Leader: Chris Louth

It was cool and clear as five of us headed up Aniseed Valley. Our journey was briefly interrupted by a pair of hares on the road, one of which decided to “hare” off up the road in front of the car. We clocked it at about 40kph for at least a km before it finally dived into the scrub.

Dan logged us in at the caretaker’s house then it was off up the valley. The Roding River had spiked quite high the day before but had fallen quickly and was easily negotiated. At the old smelter we stopped briefly for those who hadn’t been there before, then made our way up to the final crossing below the old United Mine workings on United Creek.

Here we stopped briefly as sandals and shoes were swapped for boots for the steep, but fairly short, climb past the mine to the ridge. This track used to be overgrown and hard to find but recently someone has cleared and marked it all the way over to Champion Mine. It appears to be getting plenty of use.

After a brief stop for smoko we gained a high point on the ridge to survey what was ahead on the planned route up the ridgeline to the Rocks/Browning track. None of us had been that way before but we knew that it wouldn’t be quick and easy to get through the patches of thick scrub we could see ahead, and time could become a factor.

After discussing the options, a democratic vote was taken and we decided to leave the exploration of that route for another day on a private trip. Instead we would head down to Champion Mine, cross the creek and head up to the opposite ridge between Mt Meares and Mt Malita via the valley floor.

At Champion Mine we followed the creek upstream for a couple of hundred metres before bashing through the thick bush up onto a spur. Above the creek the going was very steep, but much easier, as we climbed above a large slip to the ridgeline.

At one of the high points on the ridge we stopped to regroup and have lunch. A conversation then ensued about whose arms and legs were bleeding the most. Andrea thought it was her, with a tiny graze on her bum, but clearly some of the older ,thin-skinned ones had fared much worse!

From here there is a barely discernible track on the ridge up through the scrub, then through beech, to the NCC hut near the top of Mt Malita. After cleaning up at the rainwater tank it was off over the grass and down the forestry road to the car.

We arrived at the car almost exactly seven hours after we set off, after a very nice walk through terrain that is quite different from the usual bare ridges and beech forests outside the mineral belt. This was the first time Andrea and Marie had been in the area and both were suitably impressed.

Out for the day were: Marie Firth, Andrea Cockerton, Dan McGuire, Chris Louth (scribe) & visitor Bob Renshaw.