Mt Sugarloaf and Sugarloaf Reservoir

Sugarloaf Reservoir

Today I went for a 15km loop around Sugarloaf Reservoir in Christmas Hills. I noticed Parks Vic took down their map online so I printed a DSE map but now that I've done the run, I realise the map did not have the walking tracks so no wonder I was getting confused out there today!

Can you see the kangaroos? (click to see bigger pic)

There were hundreds of kangaroos out there. It's quite a nice area, with gentle undulations around the reservoir. I took a detour, which I thought was the best way to go at the time, but it ended up being a dead end so for most of the run I stuck to the trail around the perimeter of the water catchment area. I did see a turn before I climbed Mt Sugarloaf, but didn't want to end up in another dead end so I didn't go there. Turns out that was the right way to run close to the dam, and I ended up going a stupid way, although getting to the top of Mt Sugarloaf was better than not doing it so that's not so bad. From the top you can see the city skyline.

View from near the top of Mt Sugarloaf

It seemed like forever that I was running along this perimeter trail, and I knew it just had to be wrong as I had previously seen the Parks Vic map where you can follow another trail closer to the water. I was checking my DSE map and I just couldn't tell where I was. At one point I saw a sign that said trespassers prosecuted, and I thought, How can that be, if I legitimately entered and have been following a firetrail? Oh well, at this point there was a road so I went down there, and it led to some special looking water catchment thing that I probably shouldn't be near, but hey, at least I was back at the dam!

Then I saw what looked like a single trail, but it was hard to tell. I followed it and realised this is where I should have been going all along. There were occasional markers confirming the right way, but the trail seemed so rarely used that at times it was hard to know if I was following a trail or going cross country. Either way, it's impossible to get lost just going one way around a dam.

These occasional markers confirmed that I was on a trail and not going cross country

Soon enough the trail became a much more well managed trail. It went really close to the water and at times I just stopped to listen to the water gently lapping the shore. It was very peaceful. And it was a gorgeous day. I could really visit there for a run again, but take some food and relax for a bit with some lunch.

Stupid way around the reservoir. You can see the correct trail I should have taken that stuck close to the dam.

Silly me did not eat any carbs before the run. I had 2 of ChocChilliMango's yummy protein bars and 2 coffees beforehand, so a bit of dehydration and lack of carbs did not do me well and I felt nauseous towards the end, which kind of makes sense since I finished around 1 pm so it was well past my lunch time. It was pretty hard driving home when all I wanted to do was lie down on the couch! Lesson learned :)