Gary Highway - WA

I have been along the top section of the Gary Hwy as far south as Veevers Crater.

It is a bush track, last graded in the 1960's. It is not used all that often. There are some minor washouts you have to watch out for. I believe that south of the Veevers turn-off the track is overgrown in places. I will driving the full length in 2008.

It is a wonderfully remote part of the country.

Cheers

ho tol

we to are going up thr gary hway from the gunbarrell gary hway to gary junction on our way to cape york, have done some reaserch and came up with the same info , not grded since the 60's and some serious wash outs ,take it easy, also a lot of rain in the north.
we leave 1st june

bugger me

Comments as per others..You will require permits for ALL of what you have mentioned. Getting permits for some sections of the Gary Highway can be difficult (but obtainable) and for the Sandy Blight Jnct Road virtually impossible.

Some people tend to ignore the need for obtaining permits- but I guess I'm a bit 'anal' and would prefer to do the right thing.

DC

Thanks for the quick replies, the Gary sounds like it will be a great trip if not a little isolated. There will be three vehicles among us so we might leave some wheel tracks for you "Bugger Me". Yes we do have permits, our trip requires 7 in total, 4 of which have been confirmed within 10 days of application. Will be at the eastern end of the Gary junction Rd by the 15th.

Tol,

covered it in July just past. Info from diary at the time. I have GPS co-ordinates for some of the points mentioned. Great trip. Will be back out there in 6 weeks myself. Cheers. Mick.

"We had some 70 kilometres to cover to the Gary junction. It went reasonably quickly, the road being of reasonable quality. Plenty to watch for though but the spinifex occasionally became unkempt and long. We passed two burnt out vehicles within a kilometres of each other the first, possible a Holden Jackeroo looked fairly recent whereas the second was an earlier model Landover. They broke the boredom and encouraged us to clear the spinifex from the undercarriage a bit more frequently. After 40 odd kilometres we broke away from the bordering dunes into open flat country, still sandy and spinifex covered but leading into the flats of the Gibson Desert.

Stopped for morning tea just after 10.00 a.m. on a small rise populated by members of the desert oak family. I failed to see a stump on the way in and drove over it thankfully squarely, with the front right hand tyre. After that it was less than an hour to the Windy Corner junction which was innocuously marked with a 44-gallon drum and a Len Beadell plate. Some wag had placed a pilfered sign indicating the route to Roebourne as being along the Talawana (which it is I might add). For us it was a right turn of exactly 90 degrees and a heading of 180 degrees, due south and that’s exactly what we did.

The Gary is indeed grown over and often hedged in by plant life in many places. Its lack of use also means that at times the road is in great condition even if it is only two wheel ruts. Erosion and plants have taken their toll in many sections but you can maintain a reasonable rate of knots. Lunchtime saw us on the hilltop marked as on the map. There is a geodetic marker on a small rise providing views of the surrounding plains. We lunched a bit below this in the shade offered by the spindly trees.

From here it was again on at 180 degrees. The road ran in dead straight lines of many kilometres, often the only deviation from true south being the occasional twist or turn around an obstacle or wash away. We spied several camels all of which appeared in excellent condition. One big fellow refused to get off the track giving us a bit of a laugh for a minute or two as he trotted in their ungainly fashion until pulling off to the left. About 79 kilometres south of the Talawana turnoff, we came across the forlorn wreck of a camper trailer, stripped and abandoned by the track. It had been a “Kanga-Camper” brand. Another excuse to stretch the legs and exercise the camera skills.

At 2.45 pm and 100 kilometres south of the junction, we reached the shores of Lake Cohen. This impressive stretch of shallow water is nothing more than a clay-lined depression that holds a fair whack of water. It is a haven for migratory birds although we didn’t see anything other than a Willie wagtail and the ubiquitous flying mice of the outback, zebra finches. The surrounding countryside is mulga and acacia woodlands, the spinifex taking a back seat for a change. These conditions continued to our turnoff to McPherson Pillar and the Mulgan Rock Hole. We travelled the 30 kilometres in to find a shallow hole on top of a rocky hill. The surrounding gibber offered little in the way of campsites so we continued on to the pillar where we cleared a little rick and spinifex to provide space for the tent. Wood was at a premium so we had to take a little drive back along the track finding nothing but ant-ridden mulga. No eucalypt at all and any that did bite the dust was soon eaten by the local termites. In fact Johnno was almost mugged by the local termite homeboys as he heading back to the ute with a piece of eucalypt. What we got burnt hot but left no lasting coals. It’ll do though.

We were up early, namely 6 bells. A roaring fire, jaffles and tea, the vehicle packed and we were back on the track to “The Gary” by 7.45 a.m. Not to long after we were headed south again on the 70 kilometres stretch to the Gunbarrel. We amused ourselves by stopping and pulling the fallen trees from the track thereby clearing it and completing our civic duty for the day. Plenty of camel sign on the road again but no surprises. We reached the junction of the Gunbarrel in time for morning tea. There is a visitors book there now, again provided by Connie Sue Beadell on her tours. Gotta cash in I suppose.

From here we headed west along a very corrugated and washed out track. The Gunbarrel should be called the “Double Barrel” because of all the side tracks aimed at avoiding the worst of the corrugations. At times there were four or five side tracks, each corrugated to some extent and all sections variously crossing each other like some mad woman’s plaiting exercise! Lunch was taken atop Mt Beadell. Things have changed significantly here since my first visit in 1985. You can drive to the top of the hill now. There is also a memorial and information sign dedicated to Len Beadell. A replica surveyors theodolite sits in a cage atop the hill as a testimonial to him also.

Several kilometres on and the sign to Camp Beadell indicates that it is “under new management”. My decision to visit was rewarded with a new hand pump and bore…fresh water of excellent quality so we took on 35 litres. Long showers tonight. We continued on the beaten track, enduring appalling conditions. The corrugations were so bad that I ended up letting down the tyres further to 22 and 27 psi respectively to attempt to alleviate some of the impact. It did help somewhat. Heaven help if we hit a big rock or washout though."

Thanks Mick,

Great information and enjoyable reading as Viv comments. If you don't mind I'II take a copy for the rest of the party. When you read his books Len B. was certainly obsessed in keeping the roads straight. I read elsewhere that there has been quite a drop of rain throughout the "Centre". Perhaps we will be lucky with the flowers etc...

Regards Tol.