Ingeegoodbee/ Cobberas/wombat PO tracks from Syd

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

Last Sat, Sun ,Mon , Tue ,three mates and myself headed off to some of the Vic high country . Namely the most easily accessible from Sydney . Unfortunately the track we wanted to do , the Davies plain track closes on the first of May , whoops missed that one . The other one we wanted to do , along with the Igeegoodbee , the Dedick track , was also closed due to summer bushfires . So we were scratching without having to take a major holiday .
So the recipe is , four blokes , a 120 grande , a 200 series , camping gear and a load of refreshments , add good food , great weather ,sensational scenery , stir and see what happens .
Left Syd about 5.00 am , Jindabyne by 10am for last fuel and err supplies/booze . then onto the Barry way along the banks of the snowy river . great scenery and a great lunch spot at Willis camping area . Unfortunately as we drove out of our lunch spot we discovered a far superior spot . This was to set a theme for the next couple of days . Bugger . Every time we thought we found a great site we found a vastly better one very soon after.
After crossing the border into Vic the scenery and dust changes pretty quickly and after 10 or 20 ks you turn right onto the Ingeegoodbee trail and that takes some typing after a few beers . You immediately start climbing , along this early part we crossed paths with some horse wranglers towing trailers with 76 series cruisers , must know what they are doing , because I wouldn't want to tackle the trail so far with 2 horses in a trailer . but after their trailer parking point the trail takes a kick up to the helipad atop mount Menaak . At this point we were thinking how good are the views . Yeah they were nothing compared to what would come .After a couple of Ks you take a left onto McFarlane Flat Track taking on some very steep but easy track . We camped at almost the end of Mcfarlanes track . We thought we had picked the best campsite , but we were proved wrong soon after , next day .
Sunday and onto the Cobberas track . WOW , now this is a great track . Its got it all . Scenery , steep , rocky , shallow creek crossings . I wouldn't recommend anything other than a locker or traction control , and AT"S. If it rains , you better have a winch .Towards the end of the Cobberas , there are some sensational camp spots , where we had lunch and wished we knew about the day before .

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

Sounds great, Kav.
That describes the last two days of our trip in the other direction a month ago. A stock 120 without traction can handle it fine. It was a great challenge and great scenery.

Here was one crossing -

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

I remember that crossing and campsite , ill finish the report and stick some pics up soon

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

the combatantsthe gatewaythe snowy riverview from the helipad The Ingeegoodbee .

From the end of the Cobberas trail it was on to Limestone rd until you turn left onto Beloka rd , which was just a transport section . Turning left off Beloka rd and onto an obscure , little used track called Oakleys track heading west .A little bit of pinstriping on this one with some steep climbs and descents and spectacular views across the valley . We end up at a spot called Taylors Crossing on the Mitta Mitta river . Nice spot with lots of camping sites . Pushed on through to Kennedy's hut for a few pics , then on to the Wombat PO hut for the night . Im not sure what photograph they used in the Hema guide book for this hut but the one we stayed at looked nothing like the one in the guide .
Next day was up the Wombat creek track which rises about 650 vertical metres in about 2ks to the look out .Then along Spur track where we branched off to look at a campsite at the end of Eight mile track on the edge of Lake Dartmouth . If you are in the area don't bother looking for this camp , its not really worth the drive .From here it was along Razorback spur and Holloway log rd while looking across the valley at what we thought was Falls Creek but looking at the telephoto shots ,I could be wrong .The only challenge here was to stay on the rd while looking at the scenery . Camped the night at Snowy creek , where we managed to rid our vehicles of any leftover liquor supplies . Not the greatest campsite but a very pretty little spot on the river and the only time we got rain .
Next morning brought the long trek home through Mitta Mitta and Albury .The first hour or so was along the rivers edge through the gorgeous dairy country , and after the recent rains every paddock was brilliant emerald green with the autumn leaves falling against the green with the surrounding hilltops draped in whispy low cloud . After Albury , on to the snore festival that is our national highway .
A great time had with great people ,spectacular scenery , fun tracks , great weather ( 6-8 degrees at night , 21 - 22 daytime ) with a bit of Weber Q master chef each night . Now anxiously waiting for the gates to reopen .

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

A little crossing on the Cobberas Kennedys hut on the Mitta Mitta river The Wombat PO hut Lake Dartmouth from the Eight Mile track Campsite at snowy creek .

[r4ndll Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close r4ndll]

Nice - wish I'd thought about doing something like this on the way back from the High Country in Jan. Next time maybe

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Hey mate,

As you know I went through those trails not long ago, just after the GTG. From Benambra to Barrys Way, Ingeegoodbee, McFarlanes, [EDIT] Cobberas (not Deddick), Limestone Creek, The Poplars / Murray River, and Davies Plains. Have to agree with you that the views around there are fantastic - Barrys Way and the heli pad in particular. The ingeegoodbee climb up to the first heli pad was rougher than I was expecting (not much info on this track). [EDIT] Cobberas, in terms of 4x4ing, was bloody AWESOME! Can you believe I drove up Cobberas at night with a broken engine mount? I thought I had a rubbing tyre from weight - nope - the engine fan was hitting the shroud!!

Nice photos. Kennedy's hut looks stunning, I'll have to look that one up for next time

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

When did you do the Dedick track Glen , we were informed it was closed since the bush fires in January and won't be opening this season

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

ooh, sorry, I didn't drive Deddick, I confused that with Coberras Trail. Cobberas Trail was the rough one I used to exit Mcfarlanes Flat. Deddick is one I'll have to go back for one day!

From Cobberas I went down Limestone Creek trails toward the Poplars on the Murray River - there's some slippery clay on the trails in that region.

[kav Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close kav]

I'm looking to do the Dedick as soon as it opens ,it's supposed to be good

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

It's on my list too so let me know when it happens and I'll try to join ya

[Franky-120GXL Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Franky-120GXL]

+1 for the Cobberas Track. I did it about 18 months ago and it was awesome, a real goat trail. It's in a really remote section of the park too, so it doesn't get that much traffic. And there's heaps of good campsites up that way as well.

I did Davies High Plain in March, and it had just been graded. Took us less than 4 hours from Tom Groggin through to the southern end (Limestone Creek? Can't remember the name now). I'd love to go back there next year after the snow has melted, hopefully the track will be a bit more challenging.

The Deddick Fire Trail has been on my list for a while now as well. I was actually planning on heading there over the Australia day long weekend this year, but that was around the time of the bushfire. When you look around on the internet, there's conflicting information on the staircase section. Some say it's hairy as, while others say it's been graded and it ain't what it used to be. I gotta get there myself and see first hand I guess...

[Pugaree Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pugaree]

We did Deddick earlier this year, the staircase was quite easy and nothing like I was expecting. In fact a few of the group got to the end and asked "how far to the staircase?" and we had to tell them that we had just been up it.

It's a nice drive and at that particular time, not too challenging.