Hike - Lerderderg Gorge Scenic Rim & River via link 1

Lerderderg Gorge is a wild and beautifully rugged place, only an hour or so West of Melbourne.

This hike starts at Mackenzie Flat Picnic area and the first couple of kilometres to Grahams Dam are deceptively easy. From there on in it is strongly recommended for experienced and well prepared hikers only, as local emergency volunteer crews are called out to rescue lost or missing hikers nearly every weekend.

On this day in February I joined a Meetup group. We hiked to Grahams Dam, then headed up Link No. 1 Track and turned right onto Blackwood Ranges Track. After a couple of kilometres we began the long descent down to Lerderderg Diversion Weir via Long Point Track. After a brief stop for lunch we commenced the hard slog downstream. This section was off track and involved numerous river crossings. Although quite challenging, the breathtaking views around every corner made it all worthwhile. What a privilege to have this place all to ourselves and walking through the river provided a welcome relief in the heat of late summer!

I had some personal challenges on this hike. Though I consider myself an experienced hiker, I discovered that my fitness level had slipped over a lazy summer (something that has now been rectified), one of my hike poles failed at the car so I only had one, my feet were sore almost from the get go (I discovered when I got home that I had accidentally put on a pair of old boots with worn out internal heels - they went straight in the bin when I went home).

My biggest challenge was a minor fall about 2/3 of the way in where my knee landed on a rock. Normally this injury wouldn't have been a problem, however several kms of uneven terrain and rock hopping along the river exacerbated it to the point of extreme pain. I managed to slowly limp back to the car park and there was no permanent damage done - in fact I was back out there 2 weeks later for a shorter hike, and 6 months on am happy to say I've fully recovered.

According to my tracking app we travelled approximately 19kms.

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