Reminder: You can find the complete collection of photos here.
West Coast 4x4 decided to run another trip to Dwellingup to do some hill climbs, so I thought I'd tag along. A good group turned up at the Odin Tavern early on Sunday morning. Gadget was trip leader and we had eight cars in total - but can someone please mail me with any names I've missed. In any case, the contenders were
You can find other pages about this trip at the
following pages:
http://www.4x4web.com.au/skips4x4/trippics/dwel4nov2001/
http://www.4x4web.com.au/skips4x4/trippics/dwel4nov2001/gadget/
Our first challenge was in the forest outside of Dwellingup. We went past a small track (and I use the term loosely) off the side of the gravel road that passes by the various campsites. Gadget and I had a go at driving up it, but neither of us got very far. I was driving so didn't get any pictures, but there are some at Skip's site.
After that minor setback, we headed off for another hill. Gadget went straight up with nary a problem but I had some issues until I made sure that I had the same pressure in each tyre and let them down from a slightly ridiculuous 40 PSI to 25 PSI. The tree root you can see in one of the photos was the major culprit...
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After whetting our appetite, on the way to the next climb we found a small quarry to play in. Some tested the articulation of their suspension, others did the old "rollback" trick.
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Next we tackled a small creek. There were two ways to do this - directly into the mud (which Gadget did and I followed later) or over to one side which meant not as much mud but some nice wheel-lifting action. Despite appearances, there were no recoveries here.
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Lunch_ was definitely in order at this stage, so a nice spot was found by the river to do this.
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After lunch, Gadget (ok - all of us) were eager to go off and try the infamous Nanga Hill. This is a deeply rutted climb. The first 200 metres is reasonably difficult in the dry and ends at a small parking (and I use this term loosely too) area about halfway up. After that, it gets much more difficult. Everyone who tried made it to the parking area. Gadget and Pete made it to the top with Gadget making it look all too easy. I tried the second part but after numerous attempts, I've decided that better tyres and lockers are in order. In the wet, I have a feeling that this would be next to impossible. As it was, walking on the hill was a challenge and there were numerous examples of people failing at that, fortunantely with no injuries.
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Thanks to Skip for taking the photos of me! And thanks to everyone who helped guide me up and down.
After this, we lost a few members and did a small hill just around the corner from the Nanga Hill - no photos - it wasn't a big deal. The decision was made to head own to Jarrahdale to try out some old climbs that Skip had done a few years back. There were a few interesting climbs, one small recovery off a big rock but nothing to speak about. Just as we were deciding to go home, Skip guided Scrounger down a huge hill that required a turn-around at the bottom to get back up. While down there, Scrounger's left front CV joint blew, leaving him with a rear-wheel drive car trying to back up a very steep (around 40 degree) hill. Needless to say, this wasn't going to happen.
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We didn't take a lot of photos of this because we were very busy trying to recover the vehicle - this took about three and a half hours, leaving us doing the recovery in the dark. Gadget did all the winching, and the rest of us (Skip, Adam and myself) ran up and down the hill with Gadget changing extensions straps, shackles, etc. The vehicle was recovered and we made it out of the forest at around 9PM. Phew.
Overall, while a very tiring and long experience, it was well worthwhile to see and use all the equipment. Gadget also came up with an unusual way to use a jack and a quite perilous way to deploy it, but he can tell that story...
