Leader: Eric Williams Photos: Jo Mitchell
8 walkers attended on a fine warm September morning.The walk was graded by the leader as moderate grade but by Mudgee Bushwalking Club standards was in fact moderate/hard.
Consequently one member of the group elected to not walk to the mountain top and another group member remained for company. they were rewarded for their rest by watching a goat family wonder past there resting spot.
The walk was through scrubby and prickly vegetation with some blood shed as a result.
Exotic vegetation included a liberal supply of Prickly Pear cacti. Most had finished flowering but about six flowers were collected by Eric along with a few prickles.
Growee Mount is typical of hill peaks in these parts because of the presence of basalt capping. The White Box and Kurrajong trees are stunted compared the specimens that grow on lower, less rocky, windy and exposed areas.
Despite the mountain being steep and well treed there was evidence of previous white man activities with an old rusty drum well up the hill side and sawn tree stumps.
After regrouping we descended to the creek level to face another wall of boxthorn to return to the parking area then detoured to the aboriginal site. The markings on the cave wall of hand stencils are not complex in themselves. The picaninny feet stencil about three metres high up the cave wall, off the floor level, does pose the question “how long ago were they put there”.
Standing in that cave it causes one to linger a while and to ponder what live was like for the society that put those markings there.
And so concluded the day with a short walk back to the 21st Century cars and one
20th Century motorcycle and motored back to the future.
