TR: Vic High Country May 2015

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pezimm
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TR: Vic High Country May 2015

Post by pezimm » Sat Jun 13, 2015 3:48 pm

So some of the boys - me included - have been itching for a High Country trip and it finally happened 2 weeks before the tracks closed for winter...

We met early on Saturday morning at Pakenham's BP servo before heading for Dargo:
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It was an all-Forester affair, with Nachaluva and Dedman (OffroadSubarus.com) in their SFs and me in my SG turbo - 2 manuals versus 1 auto.

We drove to Dargo with the last fuel stop in Sale, where we topped up and drove to the famous Dargo Hotel:
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It was still early in the day and the weather was nice so we decided to go with our plan A: reach the top of Blue Rag Range Track before making our way to Talbotville for the night.

We followed Dargo High Plains Road, which is paved pretty much to McMillan Road and a good dirt road from there until Treasure Plain. From there, you go past a gate for winter road closure and the dirt road gives way to a track. A bit wet in some spots, but nothing challenging. A little over 9kms and we arrived at the turn off for Blue Rag.

The track had been graded recently so the rut depths were pretty ok. From here the scenery becomes amazing and we were just unlucky that a patch of clouds was covering the top of the mountain.

A steep descent followed by a no less impressive ascend with plenty drainage humps to manage and we were at the intersection of Basalt Knob North Track, where we would later return to.
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Another few kilometres on the knife edge of the ridge line with beautiful views and we arrived at Blue Rag Trig, sitting 1721m above sea-level.
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Temperature showing on the car gauge was +1 deg Celsius, but I reckon it was a bit lower than that. We had a glimpse of what the views are like in clear weather.
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GONE :( - Forester XT Auto - MY07 with all the goodies
Now occasionally driving a Ford barge...

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pezimm
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Post by pezimm » Sat Jun 13, 2015 3:48 pm

From here, we started to head back down and I was slightly concerned with my fuel consumption so far. I was doing 16.7L/100km according to my ScanGauge! Not nice considering I didn't take any spare fuel...

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We reached the same intersection with Basalt Knob Track and took it towards Talbotville. The next few kilometres were once again a nice bush drive on pretty good dirt tracks. As we were getting hungry, we made a stop at the intersection of Ritchie Road, where you'll find a historic railway carriage:
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It turns out this was an old refrigerated carriage, with an elevated centre "shelf" running along the length of the body where ice would've been deposited. Given the insulation on the walls, it was the perfect place to boil some water for a quick lunch away from the wind.

We resumed our route on Basalt Knob Track, driving towards it's south section, were the descent started with spectacular views of the ranges:
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The last couple kilometres before reaching the camping area are very steep, but in good state of repair - again, a grader had been around not too long ago. Remember, we're going down a good 1000-1200m in not much more than 3 kilometres! After a few stops to allow the brakes to cool down a bit, we reached the Crooked River banks and after crossing it 3 times, we arrived at the Talbotville camp area, setting up camp for the night and enjoying a few beers an nice conversation around the fire.

The following morning I woke up a little worse for wear. I put it down to the 2 lots of instant noodles I consumed in the previous 12 hours, but who knows? On top of that, I had little more than 1/4 tank of fuel, which was a bit alarming on a Sunday morning.

Re-organsing our plans, we agreed to do the full length of Crooked River Track all the way to Bulltown Spur Track. The note on the map says: "There are 24 river crossings on Crooked River Tk in just 8km" - we couldn't miss that! Out of all the approaches and departures, there was only 1 really slippery spot that required a bit more from my rear vLSD to get me up. Plenty of fun had on this track and plenty of videos to come from Nacha when he has a change to edit them together.

At the end of the road, I said my good-byes and went up Bulltown Spur Track and away, while the other boys turned around for another 24 river crossings and then some more as they made their way to Billy Goat Bluff Track. As for me, I reached McMillan Road and then back to Dargo High Plains Road and out for some fuel.

