Yarra Falls

A few surprises on the way out.

A few light showers overnight had made everything dripping with water but it wasn't really very cold. I decided against putting my waterproof pants on as they would probably make me too hot. This turned out to be a good move. After packing up my campsite I tried to find a break through the undergrowth for my return journey. There were none. It was going to be a couple of hours of take one step, part the branches, put the camera bag on the ground ahead, part more branches, take one small step, part the branches..... over and over.

When I reached the clearer forest again I found a piece of green electrical tape on a small tree. It was on what appeared to be another remnant of the old track, a level section cut across the slope about 1.5m wide. The track went left across the ridge and another piece of tape made me guess that someone had tried to retrace the old track. That's all very nice but I just wanted to go home and I headed straight up the ridge.

The old tourist map of Yarra Falls marks a lookout where you can see the upper five falls. I had looked for it briefly on the way down without success but found it on the way up. I could only hear them at first but found the spot after wandering down the side of the ridge a little. And then it was back into the thick undergrowth. By now I had developed a technique for getting through the bushes, and knew which trees to avoid. It was still tough going and I reached Falls Creek again slightly above the first fall.

This part of the creek was typical of the difference between this forest and any other that I had walked through. Normal fire prevention management reduces the amount of dead timber and leaf litter on the ground. Here, in the absence of such practices there were logs everywhere... not just across the creek but everywhere down the slope. This made walking quite tricky with the occasional slide down a slippery log to get the adrenaline going.

While heading back towards the first fall I came across a beautiful patch of forest. Three giant tree trunks crossed a small creek at different angles, providing a perfect bridge and an excellent 'aerial' view of the forest floor. From here I followed the yellow tape back to the road and emerged from the forest a short distance from my car. What else lies hidden in these Yarra Ranges?..