Valencia Creek to Thomson Dam MEDIUM / HARD

Licola High Country, VIC

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So I signed up to this site ages ago but every time I go looking for a trip to do on this site, it's either Full or I can't make it for whatever reason. Last weekend I was bored out of my brains so I went for a spare of the moment trip and found some awesome tracks and places up around Licola. The photos I took got the missues all jealous and now she wishes she came with instead of the gardening expo she went to hahaha. Anyway so I am going back out this weekend and I figured this site really only works if people are prepared to lead trips so enough babble here are the trip details.

  • Friday night attempt to get away from work as early as possible and camp near the start of Valencia Creek Track here:
    http://www.exploreaustralia.net.au/Victoria/East-Gippsland/Briagolong-State-Forest/Valencia-Creek-camping-area

    If anyone is coming from Melbourne we could meet up at the Pakenham Bypass Outbound Servo https://goo.gl/maps/XiwKyF8XiFu
    And convoy the rest of the way to Valencia Creek. Last fuel will be Sale or Stratford.

    If any Gipsland locals want to sleep in their own beds on Friday night and meet me at the Valencia Creek camp ground saturday morning thats also another option.
     
  • Saturday morning we get up reasonably early pack up camp and drive the Valencia Creek Track which isn't super hard, has a nice climb out at the end which gets us to higher ground. From there we turn left on to Moroka Road until we get to Wellington Track. This is a one way track and I didn't have time to do it last weekend but my thinking is to have lunch on top of Mt Wellington. If we are making good time we could continue and explore beyond Mt Wellington and have lunch at Millers Hut.
     
  • After Saturday lunch we head back down to Moroka Road, turning left again then turn right on to Howitt Road when we get to Arbuckle Junction. Eventually turning left on to Caledonia River Track. This is a really nice track, got a bit of everything. Rocky decent and climb out the other end. A bunch of small river crossings along the valley floor and some bogs to get stuck in if Mud is your thing (it's not my thing, apart from one or 2 most larger holes can be driven around).
     
  • Saturday night we pick one of the many campsites dotted along the Caledonia River.
     
  • Sunday morning get up when the sun gets up and try and get away reasonably quickly. Climbing out of the Caledonia River valley is where it starts getting tougher. You will want at least a rear locker. And if we get super unlucky and it rained overnight, I dare say you will want a winch too.
     
  • Once back to the top we turn right on to Tamboritha Road which takes us all the way to Licola. The idea would be to get to Licola for lunch. If we have time to spare we could explore more tracks. Licola has fuel if your desperate. Licola would also be a good spot for people to bug out early if they wanted.
     
  • After Sunday lunch the plan is to head into the Macalister Gorge via Burgoyne Track. This has a short but seriously rocky climb before decending into the Gorge. It was at the limit of my twin locked sierra on 31's. At one point I got myself a little crossed up and had to winch myself back straight. I would only consider this if it's dry. This is probably the hardest part of the trip.
     
  • If people decided they wanted to bailout and skip Macalister Gorge they could turn around (nice big turning circle at the bottom before the really hard part starts) and drive the Cheynes Bridge Track, and meet the others that continued at the other end of Burgoyne Track.
     
  • After Macalister Gorge we find ourselves on some more 2wd roads. Depending on time we could do more exploring. But the basic idea is to get Fultons Creek track and follow this all the way through to Walhala Road. Turning right we have a short drive to the Thomson Dam wall where the trip will end. Last weekend I got here just on sunset, had there not been any clouds it would have been magic.
     
  • Optional, Deep Creek No4/1. I had seen videos of Deep Creek No.1 track and the whole point of last weekend was to drive this track. Since the videos I saw on Youtube it has been graded and the track repaired. It's a highway in and out. Although the 200 odd meters of creek bed you drive along are pretty magical. Again if we have time and people are keen we could drive these tracks but I think driving the entire length of Fultons Creek track will be more intresting. 

Anyway thats just a rough plan hahaha. Im totally up for people to make suggestions and change it around if you wanna include your fav track.

