Submitted: Sunday, Jul 20, 2008 at 00:00

Sunday 20th July, 2008
Wantamata (Christmas Pool), WA
21 53.454 E, 122 07.562S

What a splendid day again. We’ve explored on the ATV’s, successfully navigated our way back to base, extracted ourselves with only one further puncture (mine…and on the %$#@*& trailer again…and the &%^$#@* tubed tyre!) and have gotten a little of the way north towards the Telfer Mine Road.

It was a night of gusting winds, so much so that even in the relative safety of my low, streamlined tent and further sheltered by spinifex, there was a patina of dust over everything inside, me included. Despite the howling easterly, I slept relatively well and arose without too many aches and pains to find the wind little abated as the sun rose. I got the fire going and had largely finished packing and was onto the spaghetti jaffles when Scott and Gaby emerged, functioning slowly, from the pleasure dome (as the REI tent is now known). Two cups of tea and a chat around the fire later, we were packed and then taking care of the daily puncture repairs in the front tyres. Both Scott and I had one in each a front tyre and we both had further “slow” leaks which we opted to take care of as well.

09:00 a.m. saw us on the track out of our nights refuge and heading north west again. We decided to track further to the west on the rest of our return journey and found the going much easier. There was still a lot of the old growth spinifex to contend with but through good vision and a bit of foresight, we were able to avoid much of the mulga of two days previous. In some areas, recent fires allowed us a good clip across reasonably clear ground. It was still a bit of a mix though. On passing the conical mound at 22°21'24.66"S, 121°51'31.05"E, the western ramparts started to get higher. On some occasions, the walls sported impressive cliff faces towering at least 50 metres above the equally high scree slopes. Standing upright on the ATV for extended periods of time, I decided that two things were needed. Firstly a cruise control or throttle catch and secondly, that the handles bars need to be 80 to 100 mm longer. This would make it much more comfortable in the standing position.

Also solved was the great boot impression mystery of yesterday. We saw plenty of donkey tracks on our trek this morning. In one sandy spot I found that two hoof prints directly opposed and opposite each other perfectly form the shape of a boot impression. The boot print was in fact two hoof prints.

Our westerly track proved much easier and we covered almost the entire first days distance on three hours. At one point we ducked into a gorge, the entrance of which had largely been concealed by drifting sand hills. It was a great place to drive around and held a seasonal rock pool as well as a central sentinel of rock (22°16'4.68"S, 121°48'59.27"E). On exiting though a second entrance into the main valley, we crested the entrance dune to a great view before again plunging into the scrub of the Yandagooge.

Sighted a goodly mob of ill looking camels in a patch of Mulga, the same that took me some time to negotiate on day one. The western path proving better again. Managed to provide a lesson on puncture repair to the video camera and show just how lethal this burnt timber is as one piece had penetrated right through a lug on the tyre without damaging the tyre itself.

We reached base camp right on 12 noon feeling both relieved and impressed at the distance we had made over time. There was still no way to avoid the low scrub and Grevillea near camp but still reached base in good time. My fears in respect to the solar cells had been realised with them lying face down on the ground, thankfully undamaged (again judicious placement proving provident). Though hard to gauge when they went over, I was tipping 24 hours at least as the batteries in the vehicle were low, showing 12.25 and 12 volts respectively. Even today’s driving hasn’t bought them up to speed. Both fridge and freezer were performing perfectly at –14C and 2C respectively meaning Scott could enjoy a cold beer with lunch.

Lunch out of the way, we were on our way by 1:20 p.m. on the slow laborious drive out. After plunging back into the track-now-creek, it was a slow, methodical and nervous trip north, constantly watching the shrubs and scrub for anything that may destroy a sidewall in a moment of inattention. It was all to no avail though when with less that a km to go, I noticed the rear left had trailer tyre getting flat! This was the tubed tyre bugger it. On examination a needle like piece of timber had penetrated through the tread. On went one of the new Dick Cepek’s and then we were out onto the main track. Here or speed picked up from the thick scrub crawl. I was amazed at the amount of wildlife that had crossed our tracks over the past three days, emu, dingo, roo and the ubiquitous camel, often in great numbers. Also, how quickly the wind and drifting sand had obscured our tracks on the main east-west track. The wind had also done a great job of blowing dead timber we’d cleared on our journey inwards back on to the track.


Once we hit the main Rudall Road, it was north past Moses chair to Christmas Pool. The road was heavily corrugated and sandy but we made good time at 60 kph or thereabouts. We found Xmas pool dry and the barren rocky campground was being swept by the strong easterlies that had plagued us since yesterday. Circling nearby we found a slightly sheltered spot on the gibber and spinifex and set up camp, using the vehicles to form a windbreak.

