Rig Road condition
Submitted: Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 15:37
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Trevor
Has anybody done the Simpson crossing; Dalhousie - Purnie
Bore -
Rig Road - Knolls Track -
Poeppel Corner - Big Red -
Birdsville in the last couple of weeks?
If so, what were the track conditions like?
With thanks
Trevor
Reply By: George_M - Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 17:12
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 17:12
Hi Trevor
Member Muzbry and I did the Simpson crossing west-to-east during the first week in June this year.
Our basic route was Mt Dare, Dalhousie,
Rig Road, WAA Track, Knolls Track, French Line,
Poeppel Corner, QAA Line, Big Red and on to
Birdsville.
The tracks were in excellent condition and the traffic light until we hit the French Line at the intersection with Knolls Track. East of here the French Line was as busy as, with a lot of east-west traffic heading for the Finke Desert race. There were queues of vehicles at some dunes waiting their turn to cross over. Ch 10 on the UHF is a good idea.
Also, the eastern faces of the dunes were really chopped up, and much steeper than the western approaches. East-west traffic towing trailers seemed to be doing it pretty tough.
Eyre Creek was a dust bowl, with no indication that the flood in the Georgina earlier this year actually made it as far as the QAA LIne.
Have a good trip.
George_M
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Trevor - Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 17:18
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 17:18
Thanks George
That's good to know. We are leaving
Adelaide this Saturday and plan to leave Dalhousie Wednesday.
I guess the track will have changed a bit.
6 vehicles in the convoy.
Trevor
AnswerID:
620088
Reply By: Member - mark D18 - Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 19:17
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018 at 19:17
Trevor .
Crossed about 4 weeks ago West To East, did part of the Rig Rd got back on the French line via the Coulson track .
Personally wouldn't bother with the Rig Rd.
The Eastern side of the dunes were dug up by 6 clueless Porche Cayanne drivers and there support crew .
I Never get sick of Simpson crossings
Enjoy the trip .
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - JIM F4 - Friday, Jul 13, 2018 at 18:25
Friday, Jul 13, 2018 at 18:25
Thanks Trevor, We leave on Monday the 16th for the same crossing. School holidays could be busy. The French line will be the most travelled and the
Rig road should be OK. Give a report at the end of July
AnswerID:
620144
Reply By: Julie S2 - Monday, Jul 16, 2018 at 09:51
Monday, Jul 16, 2018 at 09:51
Yes we did it recently. First part of QAA was damp and easy, but the dunes got harder as they were drier further in after
Poeppel corner. The knolls is not on the map they give you from desert parks, so it seems less used. Still we kept on French line till we reached the Rig rd, which we used till we reached the intersection at Wonga
Junction. All good as far as we were concerned. Not too correlated, although others were saying it was bad. We did have our tyres at 15 Psi for most of the desert in any case. This was a few weeks ago, so now things could be very different.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - JIM F4 - Monday, Aug 06, 2018 at 18:29
Monday, Aug 06, 2018 at 18:29
Just completed this exact route finished 25th July. 4 days to cross , averaged 15km/hr for 4 days!! Very cut up by returning traffic from the Big Red Concert and just lots of bunny hops before most big sand hills. Just dont be in a hurry . Still found some
great camp sites along the way and enough wood.
AnswerID:
620558
Reply By: Trevor - Monday, Aug 06, 2018 at 20:33
Monday, Aug 06, 2018 at 20:33
Returned from the trip last week.
Bookings for Dalhousie
camp site is a farce. We went to the trouble of advanced booking only to be told when we got there that they let anybody in until it is full.
The road to Purnie
bore was extremely corrugated and rough.
All of the sand hills were badly cut up but with the low tyre pressures and a little momentum we had no problems climbing them other than a bouncy ride in the 'moguls'. The problems caused by towing vehicles and high tyre pressures. Watched one towing vehicle take 6 attempts to crest one
hill. Each time he got an extra 2 metres and dug himself in on all 4 wheels. He left the track in a terrible state.
Very little traffic until we reached the French line and then it was quite heavy.
Rumours have it that the SA Govt is contemplating prohibiting trailers.
It was occasionally slow going we only did 70 k one day. 3 nights, 4 days in all.
Good trip, driving was not challenging at all and I used 139L diesel, Mt Dare to
Birdsville in our LC 100 TD.
AnswerID:
620562
Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Monday, Aug 06, 2018 at 20:46
Monday, Aug 06, 2018 at 20:46
Did you travel the
Rig Road through to Knoll's Track, or K1, Trevor? Planning an E-W trip in 2 weeks.
Thanks,
Bob
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Follow Up By: Les - PK Ranger - Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 17:37
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 17:37
Not sure why people
camp at Dalhousie.
I have usually found on dusk the mossies comes out in droves . . . and no comfort fires is a real disappointment.
Would rather drive on and
camp just out of Witjira NP in a dune corridor, or if going west just go on to 3 O'Clock Ck.
Dalhousie is great for a swim though, be nice if they built a similar pool down from the
Birdsville geothermal outlet, that would be a great way to start or finish a crossing either way.
FollowupID:
893051
Follow Up By: Trevor - Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 17:56
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 17:56
People
camp at Dalhousie because it is an iconic destination and the chance for a swim in the spring. We didn't have any mozzie problems but a
dingo took my dirty bowl which had the remnants of spag bog. Turned my back for a minute and it was gone. Found it next morning licked clean about 20 metres from our
camp.
Any idea how far the water from the
Birdsville bore flows? Seems to be a lot more than the town could use so I guess it just flows away and creates a wet land somewhere.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Trevor - Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 10:47
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 10:47
Hi Bob
We travelled W-E and did Knolls Track.
The
Rig Road from the turn off from the Erabena track and then north along the Knolls was very slow going.
The east side of the dunes are stepper than the west and have been cut up very badly by towing vehicles and high tyre pressures.
We ran 14 psi front and 18 psi rear and had no troubles at all.
Enjoy your trip.
Trevor
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 20:31
Tuesday, Aug 07, 2018 at 20:31
Thanks for the reply, Trevor. I hope to go down the K1 track, then West on the Rig.
We did the Knoll's track in 2016, and I wasn't impressed by it, between The Knolls and WAA Line. Had planned to do WAA that trip too, but were halted by a very full
salt lake only a few kms from Knoll's Track.
The
Rig Road has been good travelling each year since it was graded as far as Poolawanna in 2015. Les, Gunther(RIP) & I did the Rig in 2 easy days in Nov, 2015, from
Warburton Crossing to 3 O'Clock Ck.
Thanks again,
Bob
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