Requirement

  • Electric Winch
  • Recovery Gear
  • Brad Jones (BradZook) I am first-aid qualified I have mechanic skills Trip Leader - Level 2 (Completed over 11 trips) Premium Member

    GOING
    Driver + 1 AdultChecked-In (09-Apr-2016 08:52)
    2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon (2020 Gladiator Rubicon)
    • 34" Tyres, 2" Lifted
    • Front & Rear Locker
    • Winch

  • Dan (Disco_Dan) I have mechanic skills Trip Leader - Level 1 (Completed over 1 trips)

    GOING
    Myself onlyChecked-In (08-Apr-2016 11:40)
    Serenity (1996 Defender)
    • 33" Tyres, 3" Lifted
    • Rear Diff Lock
    • Winch

  • Danny (Bogg3d) Trip Leader - Level 1 (Completed over 3 trips)

    GOING
    Myself onlyChecked-In (08-Apr-2016 10:10)
    79 Single Cab (2015 LandCruiser)
    • 35" Tyres, 4" Lifted
    • Front & Rear Locker
    • Winch

  • Steven (ReefMaster) Trip Leader - Level 1 (Completed over 5 trips) Premium Member

    GOING
    Myself onlyChecked-In (15-May-2020 22:04)
    V6 (2012 Fj Cruiser)
    • 33" Tyres, 2" Lifted
    • Front & Rear Locker
    • Winch

Dennis (bigden)
that's a great sounding trip brad, just to bad I have a lot on at the moment.
they also sound like big days for an old fella like me.mt wellington and millers hut is a good drive, never been passed there out to the sentinals, I believe that has great views out over lake tarli karng
hope it all goes well
05 Apr 2016
Trip Leader Brad Jones (BradZook) Premium Member
Dennis (bigden) wrote: that's a great sounding trip brad, just to bad I have a lot on at the moment.
they also sound like big days for an old fella like me.mt wellington and millers hut is a good drive, never been passed there out to the sentinals, I believe that has great views out over lake tarli karng
hope it all goes well
Cheers Dennis. Ill be sure to make the effort to get up to mt wellington this time.
05 Apr 2016
Antony (Peloza79) Premium Member
It's a shame people aren't jumping on this, great area with great tracks. Unfortunately I am already booked otherwise I would be on this like a fat kid on a cupcake. Was even thinking about posting a very similar trip before the tracks close for the winter. If it doesn't fill please don't be deterred from posting future trips Brad, this site needs more people like you posting trips!
05 Apr 2016
Trip Leader Brad Jones (BradZook) Premium Member
Antony (Peloza79) wrote: It's a shame people aren't jumping on this, great area with great tracks. Unfortunately I am already booked otherwise I would be on this like a fat kid on a cupcake. Was even thinking about posting a very similar trip before the tracks close for the winter. If it doesn't fill please don't be deterred from posting future trips Brad, this site needs more people like you posting trips!
No probs Antony. Looks like a Queens Birthday Trip needs to be organised.
06 Apr 2016
Dan (Disco_Dan)
I gotta say, the trip looks fun and I want to give it a go. I'm not quite sure how well the Suzuki would go if I got mine horribly stuck though, which at the best of times weighs a smidgen under what the titanic weighed. That and I'm not too sure I'd have everything ready by Friday.
I'll see what I can get done tomorrow, and see if I can track down a set of mud tires on rims. I've used my ATs in mud before. Not exactly fun. I had to reach for the 'oh poop, I did a bad' button at one stage haha
06 Apr 2016
Trip Leader Brad Jones (BradZook) Premium Member
Dan (Disco_Dan) wrote: I gotta say, the trip looks fun and I want to give it a go. I'm not quite sure how well the Suzuki would go if I got mine horribly stuck though, which at the best of times weighs a smidgen under what the titanic weighed. That and I'm not too sure I'd have everything ready by Friday.
I'll see what I can get done tomorrow, and see if I can track down a set of mud tires on rims. I've used my ATs in mud before. Not exa ...
Hi Dan,

I don't want to provide any sort of guarantee in such an event but I have recovered toyotas and nissans in the past. There was an epic all nighter in Kinglake once, if you come I'll tell you all about it haha.

Running a 9500lb winch upfront. So long as I can nudge the bullbar up against a tree or tie the rear off to a tree I am pretty happy to pull out most things so long as when I start pulling, your car starts moving. If you don't move then something else has to give which would probably be my chassis haha.

Happy to adjust the trip as we go, the last thing I want to be doing is winching in the rain at 3am. More than happy to do that sort of crazy shit closer to home but not out this far.

