Lowell’s Flat – 17-18 April 2021
Trip Participants:
David – trip leader
“The Boys” – Can and his son Deniz, Michael and his son Tyler
Shane and his daughter Anna
Paul & Kaylene along with their granddaughter Kaiyah
17th April
Meeting Point:
NPWS controlled burn-offs made David’s trip co-ordination more than a little difficult. Despite confirming with head office on Friday that the tracks would be open on Saturday, come Saturday morning the website still showed the areas as closed. The decision was made to delay the departure until 11am and hope that the website would be updated.
Not wanting to miss anybody David, being the gentleman that he is made his way to Urriara Reserve at the original meeting time to greet anybody that hadn’t received his message the evening before.
Setting Off:
Damn, Anna and I were the last to arrive ☹, but at least we gave everybody a good laugh as we pulled up with my newly licensed daughter’s “L Plates” still attached to the car. After being assured that my driving over the Easter trip to Turon NP and the Bridle Trail qualified me as “not a Learner”, they were quickly removed.
The Path often Travelled:
The trip to our overnight destination of Lowell’s Flat Campground, took us over familiar territory; after airing down when we reached the dirt of Brindabella Rd, it was onto Gentle Annie for the decent down into Flea Creek.
A quick stop at the Flea Creek day area where Juan boasted of his fly fishing skills (I was sceptical as we all know the truth of most fishing stories).
Then it was up Webb’s Ridge Trail, with the obligatory photo stop at the Transmission Pylon at the top (yay for a little wheel lift).
From here it was back down into the valley via Waterfall Firetrail – which was freshly graded. I’ve never seen it so fresh – provided you had the torque to climb back out, I reckon you could have towed a camper trailer in and out. But as we all know – she’ll be back to her former glory in a matter of weeks.
At the bottom of Waterfall it was onto McIntyres Trail and then Lowells Flat Trail. This was the first time I’ve been down to Lowell’s Flat, so it was interesting to drive a new trail. The call came over the radio, that there was a washed out section coming up with a B line to follow. I’m not sure what the other’s made of this, but I was having none of it and took the “A” Line straddling the deep wheel tracks – I made it through without a recovery exercise – though I did drop a rear wheel in toward the end, fortunately without damage.
Camp Setup:
Once at Lowell’s Flat we found a site big enough to accommodate us all and set about making camp.
Michael and Juan set about building a fire to get plenty of coals ready for their impending cookup. I swear there was a large portion of beginners luck, as the damper came out near on perfect! And the follow up beef stew was delicious. The boys were treated to the full camping experience which was awesome.
Overnight:
Apparently it was pretty damn cold overnight, there was ice on the windscreen of the vehicles but fortunately no frost on the ground. There were no complaints so I guess everybody was adequately prepared for the forecast temperatures.
18th April
Breakfast:
So apparently not all fishing stories are lies, Juan pulled 2 good sized trout from the river for breakfast which were cooked over the rekindled coals of the fire.
Lunchtime:
At around 11:30 the LRC day trippers met us at Lowell’s Flat where we all had lunch before setting off again. This proved to be perfect timing as it allowed all the canvas and camping gear to dry properly before being packed away.
Homeward Bound:
The return trail again took me on trails I’d not previous been on. After a quick visit to McIntyres Hut for a look see we took the northern section of Waterfall Trail and then onto Folly Trail. There was a small tree down over Folly Trail, which David’s bow saw made short work of and we were on our way again. Coming off Folly Trail there was another short section of Webbs Ridge Trail upon which we stumbled across Margaret & Bob on a solo trip in their Perentie. From Webbs Ridge we turned west onto Doctor’s Flat Road.
Now back on gazetted roads we followed Doctors Flat Rd through to Wee Jasper Rd which we soon turned off of again to follow Sawyers Gully Rd through to Mountain Creek Rd. Lastly we turned onto Fairlight Rd which brought us back to our starting point of Urriara Crossing.
It was from here that we dispersed and rushed off home to get ready for the week ahead.
Thanks:
A great big thanks to David for organising and leading this trip especially given the uncertainty around the controlled burnoffs.