer I got to the bank of Parlour Creek, the thicker the scrub became. Excellent creek water was so inviting and my
wine flask was also refilled before the climb.
Parlour Creek
The other side of the creek was also scrubby,
but it was only a 21m climb up to reach Lima East Road. I kept to the right and continued for about 32m along the road until I reached an unmarked junction, where there was a
car and the track to the right was the one, which led to Rocky Ned Falls. Please note: this track is shown on Rooftop's
Map, but not on VicMap.
Track to "Rocky Ned Falls"
Following this wide track for about 350m, I met
a young lady who was on the way back to her car. Continuing another 100m, I noticed the spot where the lady camped
last night. It seemed that the original
plan had been reasonable and I missed out the dropping down from the spur
into Parlour Creek Valley. Lunch stop
was at Rocky Ned “Waterfall”, where I could hear bikies approaching, greeting
me, then quickly disappearing.
"Rocky Ned Falls"
After lunch, I crossed Rocky Ned Creek, and
headed up for about 21m to arrive at an unmarked junction. Leaving the main track, I followed a foot (& bike) track
heading north down to a saddle, which provided the less challenging access to
Rocky Ned to the southwest and an opportunity to explore few giant boulders on
a ridge line in the northeast, where I stopped for a drink and a check out of
the location. Due to steepness and
scrubby condition of the terrain ahead, I changed the direction by leaving the
ridge line and following a foot (& bike) trail, which led to the northwest,
then down to a creek, where I decided to call it the day. It had been a bit of a long day, coupled
with the lack of sleep the night before, so after a quick dinner I hit the
sack.
Forest camping
The next morning, I crossed the creek and
followed the wide foot track about 3.5km northeast up until reaching Police
Road. After an immediate turn to the
right, I followed Herbert Drive, went past a private property, and continued on until the end of the track, where I spotted a “black belly” snake with
its head and two third of its body dug under the ground. It had been hunting or heard me
arriving? Crossing an unknown creek, I arrived at an open
rocky slab.
Back to the forest
and then head for the hills again
From here, the walk back to James Campground was
mainly off track. I headed up a ridge
and up another ridge, then descended a 200m steep slope to reach the
boundary. Walking along the fence line
for a short distance, I arrived at Sugarloaf Creek, and then a waterfall.
Sugarloaf Creek
"Sugarloaf Waterfall"
Leaving the waterfall, I picked up my way, followed a path,
then arrived at a private property, where I met a nice land owner, who was
working on the paddock. He wondered how
I ended up there and congratulated me “glad that I made it”. Hence, one more ridge and one more gully
would take me back to the starting point. Following the paddock track for about
0,5km by the compass bearing, I reached the boundary/fence line with a pole,
which was built into a big boulder. A
steep and scrubby bush-bash down saw me back to the creek I had crossed two
days ago.
All in all, I was rather satisfied with the exploring. Another return to this area with a bit of
change in the route would be much more enjoyable.
Strathbogies Ranges Pack Carry elevation profile
