No. 107 on old hardcopy list of 113 club tramps. “Whare Flat – Silverstream Weir Year Round “
20. 11/01/2023. Racemans Circuit, Trampers. Grade 4 (regraded 3 – see below). Leaders: Neil Hodgkin, Julie MacKenzie.
Trampers: 10 women, 4 men
Weather: Low cloud, drizzly, calm, 16 degrees
Track: 14 kms, 3.5 hours walking and 170 m height gain.
A good, mainly flat walking surface, the odd muddy patch, and sometimes short, sharp, steep, descents/ascents in and out of side creeks.
Several crossings of the Silverstream and even though the flow was low, care was needed and poles were helpful with slippery and unstable rocks.
As a first up tramp for 2023 it was great and a very suitable tramp for the weather conditions. In the bush there was no precipitation and no wind. We had the usual stop for smoke-o …
…and got to the weir about midday…
…but decided to move on down the track for lunch where it was less noisy.
On our return I as leader came face to face with six barking and not so friendly dogs who were eventually followed by a female runner who didn’t seem to worry. She said that the dogs were barking because we had sticks, but I didn’t believe her. What goes up must come down so we were expecting their return and when we heard them approaching we all stood off the track, sticks by our sides and gave them a TRTC guard of honour!
Grading: The grade of this tramp is solely dependent on the flow and depth of the Silverstream. The way it was on Wednesday, I’d put it at 2.5 – 3, but with more water it would certainly be a 3 -3.5 I think.
Neil.
19. 23/5/2018. Racemans to the Top Weir. Leader: Arthur.
Due to weather concerns we trmped up the Silverstream instead of the tramp on the programme.
It was raining lightly as we began our walk from the car park by the Pump Shed.
The moisture desisted in a while, but skiffy showers passed over at times.
The “Hump” Track in from the Pump Shed was quite wet and muddy, and had slumped in one place on the stream bank.
From the swing bidge we climbed up to the Tunnel Track, and turned left. At the appropriate time (10 a.m.) we stopped trackside for smoko.
Around to McCraes Weir to climb the rope, and continued to eventually follow Racemans Track.
The tracks themselves were generally in good condition, although there were muddy patches at times with only one really bad patch to contend with.
We reached to top weir at 12-15,
and after inspecting it, retreated a short distance to eat our sandwiches.
A half hour passed quickly, and then it was back down Racemans …
Stopping for a catch up. (Margreet pic and caption.)
… to its beginning, taking the short route back. Over the swing bridge, and wading the ford (quite shallow) we were back at the cars around 2-45.
All had enjoyed the day’s tramp, which was of a reasonable distance – one member had been suffering “cabin fever”, but all were glad to have had their day out in the bush.
On returning to Mosgiel, 9 of the 12 who had been out adjourned for refreshments, as is the usual custom. – Art.
18. 3/9/2014. Both. Pump House to Weir. E+ Leaders: Judy, Ian.
(I took no pics. Photos please!) There were 30 of us out. We avoided the McRaes Weir track because some of the hikers can now no longer cope with the rope-assisted climb out of the McRae’s Stream.
From the pump house we took the track on the true left, thus avoiding the wetting of the road ford right at the start of the tramp. Of course this takes us steeply up and over and steeply down, but we all emerged safely by the swing bridge. The 4WD took us on beyond the old weir onto the board walk and up the seemingly never ending ascent of the Racemans track up to the levelness of the water race track itself where it emerges from the McRaes Track. We stopped for morning tea, letting seven of the trampers head off at their own pace to the upper weir.
Our remaining group of 23 took its time waiting out regroupings as we each negotiated wash-out bottlenecks on the way. The day was pleasant. The track otherwise level, pleasant and with varied aspects from bush to fallen tree clearances to slips.
But slips and washouts there were. Till finally an extremely muddy four metre boot-covering piece of slosh put most off from going any further. We were now only one kilometre short of the weir, so eight undaunted males slopped through and on to reach the weir. En route, they encountered the seven trampers returning to lunch back down the track with the remaining hikers. At the weir, Jim discovered Betty’s lunch was in his pack so we all accompanied him back to rendezvous with the others. Upon arrival, we found all had already lunched and were ready to move back. However Betty and Elaine elected to remain and enjoy a further leisurely lunch break, lolling in the lovely sunshine. …
“On the way back on Wednesday, we took the track that goes over to Powder creek, walked along past the entrance to Powder Ridge track, then back across the weir & onto the 4WD track again. This made a good detour, that some had not done before. The ladies got their feet wet, but the guys managed to stay dry.” – Ken
… Setting off again, we caught up with the hikers again at the swing bridge where it was obvious they intended returning via road and ford, the much easier if wetter alternative to the other route. And so back to the cars and some of the remaining trampers who were tied to hikers’ cars. A lovely day out. – Ian.
There were 4 of us today, we walked along the Tunnels/ Racemans track for 8km, had lunch at a nice spot, & then returned by the route that goes down to the weir just above the pump house, then back up onto the Tunnels track & back to the cars. so we did 14.3km in 3h 26m @ 4.2km/h. – Ken.
15, 22/12/2010. Trampers. Tunnels to Weir. 3 with a visitor.
before returning to complete the round trip recce in preparation for the Hiker’s trip on the 6th. Turned out we did 18km in all. Whew! Thanks to the DCC who had done a marvellous job of clearing the track almost all the way up to the weir. Also for a new track across the old slip. P.S. Les Murcott’s team had done a marvellous job with steps and rail around another large slip near the beginning of the Tunnels entrance up by the old school house.- Ian
12. 19/10/2005 Leaders: Nancy, Eleanor B
11. 10/11/2004 Leaders: Bob H, Nancy
10. 9/7/2003. Hikers. Racemans to Weir. Medium. Leaders: Les and Margaret.