We all decided to brave the wind and shower, the breeze making it somewhat invigorating. The pain was worth it though, the dust and weariness of the trail washed away so that clean, conditioned, well fed and well lubricated, we could enjoy the evenings campfire and plan the next big trip in two years time. The sunset was special with the distant hills being layered with gold and indigo. Hopefully one of the photo’s will do it justice. Dinner was rissoles with mash and veg, a desert of chocolate rice cream and a milo and Bailey’s. Great to be alive. Even the wind has died down.

Tags: 4WD, GPS/Navigation, Places/Destinations, Travel Journal
Views: 241

Submitted: Saturday, Jul 19, 2008 at 00:00

Saturday 19th July, 2008
Large gorge, western side of Yandagooge Gap
(22°22'2.24"S 121°51'26.22"E)

I awoke several times during the night to the sound of tumbling rocks and scurrying beasts. Obviously Kangaroos using the high slopes rocks above us as a pathway. Also thought I heard the telltale cracking of timber and grumbling of camels nearby but couldn’t se anything when I got out to look. The wind rose overnight but our position in the narrow valley provided us some shelter. I awoke early and on making my way into the next gorge for the morning ablutions, found fresh scraps and pits where a herd of camels had hunkered down for the night, obviously the ones I had heard last night. Six or seven had gone to ground with their backs into the wind.

After breakfast we exited the gorge and out onto the wide spinifex floor of the gap. The country was often cluttered with brush and large tracts of acacia. Not too far out we found the mob of camels who had camped near us in one such patch of brush. The hard going forced us closer to the edge of the valley walls where the shrubbery was thinner and the going easier. In the distance we also saw a good sized herd of donkey who were very skittish and despite the distance between us, galloped off at speed.

I decided to explore one of the many gorges that split the ridge to the east as I could see a narrow high walled area deeper in its recesses. On walking in we spied several large caves up high on our left. The narrow pinch of the gorge held an ephemeral rock pool that whilst dry, obviously held water for a good time after rains. On walking out of the gorge, we climbed the rocky walls to the cave and found the telltale signs of past habitation immediately. The floor sported the remnants of charcoal from ancient campfires and the roof was correspondingly smoke blackened. Looking around we found a well faded drawing in ochre on one of the only smooth surfaces of the cave. From the mouth you had a commanding view of both this small gorge and out across the main valley. Obviously a place of shelter from the driving winds for nomadic groups moving in concert with the ebb and flow of known water and the availability of food.


Moving our way slowly along the eastern hills we came across three sets of recent motorcycle tracks, obviously the group we had nearly skittled at the Rudall crossing some days previously. We were to encounter these tracks on occasion throughout the rest of the day. Further east, the gorge became narrower and I realised we were getting close to the valley we had viewed from our vantage point high to the north several days past. As the valley narrowed, the walls became steeper and more rugged. We investigated one area where giant slabs of rock had slid away from the wall allowing the wind had to carve caverns from the chalky white substrate underneath. On arriving it appeared as if one such cavern was guarded by ancient statues of lions, the termite mounds making a convincing facsimile that didn’t need much imagination. (22°25'49.88"S, 121°57'49.39"E )


Once again we continued our way along the eastern wall of the valley as both sides continued to converge. The valley walls formed a narrow pinch where the only flat ground became the narrow creek winding its way along the valley floor. Either side became a mass of gullies, rills and wash-aways. What became glaringly obvious to us was that many camel paths from the main valley converged on this narrow pinch and merged to form a single track. So well worn was this path that it seemed to have been made for the express purpose of hikers. Rather, it was a migratory path through this narrow, winding valley allowing access from one valley to the next. It was even more incredible when considering that the camel has always been a beast of the open plains and desert. You never imagine them making a precarious climb along narrow rocky valleys and passes.


