Well this was a day to remember and forget! I'm going to try to piece together the jumble of events from the day, it was a bit of a sensory overload at times for me.
After meeting up in Healesville we wasted no time in making our way up the highway to Pitts Track, the entry point for our first destination. With the morning sun shining and a crystal clear blue sky it looked like it was going to be a great day.
After winding through the easy Pitts climbing up towards the peak my excitement was building. Arriving at the base of Woods Lookout Track it looked just as good as I remembered. Steep, big rock steps and plenty of shale to keep you very much on your toes as you tried to pick the right line.
Kelvin was up first and made it look easy. In fact I really don't have much to report on Kelvin across the day. The TREX ate up everything in sight and he was usually way out in front of me.
I was next. Jumped in the fj and eased up to the start, a rock step that you have to judge carefully as picking the wrong line will have your rear slide off the rock and drop into a hole. Which is exactly what I did. I was gutted. I hadn't even started in earnest and I was winching. Kinda set the tone for my day...
After winching out of my rookie mistake the rest was pretty straight forward. It's one of those tracks where you pick your line and commit. Need to trust the vehicle and if you feel it breaking loose need to punch it a bit and you will find the traction you need. At the top, turning left to climb the final big steps you get thrown around and bit and that's where your nerves are tested as you point towards to sky and give it plenty of skinny pedal. After a few big bounces I was up and feeling stoked.
Next up was Tim in his 79 series. Tough rig. Made the start look easy but up the top the bouncy leaf springs threatened to throw him off line and leave him exposed to a nasty lean. But he opened up the v8 and found the traction he needed to climb over the top.
Dario came next in his GQ. Another Patrol making it look easy.
Trav next in the Disco. Very nicely set up vehicle and very nicely driven.
Zak came up last in the Defender, making his way up the bottom and mid sections with ease. At the top ledges not having lockers it was a bit more of a challenge, but he nailed it. Some solid skinny pedal and plenty of dust flying it was a great drive.
Up top, we all aired up for the road transit ahead and booted off to Narbethong for our next location.
After a short and very easy drive in through the pine plantation we found ourselves at the bottom of Joe Spur Track. Probably a less well known insane track than would be expected. The start was relatively easy, a gentle meander amongst the trees. Came across a bog hole, Kelvin took the dry line, and with Nathan poking the bottom of the bog with a branch he made the call that it was firm and not very deep. So I had a crack. And discovered that Nathan should've kept poking a bit more.... got about 2/3 of the way through and no further. My 33s were nearly submerged in stinky bog water. And what a d*ck head... my window was open. Gotta laugh... Straps out, Kelvin to the rescue. Oh how he loves pulling the FJ out...
Dario was keen for a crack despite seeing my failed attempt. Got a little further, stuck, almost got out backwards. No joy. Winched him out backwards and everyone else decided that the bog hole was best left alone.
We continued along, and gradually the track became steeper and steeper with rocks and tree roots everywhere you negotiate amongst the loose soil and dust. It was all pretty fun so far. Came up to another dodgy looking bog, where you drop over a slight right handed crest, front right dropping down into sludge. And there was no way around it. Kelvin dropped in slowly, easing around the next left bend through the sludge and pointing it up the steep and slick exit. A couple of failed goes and some more right foot saw him clear. I followed suit but having seen that there weren't any submerged surprises this time I gave it 'some' spirit... I think I managed to clear 50% of the swamp muck out of the hole for the others to follow. Tim, Dario and Trav got through ok, but by this stage the exit was slicker than ice. Zak in tail end got the raw deal and despite several valiant efforts just couldn't quite make it clear of the last couple of feet of slippery clay. A small tug with a strap and we were on our way.
Further and further we climbed and it continued to get steeper and more treacherous. At the steepest point I came up a bit tight on a line and as I was facing across the fall a little I had to make a left turn to get the nose straight up. As I turned, the back right was in a bit of a hole and the front left climbed up a rock and kept going skyward. It teetered with a huge wheel lift for a moment and I let off the gas, allowing it to roll back slightly and kiss the ground again. Massive pucker - that's the closest I've come to rolling and it scared the hell out of me. Winch out to secure me and slowly pulled it around and up to safety. The others didn't make my mistake and all made it through this section. I was pretty deflated by this point. Joe spur had beaten me. But it was fantastic to witness the brilliant driving from everyone else. Its helping me with my learning curve.
Further up another really rocky section and I got hung up for a while on one rock but with some awesome help from the other guys with some rock placement in the wheel tracks it was up and over for me.
Finally, we reached the top and continued along dirt to the Maroondah to air up again and survey any damage on the vehicles. I'd managed to push a decent section of my tyre bead in about 15mm from the rim. Most likely on the hard left hammering through the 2nd bog hole. Wasn't losing air but I had an attempt at getting it back into shape by spraying it with a heap of wd40 and inflating to about 65psi. Did a decent job, nearly sorted it. Dropped back to road pressure and on we went to Rocky Track for the final mission of the day.
By the time we got there we were all starting to get a bit stuffed, but we aired down (my tyre had fixed itself) and started up Rocky. Just as Kelvin started up Dario made the radio call he was having clutch problems and was pulling the pin. Shame to lose him but safety is the most important thing.
I followed Kelvin up and did some filming including a comical stall and Kelvin yelling "cut! Cut! Stop filming!". That aside it was a flawless drive from him heading straight up the hard line with the big rock ledges.
I wasn't going to chicken out so I did the same and was surprised as to how easy the track was given its reputation.
All the other guys nailed it again with great displays of line selection and technical driving.
We turned around at the top and took the chicken lines down to the bottom and that was it. Energy reserves gone. But we'd driven some of the harder tracks near Melbourne and survived.
A good day for me, could've driven better in some sections but that's learning. I still thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Thanks all for a great day, great teamwork, fantastic driving displays and support and huge thanks to Kelvin for organising and running the trip.
Footage will feature in the nearly finished 4wdtrip promo video. Stay tuned!