The Heysen Trail (South) - Part 2

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Back on the trail again (27/12) this time I am walking with my mates Tim and Steve, I picked Tim up just after 6.30 am before heading to Steve's place we took two cars leaving mine just of Dashwood Gully Rd and Steve's at Mylor right in front of the deli. We left my car at 7.45 am beginning the walk by following some back roads past a few farms before arriving on the edge of the Kuitpo Forest about an hour later. A nice cool and overcast morning boded well for a good walking experience shame about the swarms of flies though.

On entering the forest my first thought was that this is nothing like the Crawford Forest, they didnt appear to be growing pines here, the vegetation looked much more native and the scenery much more Australian which was further emphasised my the many Kangaroos we saw along the way. Traversing the forest areas the walking at times was hard with a number of climbs required, some of the hills were long and steep and the sun seemed to poke its head out every time we climbed which made for hot work. While I was slugging up the hills Tim seemed to get a kick out of whacking me on the head with a stick while claiming to chase flies away :-), at least on the hill tops the breeze was blowing and did much to refesh.

After walking for perhaps 3 km we ventured through a small stretch of private land before crossing a little wooden bridge over a tiny creek before slugging up another steep hill, then wandering through the last kilometre or so of the forest. The trail then ran along the boundary of the fenced of Mount Bold Reservoir, the vegetation here was lush natives, soon we left the fence line and headed into the bush soon coming across the historic Jupiter Creek gold diggings where we stopped to check out some of the ruins and the shafts. From here we took an old road along the fenceline of the Police Training Centre before climbing a style at Rowe Rd, into private property. Wooden boardwalks followed the fences here, it looks like it could be a bit swampy in the winter, then it was 10 or 15 minutes of walking through a couple of farmers properties before hitting the Glen Bold Rd, where we were lucky enough to see a pair of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos.

From here it was a 5km slug along the road to Mylor, by now both Steve and I were starting to feel a little tired, after nearly 25km many would. We crossed the Onkaparinga River at about 12.15 and arrived at the Mylor Shop where the vehicle was about 15 minutes later, after a cold drink we went back to get my car which was a few kilometres outside Meadows and headed onto the Stirling Hotel for a refreshing pint before heading home.

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Photos

Turn off to Rocky Creek Hut
Native forest all around

Termite mound
Not big compared to the ones in the Territory

Jupiter Creek Gold diggings
Pretty dark in there