It didn’t take long for us to reach a point where the confines and nature of the terrain meant that ATV’s could go no further. Here we were forced to leave them and with the GPS in hand, continue along the camel path on foot. The track continued along the gorge and climbed its high sides leaving the creek bed below. I took the opportunity to walk the creek bed finding numerous large, dry rock holes. About a kilometer along the gorge, we reached an obvious high spot on the trail and were able to look down in both directions. Here we climbed the steep walls to the east and on reaching the summit of the range, gained a magnificent vista across the next valley. This valley extended to the south where it opened out onto the vast plains that would eventually reach the Watrara Creek and its semi-ephemeral pools. To the north it tapered and led off into many narrow gorges and chasms all of which would lead to other such valleys, one of which we knew held the pinnacle. In various places across the width of the valley, you could see Camels foraging amongst the sparse vegetation. It was a fantastic place to be and we were very reluctant to climb down again. I built a very small cairn (not visible from below) on a GPS mark (22°26'3.47"S, 121°58'47.41"E). It was very tempting to continue on along the path but we had little in the way of water and food with us so we decided to head back to the quads. On arrival there, we used the quads to shelter from the wind and had lunch.





At the point where the valley constricted to create this gorge, we found the remains of a circular fire pit and some very old cans. This would probably have been left by the initial survey teams from the 70’s and early 80’s. No signs of any recent campers. Heading back into the expanse of the main valley, I opted to head across to the southern side to see if we could identify a way through to the 3 Sisters Hills. Time being what it was, and with the wind howling, we decided to tuck into the western side and find a sheltered location to spend the night.

We made good time initially crossing areas where fire within the past few years had left the spinifex smaller and the bush less dense. In one location we found what I assumed to be a single boot print. It appeared very old but with little detail in the way of treads remaining, but definitely a boot imprint remaining in the earth. It astounded us because despite looking, we could find no further trace of a vehicle, person or further prints anywhere nearby. A mystery that was answered the next day.

The path I chose took us towards the western wall. It was a mixed bag of conditions as we headed northwest. The going was often tough with some areas not having suffered the ravages of fire in quite a while. The spinifex was old, thick and high making the going slow. On other occasions we wound our way up and over talus slopes at the base of the western range negotiating small valleys and gullies. Come four o’clock, I started looking for a location to camp and seek a bit of shelter from the wind. The wind was blowing in the same direction as us and was being funneled up the gap hence our dust was often passing us. Not a nice experience after a while!

As we proceeded on a near northerly track along the western wall, we found another large rift branching off to the north west. The dividing range jutted out into then main valley. Steering in over white, quartz covered hills, we found a suitable camp site amongst the spinifex under some small eucalypts. It offered some respite form the wind. The walls opposite us were impressive with cliffs rising up to 35 meters above the scree slopes. The earth was very dry and once you broke through the initial light crust, you found a fine powdery dust about five centimeters deep. Dinner was cans by the fire and again the Coolgardie safe method of cooling was used to provide a chilled Baileys as a night cap.

Tags: 4WD, GPS/Navigation, Places/Destinations, Travel Journal
Views: 7

Submitted: Friday, Jul 18, 2008 at 00:00

Friday the 18th July, 2008
Small unnamed gorge on the eastern side of Yandagooge Gap
(22 22 40.70”S 121 54 18.80” E)

It was a cool morning. After breakfast we surveyed the surrounding countryside from the nearby hill. There then followed a lot of pfaffing about this morning as we prepared the quads. I’m loaded to the hilt with 2 cans of diesel and one of water (a total of about 60 kgs) as well as the compressor and computer on the front rack. On the rear I have all the camping gear plus food, dunny seat and billy. Scotties got the two tyres, one can of water, his wife and the chairs. We’re not making that mistake again. If you roughing it, you may as well be comfortable. That’s the chairs I’m talking about, not the missus.

We were away at 11:30 a.m. heading south. We followed what had once been a track but was now so overgrown with shrubbery that it was more often than not, easier to push along off track to either side. This particular area was a green carpet of knee high grevillea which gave way in spots to patches of spinifex and then thick stands of acacia scrub. It took time to find gaps and weave a path through the often impenetrable walls of scrub. Often I’d find a well worn camel trail and quickly plunge along it hoping that the large beasties had forced a wide enough gap for the ATV’s. Earlier in the piece we found an old bore casing which contained water but at a good depth (over a 4 second drop for a small stone).

Needless to say the first hours going was tough and exhausting and amounted to 5 km only, walking pace. We took a quick lunch in the meager shade of a mulga tree such sustenance consisting of a warm sandwich and few gulps of hot water, the drink bottles having been at the mercy of the noon sun. Then it was off again, the track long since having disappeared. The maps I’d made using Google earth images were accurate as far as my intended route was concerned but in reality, the actual terrain in front of you is often very hard to reconcile with that on the computer image. Of most difficulty is judging the actual height of geographical features. What looked like an imposing set of hills, might only be 50 metres high! A deep rift gorge that appeared in the two dimensional photograph to extend up from the floor of the main valley, may in fact rise sharply from the main valley to actually commence many metres above you, therefore being shallow and of no benefit when it came to being a likely place to hold water.