When I finally reached the servo, I had about 5-6 litres left in the tank! I managed to drive 329kms for 54.3L of fuel - 16.5L/100km overall!!! Note to self: take a jerry can along next time.

All and all, it was a great weekend that allowed all our Subarus in their different setups to showcase their capabilities.

Thanks Nachaluva and Dedman for the company!

Pedro.
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GONE :( - Forester XT Auto - MY07 with all the goodies
Now occasionally driving a Ford barge...

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yarney
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Post by yarney » Sun Jun 14, 2015 9:23 am

Photos look great. Some great tracks there, we did them in 2013
It's a pity we didn't catch up, we were only 150km away:( as the crow flies about 4-5 hours by the tracks
The weather looked good you were lucky, On Sunday where we were wasn't the best. Rain and low cloud we couldn't see anything

Jan
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El_Freddo
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Post by El_Freddo » Sat Jun 20, 2015 2:17 am

Nice pics Pezimm! I wish I was there!

It brings back some memories of the 2013 trip with Yarney and crew :D

Also you'll probably find that you'll use more fuel in the high country, not just because of the hills, but also because the turbo takes longer to spool up in the thinner atmosphere - so you'll be working the lower compression engine in it's "NA" zone more than you usually would be. Always carry spare fuel in the high country!

Again, I wish I was there! Next time maybe ;)

Cheers

Bennie
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NachaLuva
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Post by NachaLuva » Mon Jun 22, 2015 5:51 pm

Nice pics Pedro, sorry its taken me so long to say anything, been way too busy lately lol.

Did everyone notice the ice buildup on the branches in the pic of the Blue Rag Range summit? A good 1cm of ice on the leading edge, deposited by a combination of fog, cold temp & icy Southern gale. The wind chill factor would have easily been -10C or more! Photos were taken quickly Image

Pedro mentioned the steep sustained drop into the camp along Basalt Knob Track. What he didnt mention was that although it had been graded, some sections were so steep that they had already been chewed out by the big 4wds. At one point I was very nose down & sideways, front scraping the ground (even with my 4" lift) and a rear wheel way up in the air. Would be very interesting to attempt going back up, dry weather only lol.

A nice night camping with several interesting discussions around politics & religion Image

The river crossings were a lot of fun but not very challenging. One exit had a bit of wheelspin from both Pedro & myself.

After Pedro left, Dedman & I continued with the river crossings on Crooked R and then the Wonnangatta R, some got pretty deep!

We then headed up Billy Goats Bluff Tr, one of the iconic tracks in Oz.

The start was steep but smooth, after what seemed like an age of climbing we reached the helipad for lunch. Some trailbike riders said if we'd managed the track so far we'd have no problems with the reast, but we could see the track snaking its way straight up the mountain, I had my doubts.

It wasnt too bad for a while, steep, loose shale but enough grip to keep moving forward. Then I got to one particularly hard section with a chewed out drainage hump with foot deep diagonal ruts. With no way to avoid the ruts, I lost momentum. Had another go at a different line but no good. I reversed back down to the previous hump & with "enthusiatic" momentum managed to clear it. The rest of the track continued in a similar way for a while before levelling out a little. Then spectacular views (or it would have been if not clouded in) at the razorback, a bit more climbing & we had made it!

A very difficult track & well worth the drive Image

A few more nice tracks, some river crossings & it was time to head home.
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NachaLuva
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Post by NachaLuva » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:54 am

I finally got around to going through some pics...

Old refrigerated rail car:
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Blue Rag Range Tr:
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Owner SubieLiftOz, lift kits for Subarus :twisted:

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NachaLuva
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Post by NachaLuva » Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:54 am

Lunch on Billy Goats Bluff Tr:
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The razorback on Billy Goats Bluff, shame the amazing view from here was obscured by cloud:
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Scrubby Ck Tr heading down to the Wonnangatta R:
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Someone had a leaking door seal. I suggested he hard wire in a bilge pump haha :razz:
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