Sunday 13 April 2025
Photos courtesy of Erika, Philip, Martin, Helen, Amanda and DonnaG.
Walk report courtesy of Walk Leader DonnaG.
Ten walkers headed off into the Bodalla State Forest for a new walk called Stony Creek Ramble. This hike starts from Big Rock Road and heads down a steep old disused bike track to Stony Creek, although there were some mutterings heard from down the back comparing it to a wallaby track rather than a bike track! We arrived in a dry part of the creek and headed up the other side, joining a network of bike tracks and trails before dropping back into the creek where there downed trees and large water puddles made for some creative attempts at avoiding the dreaded wet hiking boots.
Once out of the creek we had morning tea before heading along an old logging road and descending down an off track section back into the creek from the west. This section of the creek was clear, wide and reasonably dry with someone even comparing it to an old Roman road. The banks were open with beautiful tree ferns and spotted gums along the way. There were lots of photo opportunities in this spectacular part of the forest so we took our time enjoying the surroundings. We visited a spectacular massive spotted gum which was obviously very old although none of us could come to a consensus as to what its age could be, other than very old. We also inspected quite tall stumps that were the remnants from logging operations that pre dated chainsaws. All of the stumps each had three notches that were used by loggers to climb the trees. The notches gave the stumps the appearance of having faces and Phil couldn’t resist checking one of the faces out up close and personal.
We continued along the dry creek bed before making our way uphill to our lunch spot and then back to the cars. Everyone agreed that this new walk was a ripper and one that we would all like to see back on the program in the future.