The area we were crossing was a broad valley approximately 5 km wide. It was bordered on either side by low stony ranges. As we moved southwest, the valley opened out into a large basin to the east. We skirted across this to join another range and found ourselves in the narrower confines of another valley. This was about two kilometers in width but the bordering hills were more impressive. I took a tack that saw us progress south east down the middle of this valley, hopefully to keep an eye on either side for unusual features or gorges. Initially we were again forcing our way through unrelenting mulga and acacia but then a burnt out tract of bush provided us with a respite from the thick bush and gnarly scrub that seemed eager to drag us and our equipment off the machines. This afforded us 15 minutes of good going (about three kilometers). At one point I found what would have to be the worlds toughest tree. It was an ancient eucalypt which had withstood just about every calamity that could have been thrown at it. The main trunk of the tree stood about 10 metres high and to all intents and purposes, appeared dry, sandblasted, burnt and dead. There was not a single limb anywhere up its length. Then at the very top, a single branch jutted upwards with a ball of leaves about 2 metres across. This unlikely growth was so round it looked as if it had been recently manicured by some crazed outback topiarist! Never say die!


The larger flora consisted of Mulga (acacia), Bloodwood, Kanji and the occasional stands of Teatree and Melaleuca. The eucalypts consisted primarily of a white trunked variety on the rocky hills and around water courses as well as a couple of varieties of Mallee out on the plains. Of course do I need to mention the ubiquitous spinifex?

As we plunged into the scrub once more, I spied a twin topped mesa in the distance which I made a bee line for. Scott and Gaby had found a mother camel and her newborn. I steered the ATV up the mesa and then along its top to the southern end to be rewarded with rich views of the surrounding range and in particular, our intended course south into the gap. It was also possible to discern the remains of the track that I’d charted on Google earth. I was at this point very impressed with the accuracy of the maps I’d made using the Trackranger program. These consisted primarily of Jpeg images of the area lifted from Google Earth and calibrated. The two and three kilometer images were particularly accurate but the larger files allowed for greater discrepancy when calibrating and therefore accuracy suffered. They remained a great visual aid though despite the difficulty in judging terrain height as I mentioned earlier. Once down, I fixed both front tyres which had been staked by pieces of thin timber that had been sharpened to needle points by fire. How you ask? Well, just light a match and hold it vertically for a few moments, letting the flame burn straight up. Then blow it out and remove the outer ash. Presto! The match has a sharp tapered point. Now multiply that by the number of branches there are in thick bush. Easy math really. Thankfully, quick and easy to fix with the plugs and back up to 7psi in no time. Plodding on we reached a low line of hills that cut across the valley in an almost east-west line. The southern side was sandy, the northern, a low line of red bluffs that had been blown into arroyos’, gullies, caverns and caves by relentless wind (22°22'27.13"S, 121°53'11.47"E). We opted to track east along these cliffs to bring us closer to the eastern wall. We surprised more than one roo on our path, the caves providing obvious shelter for the local wildlife.

The wind had picked up significantly by this stage so I hoped we might find a sheltered camp site along our path. On reaching the end of the bluffs we were able to squeeze across the last of the low ridges and then track the main eastern wall of the valley. At about 3.30 p.m. Scott was attending to a belt problem on his ATV, I explored a small canyon system and found a lovely campsite under the northern wall of the rill. It provided reasonable shelter from the wind, a suitably clear site for the tents and an abundant supply of wood for the fire. All ticks in the box for a nights stay as far as we were concerned. It didn’t take too long to get the tents up, wood collected and some of the days dust removed with Tay’s towel tablets…a miracle of modern science. I’ve used the old damp towels as a wrap for the baileys bottle which has then been placed in the windiest spot I could find up on the gorge wall. Hopefully the evaporation principals will chill it down for tonight. The days riding, while only 30.6 kilometers in total, has left us stuffed and an early night is assured.

See the next day.

Tags: 4WD, Camping, GPS/Navigation, Places/Destinations, Travel Journal
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Submitted: Thursday, Jul 17, 2008 at 00:00

Thursday 17th July
Bush Camp – middle of nowhere
22°13'21.85"S, 121°49'16.14"E

Today was a day the had the best and worst of everything. It’s left us satisfied but exhausted and we are deep in the bush north of the Park and our destination, Yandagooge Gap.

