An 8.30 am start at McDonalds to the east of the Gatton turn-off saw a small crew of trip leader Ron P with son Wade aboard the Challenger, John S with son Justin in the Forester, Dave M in the Brumby, Big John in the Pie Van, and Alex and I in the "Mighty Mazda".

This trip was a true "recce", and our first job was to find a decent meeting place for future club events in the Gatton area. This is because the McDonalds where we met, although a favourite with the younger generation, is on the wrong side of the Warrego Highway. So It's no fun trying to cross back over when in convoy. Into Gatton we travelled, and we decided that the Apex Park just through town offered all the required facilities, as did a smaller park straight through the lights in the centre of town.

We then set off and found a road which crossed under the Gatton bypass as we travelled north towards our destination for the day - Lockyer State Forest.

We entered the forest from the southern boundary, bypassing the Darling Downs 4WD Club on the track In. This track has an excellent climb up into the hills that form the majority of the forest. It is quite steep and covered in rubble but well graded and wide. We were soon exploring all sorts of tracks off to the left and right. All of these tracks were spur tracks, winding this way and that along the spurs until the grade got too steep. So each time we got to practice our 11-point turns between trees with 3 cm gap either side of the vehicle - you quickly get to learn your vehicle's dimensions doing this stuff.

We stopped for smoko at an open clearing near the bottom of an uphill track that was obviously popular for the trail bike riders. After smoko, we continued on and found the track had an interesting hole at the entrance that required the correct entry angle, otherwise wheels were left in the air and no power was getting to the ground. Then followed the use of a reasonable amount of low range grunt to keep the vehicles going in the right direction, as we carefully chose our line up the track that was well worn by the bikes. Finally, just as the crest was reached another hole would send two wheels off the ground, leaving them spinning in thin air. With a bit more time up our sleeves, we could have travelled up and down that slope a few more times. But instead we travelled onwards.

We soon came to a locked gate. That wasn't there last time! Just as well we were in 4WDs. A quick detour through the scrub found us on the other side of the gate and continuing on through the forest. We travelled down the main track to the creek, where we turned left. We were now travelling northwards beside and sometimes through a creek bed. The remains of an old logging but beside the creek seemed like the ideal spot for lunch. After our repast we continued along the creek bed. This track would be totally impassable in the wet because it was obvious that the creek flows as a torrent when it gets going. In places, the track was only just wide enough and It appeared that the edges were ready to fall Into the creek at anytime, hopefully not taking a vehicle with them as they crumbled Into the creek.

Our second surprise for the day came in the form of a second locked gate. Just a few months ago at our previous recce of the area we had no such hindrance. Obviously if we are to return on a full club trip, it would be prudent to ask the Rangers for permission to traverse and to borrow the keys beforehand.

This time there was no option but to turn around and make our way back along the creek bed track. At its end, we turned left onto the main east-west track and soon turned right, crossing the creek and heading off through thick Lantana. The Lantana eventually gave way to more natural Australian scrub and forest, as this track meandered slowly uphill. Ron finally stopped in a spot where he couldn't go forwards and even found it difficult to go backwards. It was a dry creek bed crossing with large uneven boulders that made traction almost impossible. Ron eventually extricated the Challenger as the rest of us practiced our 1.1 point turns again, and we back‑tracked.

Then the dreaded occurred! The Mazda got stuck. It was an Innocent looking small but steep uphill out of a creek, and the left front couldn't find any grip in the mud whilst the right rear had no chance when the tow bar hit the creek bed. I couldn't get enough grip to go forwards, and there was no chance of going backwards. So I called on Dave to reverse back and help me out. With a sharp right immediately after the exit from the creek we couldn't use the snatch strap due to its length, so we used a short tow strap which did the trick. Thanks Dave – I owe you one. Maybe sometime in the next twenty years you might get stuck and I'll be able to repay the favour. Anyway, for now my penance was one trip report. And worse than that, I now have to put up with Kathy continually reminding me that I got the Mazda stuck before she did. Penance enough!

Once out of my predicament, off we travelled to the eastern boundary of the forest, where we found a great little track with deep ruts that required precision wheel placement. Ron found out the hard way that the wrong approach could leave the Challenger's wheels spinning freely. But Ron managed to hide most of his indiscretion via a major dust cloud from the spinning rear tyre. A different approach saw no more problems, and we continued on until once again the track petered out.

So it was time to turn towards home. As in our last visit to the area six months earlier, we found some interesting 4WDriving. Not the most difficult around, but still requiring precision, control and a bit of ticker. All in all, a fun day out. 

Thanks to Ron for organising the trip. Let's return (complete with gate keys) sometime soon.

 

Greg Bryant SC480