Nug Nug to Buckland Valley

Once again, our “not the official snow trip” had more snow than any trip we have organised. We are calling this trip a “Winter Wonderland” as we had snow down as low as 800m. We had 12 vehicles on this trip and members got to enjoy the snow covered tracks up through the Buckland Valley State Forest. We headed up on the Friday night with Paul and Fiona getting into Nug Nug Camping reserve in the afternoon, finding a campsite for all of us. Thanks to Shannon for supplying the firewood and lighting the fire so when the rest of us got up there, we were welcomed to a warm fire.

Most of the group arrived about 9.30pm. We had rain all the way up and Paul and Fiona told us that they’d had fairly heavy rain as well. We made sure that we filled up with Alpine diesel in Myrtleford before getting to camp. We set up camp and stood around the fire for a bit and then the rain really started to come down, so we all headed for bed. It rained all night.

Saturday

Waking up to a wet morning I looked up to the near mountains to see if we had snow on those hills, but none was to be seen. We all had breakfast and packed up camp and then had a quick briefing on the day’s events and what tracks we were taking and their possible conditions.

We headed out of Nug Nug Camping reserve and went left along Buffalo River Road and over the Lake Buffalo Dam wall. Then at Dandongadale we kept on going straight on the Abbeyard Road. After about 5kms we aired down, shifted into low range, and headed up Dandongadale-Buffalo Divide. The first bit of the track was actually quite slippery and steep, and the track kept on climbing until we got to the top of the Spur. We reached heights of 1050m hoping for snow, but we were disappointed. This track goes for about 20kms and by the time we made it to the end we stopped for a break for about 20mins and it just started to snow a little, with flakes of snow floating through the tree tops.

It was getting colder, so we jumped back in the vehicles and started to head along Abbeyard Lake Cobbler Track. Then the fun started and thank God we were going downhill and not climbing this track as the track turned into a rutted slippery red clay bit of fun. You just had to let the ruts do the talking and go for that free ride, going down in 1^st Low Range with the rear diff lock in just to try and keep your vehicle in some sort of a straight line. At the bottom we pulled up at McIver Picnic area and waited for everyone to get down as it took a while to get 12 vehicles safely down that section of track.

It was just after 12.00pm and we kept on going back onto Abbeyard Road and back into 2wd. We drove through the valley of Abbeyard which is Private Property, but you can access it via cattle grids. Then we turned left onto East Buffalo Road, veering to the left again onto West Humphrey Track. When we reached the Canyon Road around 1.00pm, we stopped for lunch for about 30mins, and it started to snow very lightly again.

Canyon Road is the last little section of track up to Mt Selwyn and it has a couple of steep sections which were rocky with plenty of traction. As we got a little bit higher (about 800m) it started to look like that Winter Wonderland with just enough snow to change the landscape by decorating the leaves on the trees and covering the bracken and ferns with this white dusting. As we drove along the phones were out taking lots of photos and videos. We reached the top and turned right onto Mt Selwyn Road at an elevation of 1225m. We then got up to near 1424m and found the gate was closed to the summit of Mt Selwyn. Travelling along Mt Selwyn Road we had a bit of snow and I set the drone up and filmed the convoy travelling along.

We made it to Tea Tree Track and made a sharp left. The track had a slight covering of snow. By the time we’d dropped down to an elevation of 1120m the snow had started to disappear. It’s all downhill from there, so we shifted back into 2wd and followed Selwyn Creek Road into the Buckland Valley. We pulled into Beveridges Station and found a great campsite straight away. It was very quiet in there with only a few other campers. I went and cut wood for the fire while everyone picked a spot and set up camp. We lit and built the fire right up to keep us warm as we had showers coming through. We realised the rain meant one thing. If it’s raining down here it’s snowing up there in those hills. We kept warm all evening by the fire having a few drinks.

Sunday

I woke early around 6.30am and got the fire going again, as there was a fair bit of wood left from the night before, I got it roaring. Being such a cold morning, as people woke, they come to the fire to warm up. We had breakfast and packed up camp and as the sun started to come up over those mountains and through the valley, you could see the snow just sitting on top of the trees. It must have snowed down as low as 700m that night. When everyone saw this we were very excited, so we had a quick briefing and left camp before 9.00am.

We headed down through Beveridges Station towards Pheasant Creek Track. When we got to the river crossing we found it wasn’t too deep at all, but was probably flowing a bit harder than usual. We crossed the creek and then started the climb up Pheasant Creek Track. The track is not too steep, but it is a nice climb. I could start to see snow on the mountains ahead up on the left towards Demon Ridge, and was thinking “why haven’t we got the snow yet” as we looked to be at the same level. Then, just below 800m according to Hema maps, it was there. Pheasant Creek Track turned into a Winter Wonderland and a very pleasant drive with snow falling out of the trees and landing on your windscreen. At the end of Pheasant Creek Track there is a very steep climb and as it was covered in snow and ice, I thought we might have a bit of trouble. With a bit of momentum though, we all made it easily. At the top we turned right onto Gunns Track, and this was where the snow started to get thicker.

Driving on fresh untouched snow does become exciting as you don’t know exactly where the track is. Going on memory and Hema maps we made it through. It was lucky going over the Heli pad sections I knew the track went around to the right and headed towards Mt Buckland as you couldn’t see the track at all.

The section just before Mt Buckland has a steep descent then a very steep ascent, and as I started to go downhill the Toyota started to slide sideways off the track so I managed to pull up and stop, and I thought this could be a bad idea taking 12 vehicles down through here. I tried to reverse up and the rear diff lock disengaged, and I kept on slipping sideways in the snow, so I called up Andrew to get the winch out and he had to winch me back up the hill. We had to use a snatch block off a tree and winch on a 45 degree angle a couple of times to stop me getting closer to that edge. After about 20mins I was back up and we turned around and headed back to the Helipad where we had a quick break before heading off towards Harrietville.

We went back along Gunns Track and then turned right onto Paddys Track. Still driving through untouched snow for 2kms we turned right onto Gunns Track again and headed down into the valley. The snow started to fade out as we got lower down, but then we started to climb, and the snow started to look amazing again. As we got up to West Ovens Track (the turn off to Harrietville) it was only 11.30am so I asked everyone if they wanted to do a few more tracks as it was so early. I got a yes from everyone, so we turned left up Albion Track.

As we reached 1240m at Albion Point the snow was really thick again and made the drive fantastic. We drove through untouched snow for the next 6kms and then got onto Wet Gully Track where we had a lunch break. It was pretty cold so some of us ate our hot pies straight out of the ovens and then we were all back into the warm vehicles and off again along Wet Gully Track. This track can usually be done in 2wd but add snow and ice it turned into a Low Range rear diff lock fun track. Mt Ebenezer is at 1192m and does have sharp turns which were covered in snow, so I was trying to navigate the track and get us through. After this section, the track heads straight down, and once again as we started to get lower and lower, and the snow petered out.

We turned left down Hillsborough Track towards Wandiligong, which is a very pleasant drive winding its way down through the ferns growing up on the side of the hills. We went through the two river crossings and then stopped and aired up. We finished the trip and I thanked everyone for a great weekend and we all made our own way home via Wandiligong and Bright.

Participants

Russell. 105 LandCruiser

Andrew. Triton

Paul and Fiona. 80 LandCruiser

Brett C. Hilux

Allan. Triton

Frank and Grace. Nissan Patrol

Shannon and Tom. 76 LandCruiser

Ben and Kim. Colorado

Phil. BT 50

Jacob. Prado

Glen. Nissan Patrol