There really isn't a whole lot of mud, it's more rocky stuff if anything. So it's unlikely you will get truly stuck as such. It will be more a case of not being able to go up a certain track and having to turn around and find a different way.

Cheers Brad
06 Apr 2016
Dan (Disco_Dan)
Brad Jones (BradZook) wrote:
Dan (Disco_Dan) wrote: I gotta say, the trip looks fun and I want to give it a go. I'm not quite sure how well the Suzuki would go if I got mine horribly stuck though, which at the best of times weighs a smidgen under what the titanic weighed. That and I'm not too sure I'd have everything ready by Friday.
I' ...
Heh, if you're confident enough, I'm pretty sure I'll join you. Not too sure about Sunday, I might have plans. I'll let you know. I'm sure mine will be fine, but who knows. Hopefully we won't have to shy away from too many tracks!
07 Apr 2016
Dan (Disco_Dan)
Brad Jones (BradZook) wrote:
Dan (Disco_Dan) wrote: I gotta say, the trip looks fun and I want to give it a go. I'm not quite sure how well the Suzuki would go if I got mine horribly stuck though, which at the best of times weighs a smidgen under what the titanic weighed. That and I'm not too sure I'd have everything ready by Friday.
I' ...
Heh, if you're confident enough, I'm pretty sure I'll join you. Not too sure about Sunday, I might have plans. I'll let you know. I'm sure mine will be fine, but who knows. Hopefully we won't have to shy away from too many tracks!
07 Apr 2016
Trip Leader Brad Jones (BradZook) Premium Member
Dan (Disco_Dan) wrote:
Brad Jones (BradZook) wrote:
Dan (Disco_Dan) wrote: I gotta say, the trip looks fun and I want to give it a go. I'm not quite sure how well the Suzuki would go if I got mine horribly stuck though, which at the best of ti ...
No probs. Just let me know either way before about midday Friday. Then if your 100% committed we can work out where to meet etc.
07 Apr 2016
Trip Leader Brad Jones (BradZook) Premium Member
Hi Steven,

I haven't been up to Tom Groggin for years so hard for me to make direct comparisons on track conditions. However the tracks I have planned are your typical High Country tracks, very steep and rocky. I just uploaded a picture of the track that descends into Macalister Gorge, I know it's hard to tell from pictures but hopefully it gives you some idea.

If you look really close you might see the snake sun baking in the middle of the track too...

There are a few small rock ledges on some of the tracks. You have twin lockers. So long as you take your time and plan your route I would imagine you would be fine. None of the tracks are what I would call super technical.

As I have said to Dan, I am more than happy to adjust the trip as we go to accommodate those that come. If you feel it's getting too hard and want to turn around that's totally fine by me. We can then go looking for other tracks, which is what it's all about.

Dan is also still umming and ahhing, obviously it would be great to actually get 3 cars it would really feel like a trip then but it totally up to you.

Cheers Brad
07 Apr 2016
Trip Leader Brad Jones (BradZook) Premium Member
Steven (ReefMaster) wrote: <div style='border:1px solid #cccccc; margin:20px; padding:10px; background-color:#eeeeee;'><i><strong>Brad Jones (BradZook) </strong> wrote: Hi Steven,

I haven't been up to Tom Groggin for years so hard for me to make direct comparisons on track conditions. However the tracks I have planned are your typical High Country tracks, very steep and rocky. I just uploaded a picture of the track ...
Hi Steven,

Yeah I set the meet time pretty late just because I wasn't sure when I'll leave work today.

I notice you're in Tarneit, I'm in Sunshine so perhaps we could meet at the servo just over the westgate.
Worst case scenario for me, leave work at 5.30pm, be home by 6.15pm, driving out of the driveway by 7pm.

Dan is based in Warragul so we will pick him up on the way through. The last I heard from him he is coming at this stage.

Or if you want feel free to leave earlier and get to the campsite before dark.
http://www.exploreaustralia.net.au/Victoria/East-Gippsland/Briagolong-State-Forest/Valencia-Creek-camping-area

Either way I'll keep you updated on my movements later this arvo.

Cheers Brad
08 Apr 2016
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TRIP COMPLETED

4 GOING
5 adults
Trip Date
08-Apr-2016 (Fri) to 10-Apr-2016 (Sun)

Meeting Point
Pakenham Bypass Outbound Servo https://goo.gl/maps/XiwKyF8XiFu
9:00 PM (Fri, 08-Apr-2016)