The walk today was to Frying Pan Hills which is west of Mount Wellington and not far from Lachlan. There were a couple of reasons to do this walk and one was to check out a couple of old sawmill sites for old machinery and second to walk to a rocky outcrop with the hope of some views. I set out from the Jefferys Track and walked uphill before entering Wellington Park where the "gate"had been repaired since my last visit.
New Gate
Uphill in Wellington Park
Soon I came upon an old relic beside the track.
I kept going uphill to where I turned off to Mount Charles last time and took the left track today which immediately started going downhill to where Oneys Creek crossed the track. I could here a small waterfall just off the road and decided to check it out on the way back. On the way there were a few views to the north west.
To North West
After a while I reached the site of the first sawmill. I only saw one old tank lying around but made a note to check it out further on the way down.
Sawmill Site
Sawmill Site
I branched off the main track here to check out the second site. I did not expect to see anything at this second site but just wanted to have a look. Sure enough there was nothing to see so I kept going through the bush before rejoining the main track. At the top of the ridge I left the track once again and walked down to the rocky outcrop that I wanted to visit. This was a good idea as there were some good views as well as some sandstone caves.
Mount Dromedary
Looking across to Gumtop
Looking North West
Collins Cap
I walked back uphill to the track and then north west along it to another rocky knoll. There were not many views from here. I was going to keep going down the track but parks or someone had felled trees and brush across it which made it unpleasant walking. I just retraced back up the track and had a look around at a few other tracks before descending to the first sawmill site. I had a look around and did indeed find some more relics.
From here I walked down to Oneys Creek and then down to the waterfall. It was only a small waterfall..dainty I would call it but it was nice in there.
After this I regained the track and walked back to the car. This was a much better walk than I was expecting and it produced a few unexpected surprises. Distance: 12.5 kms. Time: 514" Ascent: 590 metres Click here to download GPX file.
