Broken Hills: Water Race - Collins Drive - Main Range Track - Billy Goat Incline Track - Hihi Trig - Main Range Track

Date: 10 August 2014
Party: Anna, Elizabeth, Lesley
Map: Broken Hills Recreation Area
Distance: 7 km or so to Hihi Trig
Elevation: 730m
Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
Notes: Sunrise - where it was cold enough to see mist rising off the water like steam. When we left, the car dash was showing 2 degrees, then 0, so we had the full complement of gear on by the time we got to the start of the track. Again we headed off, then almost immediately doubted our judgement about where the track went. Perhaps a combination of tracks being only sketchily marked on most maps, some of the signage being a little unclear, and our own need for exactitude! The water race track was great fun - man-made, muddy, but you could envisage water roaring along it. We passed a number of small tunnels and areas cut from the mountain for girders etc., before we got to the 500 m Collins Tunnel...we LOVE tunnels! Usually when we head into a tunnel the temperature drops - here it was so cold outside that the tunnel was comparatively warm. Quite a few glow worms, especially at each end, and plenty of different types of rock. From here it was pretty much a relentless climb to the trig through regenerating bush. Probably not in the same class as the Waitakeres, but with its own charm. Plenty of 'scribbles' (supplejack). We had been walking for about 3 hours and were not sure how far away the trig was, when we came across a sign for the Billy Goat Incline Track. This took us to the summit via a classic damp, spongy, muddy, short track, which opened onto a lovely piece of mossy ground, and we completed the climb with a short walk through to the trig (more of an alien spacecraft than a traditional trig). And then we had lunch, took a selfie at the summit, remarked on the view, exclaimed at the lack of wind, checked our emails and texts and snapchats (well, some of us did - some of us were more mindful). Back down the track, with the unsteady among us (LV and EW) experimenting with vertical drops to test out the fortitude of our glutes. Ouch. We returned via a slightly different route, omitting the tunnel. Home to a soak in the spa and a vino. A very pleasant combination.