Inside track, Warburton, K1 line, Hay River, Batton Hill, Plenty Hwy

About 10 days ago I travelled from Birdsville to Batton Hill via the "inside track"' Warburton track, K1 line and Hay River. The inside track had been recently graded and in pretty good condition......soft loamy soil so not packed hard but easily driveable. A few minor dunes, washouts, corrugations, twists and turns and several kilometres of rough Sturts stony desert on the southern end, overall a nice drive with no real challenges and dry as a chip.
A short hop down the Birdsville track then north over the Warburton crossing, Warburton track, K1 line and Hay River track to Batton Hill, onwards to Jervois and back to Brisbane via the Plenty Highway, Donohue Highway etc.
The Warburton, K1 and Hay River whilst dry and in reasonable condition requires high clearance 4WD, good preparation and desert travel experience. This is a fascinating journey with diverse and at times stunning scenery, miles of claypans, sand dunes, washed out, rough and corrugated sections and endless second gear work crossing and re-crossing the Hay River and its channels. Whilst I didn't camp at Batton Hill it appeared to be clean and presentable...the two blokes I saw there were I imagine Lindsays sons and were nice helpful fellas. Apart from a few vehicles near Batton Hill, I saw only one vehicle in 3 days. From Jervois to Boulia via the Plenty and Donohue highways was excellent travelling, the roads had been recently graded but there are still the occasional rough spots and a small sections of bulldust. For those who like statistics the journey from Birdsville to Jervois via these tracks took me 3 1/2 days, 835 k's, and consumed fuel at the rate of 12.83 litres per 100 k.......my vehicle a 2005 hilux 3.0L D4D..
Tony (hopbush)