End of Summer in the High Country – 19-20 March 2022
Participants:
Ian and Nicole Toten Defender130
Mackenzie Toten Jeep Wrangler
Kevin Phillips Mazda BT50
Paul and Kaylene Koppe Discovery 2
Ross Petterson Prado 150
Ralph Radovan P38a Range Rover
Will Pettigrew Triton
Ben Thornley Rodeo
Jack Hilliar and Becky Wright Hilux
The club ran a trip to Charlie’s Creek on the weekend of the 19th and 20th of March 2022. Trip leader was Ian Toten in a Defender 130, we had a few prospective members on the trip who all had some experience with their vehicles.
Trip Route
The trip started at the Toten residence in Yass where Will, Ben, Jack and Becky joined us, collecting Mackenzie and Nicole in Canberra. The rest of the convoy met up at Williamsdale except for the Koppes who were lucky enough to be able to get away early and meet us at Tom Groggin. We encountered some misty rain in Jindabyne but luckily this had cleared by the time we got down to Tom Groggin with the night being clear and windy.
After a driver briefing, we left a bit after 09:00 and crossed the Murray River ford, the exit was a little slippery but no major problems were encountered. Davies plain track was closed so we had to take Tom Groggin track instead, a morning tea break was held on the edge of the Alpine National Park after climbing up from the river. The next section was mostly good quality forest roads until we turned onto Buckwong track which we followed until we turned into the Mount Murphy Historic site for lunch. A scout around the site located a dam and some concrete foundations, however the regrowth was too dense to locate any of the actual mine workings further up the hill.
Mount Murphy Site (Lunch stop)
Lunch (Circle the wagons – and utes)
Mount Murphy Artifact
Old Foundations – Mount Murphy
Post lunch we drove past Buckwong Hut and turned left onto Davies Plain Track making our way to Charlies Creek where we all set up camp.
Charlies Creek Camp (Overnight)
Charlie’s Creek no longer has toilet facilities due to the recent fires. There had been a plan to head down to Kings Plain track and we commenced the descent, however after checking the section where the track gets quite steep, we decided that given everyone’s level of tiredness and the time at 5pm it was wiser to turn around and not attempt a track where we might have to winch some vehicles to return. After a couple of 20-point turns, we all headed back to Davies Plain Track and decided to have a look at the closure site and see whether we could park and walk to the hut which not many people had seen.
Walking to Davies Plain Hut
Davies Plain Hut
It is very pleasing to report that both Davies plain hut and the toilet facilities have survived the fires and are in excellent condition even if the road on the southern side is severely eroded about 600m from the campsite.
When we got back to the campsite a welcoming fire was burning and an enjoyable but crisp night was spent yarning around the campfire.
Sunday dawned fine and a little frosty and after canvas had dried, we departed south via McCarthys track to the Poplars campsite where the facilities have also been destroyed by fire. Following morning tea, we headed south on Limestone Ck Track with a challenging ascent from the creek bringing smiles to many of the participant’s faces once they had conquered it. We arrived into Native Dog campsite and the end of the trip at around 2pm where some of us headed home in a loose convoy with Ralph staying the night in Cooma and the Yass residents arriving home around 8 PM.
On Saturday we completed 84 Kilometres and on Sunday we did 36 Kilometres from Charlies Creek to Native Dog. Nicole and I had a great weekend and thanks to the attendees for excellent company and some really good driving.