Bendethera campers trapped

Allans thread on the plane incident at Lake Eyre prompted me to add this thread about camping in the high country and like surrounds.

A similar incident happened, or nearly happened to us. We were down in the valley enjoying a perfect day. No clouds that could be seen and in the mid 20's. As it was a day trip we picked up the picnic stuff and headed out. Still no clouds. But as we reached the summit of the first climb out on Merricubene Fire Trail the clouds slowly closed in and the road was covered by one of those picturesque mountain mists. A short while later the thunder made itself known and we nearly jumped out of tour skins. That was quickly followed by some wild winds and heaps of hail.

First thought was "That was lucky we got up the hill". Then the realisation that the Dry Creek crossing may come up. Creeks have a habit of doing that with heavy rain and hail. But the problem was the way down to the crossing was mostly a quite steep clay covered track. It's not the best if wet let alone if it's saturated. We had brand new STT's on and decided to have a look as there was no other choice. Still hailing we got there. It felt okay with a walk and luckily was good under the car as well. Dry Creek had risen but well under our limits so home we went.

It just shows you how a perfect day can be so misleading when down in those great valleys in the Great Dividing Range. Not just Bendethera but other places as well.

Here is a newspaper report (one of many):Campers stranded in Deua National Park

And a bit of hail: Well looks like I will have to load it up again. This takes a while and so I will addit as soon as I can.

In the meantime, travel safe

Phil