The words to this tri[ report are courtesy of Hoyks (Overlander forum).
Thanks
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Well we met up as planned and headed off almost on time for once but due to mechanical issues our numbers were depleted to 3 vehicles.
We headed out to East Gresford via Patterson with cewilson leading the way, navigating by memory and surprisingly we actually got to where he was intending to go (he also had the map and didn’t tell us exactly where we were going so we will have to take his word on that). We turned off the main road and headed down a road that wound its’ way through farms then climbed up a rather long ridge. Smoke brake and cool down time was called at the top of the hill and we checked our location then headed off to a road marked “4WD onlyâ€. This was a bit of a disappointment in the dry but would be fun in the wet. Lovely view from the top though.
From here we descended the hill and looked at a few tracks that we will explore at a later date and then on to a ford for a photo opportunity and a look for some campsites then into the hills.
Up the road and a few lefts and rights and we came to a Y intersection turned left, into low and started climbing up the mountain. The track was quite rutted, although they weren’t real deep, were deep enough for us poor peasants on 30†tyres. The surface was all clay too so if it was wet the track would be extremely challenging, as some of the wheel ruts and damaged trees would testify. We made it up with only one problem; I got in a bog after choosing the wrong line and heard a sickening BANG from the front end. After a few anxious moments it was diagnosed as one of the auto hubs playing silly buggers, it gave me no more problems for the rest of the trip.
Top of the hill, turn right and into a stand of the biggest and thickest stand of Grass trees I have ever seen. The track through here turned rather rocky with a few bog holes with solid surprises hidden in the middle.
Cewilson found a rock the size of his head with the diff, which was kind of him, saved me from hitting it. It was about here that his power steering decided to pack it in, which may have contributed to him bouncing off the track shortly after. Some creative efforts with a snatch strap to stop the 110 sliding further then some work with a winch got us going again.
The track then headed down a rather steep clay hill through a series of bogs then climbed another steep rutted hill, all the time getting narrower. This was of concern as I had now taken the lead. Before the roof rack and bull bar of the 110 were clearing the way, but now and for the next several k’s it was like having someone sitting beside you scraping their nails down a blackboard. By now the track looked like it was only used by bikes but would occasionally open up to give some hope.
After handling everything I pointed it at I came to a gully crossing that gave me a choice. The right track didn’t look at all appealing so I went left…….. Big mistake. The right track had a nice gravel bottom covered by a bit of mud. The left had a lot of mud covering rocks. I drove through the bottom and got the front wheels up but grounded the tow bar and was going nowhere.
We tried 1 strap but thought better of it as we would both be on the greasy slope. With Chris’s’ and Johns’ straps hooked together (I couldn’t even open the back door) we had another few goes. Each time we would make it ¾’s out then gently slide back into the hole as cewilson tried to have another go. Once I was holding so cewilson backed up to have a final pull and I slid uncontrolled into the hole, remodelling my rear bumper. Finally after pulling, holding, jamming rocks behind the wheels and having another go, we were off. The track got narrower and alternated between boggy and rocky and it was along here that I dinted a side step, saved the doorsill, so I suppose they did their job. It was about here that I wished I still had a shit box Suzuki sierra or a bike.
After battling on for about 4 hours, with no real idea where we were (GPS were a bit slow under the canopy of trees) we decided to call it a day. It was on the way back with fatigue setting in that John got stuck. Firstly he missed the sidetrack and drove straight into a bog we diverted around earlier. A quick tow (and some photos of course) and we were off again.
The rest of the trip down was rather uneventful, apart from John having a brain fart and driving into some wheel ruts that left his wheels dangling in mid air. We stopped at the ford on dusk and washed the lights and made sure my number plate was still there the headed back to town the quicker way.
I got back to Maitland around 7.00 with a car slightly shorter than when I left, missing 2 hubcaps with a nice ding in a side step and around a million extra pinstripes all over the car. Oh, and a leach hole in my leg which is still itching.
A great part of the world to explore, but would be near on impassable in the wet. It would have to rate as some of the most challenging tracks I have driven and gets a 4out of 5 on the scratch-o-meter.