Lerderderg Gorge - Bears Head Circuit - Dec 2014

I joined a great crew today from the Happy When I'm Hiking MeetUp group to walk the Bears Head Circuit Walk at the Lerderderg Gorge, in the Lerderderg State Forest, about 70 kms west of Melbourne.

The walk for the most part followed the route described in Walk 33 of "Day Walks Around Melbourne" by Glenn Tempest (available from Opens Spaces Publishing), with the difference that we started out following the Ah Kow Track, rather than the Lower Chadwick & McKensie Tracks, as per the guide book.

We started at 9:15 and finished the 18km route by 3:30, including 20 mins for lunch, at the point where the Bears Head Range Track meets the river.

There was plenty of water in the river and I enjoyed a swim during the lunch break. (No - it wasn't particularly cold!)

Despite the gorge's reputation for snakes, we encountered none.   We did spy a wild boar, some noisy goats, a wedge-tailed eagle.

This walk has it all - woodlands, scrambly descents and ascents, rock-hopping, river walking (for those not so accomplished at rock-hopping!).  With the river flowing, it is a great time to visit the Lerderderg.