I was up early to start the pack-up. It seems as everyone else was leaving as well. All of a sudden our campsite was empty. We hit the road at 9.30 and had only gone 800 metres when I heard the tell tale sound of air escaping a tyre at a rapid rate. I’d managed to stake a trailer tyre on a sharp turn. Tyre unserviceable and side wall ripped completey. A tube for this one. Another Kilometre or two down the track and the gash in the right rear tyre that had been plugged so effectively, spat the plugs. We plugged again to no avail. Slow leak only so we drove on. A few short km later and I ran into Alan McCall and his father John heading in. Stopped and chatted for an hour over his successes in locating Patience Well and other landmarks from Carnegies Journey. On the road again and only 2 km before the rear tyre spat the second set of plugs. Then a laborious tyre change for 50 minutes and some improvisation to mount the alloy on the rear carrier. Scott had to file the threads out of two nuts to act as spacers due to the deep wheel nut recesses on the wheel. Finally on the way again about 12.30 and still only half way to the turnoff.


Reached the main track without further incident and headed north. Our tracks at “Claypan” had almost disappeared as we passed, not surprising considering the soft conditions and the wind. I called in at the top water pump to find a major survey camp set up there. They had disconnected the hand pump and dropped a poly pipe down the bore effectively preventing anyone else from drawing water from the bore.

We headed on past the Coolbro Creek and its waterholes where Johnno and I camped in 2006. Once again the area was ravaged by fire and bore no resemblance to my memories of the area. I didn’t check to see if the waterholes still contained any water. A few kilometers later, I located the short graded line that runs North West off the main road about 8 km short of Moses Chair. I was running on memory here but we followed the track in for some 20 km. The first ten of which was in a general direction that could only be described as “away” from our destination. The graded line was soft and in many places, overgrown with scrub. At its end we struck the sand hills I remembered vividly from my earlier visit. The shifting sand had covered much of the track and you could see it obliterated our vehicle tracks almost as soon as we’d crossed the area. Despite this, the track was often in very good condition but I did a lot of stopping and starting getting out of the vehicle to remove dead timber and other obstacles (camel bones). Once it cleared the low ranges and hit the sand hills again, the track veered back round to a bearing that pointed us towards our junction. There were several sandy washed out creek crossings to be negotiated but all in all a very enjoyable drive. On reaching our junction, the track left had not been used in many years and was completely overgrown. The camels had left a bit of a path so we headed off at a very slow, stake and scrub conscious speed. It wasn’t long before we began paralleling low rocky ranges, the precursors of the Throssells. Three kilometers or so in, the dreaded radio message was received once again, Scott had punctured a trailer tyre resulting in another quick wheel change.

It was getting late now but we pushed on. There were often thick grevillea type gorse that we were forced to push through. Scotty radioed me that I was dragging a stick underneath and on inspection, we found that the shrubs had raked two vacuum hoses from their pipes. Thankfully the clamps were still attached to the tubing so Scott squeezed under and reattached, hopefully in the right order. Some 12 kilometers and 2 hours along the track, I spied a lone stand of guns in the distance in a gap between two ranges and decreed that to be our camp for the night. It appeared, and should have been a straight forward run of a kilometer to our intended destination, but it was not to be. Our track suddenly became a stream and then a wash-away with steep cut sides of 1.4 to two metres in height and getting narrower as we moved forward. Nature and the cyclonic precipitation that this region experiences at work.

Rather than attempt the near impossible feat of backing down the gorge, I called a halt before the sides became so confining as to prevent even that maneuver. Not being able to turn around, we were forced to dig away an edge collapsing it as best we could into the stream bed to form a ramp of loose sand. I hoped we could then climb out onto the high ground. It took a couple of takes on the leaders behalf and a bit more shoveling before we were both safely on high ground in the fast fading light. Scotty hit it hard in second gear and both Gabby and I thought he might actually be tipping over but the high roof of the troopy made it deceptive and he got up with a minimum of fuss, all ably captured on video by Gaby.


Finally out we moved the couple of hundred metres to the stand of trees and set up camp under the gums, against a low range of hills to our north east. A couple of local dingoes greeted us and the evening with their mournful howls. All totally exhausted and being nearly dark there appeared to be a paucity of accessible firewood. Still the old rope and shifter trick provided a few dead branches that saw us warm through the evening. A big stodgy meal of meatballs and pasta for dinner. A very early night as we are spent. I’m typing this from bed the next morning. During the early hours of the morning I heard the strange call of the night bird that had so fascinated me out on the Canning.


Go to the next day

Tags: 4WD, GPS/Navigation, Places/Destinations, Travel Journal
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