Mt Hotham Ski Weekend + some Wheeling

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Brad.Jones
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Mt Hotham Ski Weekend + some Wheeling

Post by Brad.Jones »

Went up to Mt Hotham for the opening weekend at the snow, most amount of snow since 2000 so they say.

On Sunday night after the slopes closed we went down to Dinner Plains for dinner and on our way home stumbled across a track that had the gate open. After much debate about if I was allowed to drive down this track or not and what happens if I got stuck, etc, etc another 4WD (or probably more correctly an AWD) past us on his way out. He was in a Ford Territory (I think he was a little lost) but anyway I promptly went in after him.

We started down the track which was just a gravel road to start with and then we found the spot where the previous guy had turned around.
After that point it started to turn a little more interesting still very easy though. After 20 minutes or so it started to actually snow, nothing heavy just a light dusting. I decided to check the map to see where it went and with no end for some kms we decided to do a u-turn as well.

On Monday I had a short cut planned to go from Bright to Mansfield instead of heading back out on to the Hume via Wangaratta.
There are a set of High Voltage power lines that cut across the south of Mt Buffalo, there is also a management track that follows them.
These lines basically go straight to Mansfield and I figured the management road/track would be kept in reasonable condition for any maintenance vehicles.

Again the missus had no idea about my new route I had planned for the way home. She eventually clued on when the road started to get narrower instead of wider. I let some air out of the tyres and we started along Goldies Spur track. There were no gates and it was actually sign posted as Goldies Spur road at first so onward we went.

It was a stepish climb enough to warrant low range but nothing super difficult. We got to the top and took a few shots. The pics just don't do it justice. As normal the missus didn't get it but looking down along the power lines was awe inspiring. You start asking yourself questions like how did they get the towers there in the first place?

Across the top in the shady areas there were a few left overs from the last snow shower and a few icy puddles but that was it.
We came down the other side and then had a shallow creek to cross. Took some more shots and waited for everything to cool a little before we drove through the freezing waters.

Up the other side and then down again found us nearing the end of the track however the bridge that was once spanning the next river was no more. This caused the stress level to go up however we spotted some cars on the other side and figured the "new" bridge couldn't be too far away. Sure enough there was an unmarked track leading off to the left so we took that and after a few minutes we saw where and how the other people had got across the river.

No bridge but a river crossing much larger than I had planned for as I was expecting to drive across the bridge that was marked on the map.
We watched a few trail bikes go through and one guy fell off but it didn't look too deep. There was already a big crusier on the other side. And a defender was about to go through. At this stage the missus is telling me to turn around, she clearly didn't want another episode of the sierra drowning a few weeks before. I took careful note of where the defender had gone and decided it would be fine. It was no near over the bonnet height, it was more the width of the crossing that I was concerned about.

Anyway our new found mate in the defender gave us the all clear to come across and was ready to attach the snatch or winch if need be.
Just idled across in 2nd low no issues what so ever. If they hadn't been there I probably would have turned around. The rest of the day we kept bumping into one another as made our way to Mansfield.

Yes in the end it did take us twice as long to get home so it was more of a long cut than a short cut but all the same we saw some awesome country side that we otherwise wouldn't have.

Here are some happy snaps: http://s1262.photobucket.com/albums/ii6 ... =slideshow

Bring on the real snow trip!!!
Brad Jones - Analyst - http://www.kdis.com.au - 0407 961 903
2003 Suzuki Grand Vitara - 1988 Suzuki Sierra
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