On 2nd April we were joined by some 14 volunteers from the Ballarat Bushwalking Club for further work on the Tunnel Track, which goes over the Mt William range from near Pomonal to join the Bellfield fireline in the Fyans valley. The track follows much the same route as the original bridle trail between Upper Halls Gap and Pomonal.
The track had seen very little attention since the 2006 bushfires so there was lots of regrowth and a fair bit of erosion, particularly on the Pomonal side, which we had first tackled with the same group of volunteers last September. New steps had been put in at the start of the track and gravel had been spread, with the clearing of undergrowth progressing about half way up the hill, which was the thickest section. We were pleased to find that this work had survived the recent floods better than expected.
On this occasion we walked over the mountain to the Bellfield end of the tunnel and cleared the track on the way back, which took the full day to reach the saddle on top of the range. Ranger Kyle Hewitt will arrange for a Landmate crew to finish the scrub clearing on the eastern side so that the track will be open by Easter and anyone who is so inclined can then walk from Pomonal to Halls Gap on bush tracks.
The Support Group has recently bought its own chainsaw, since David Witham gained his accreditation last winter, and the Ballarat Club has also become more mechanised with a brushcutter and a long handled trimmer. They had won a grant from Parks Victoria to help their work in the Mt Cole area as well as the Grampians.