Snow Trip 2018 Trip Report

Our yearly snow trip took us into the Buckland Valley via Myrtleford for a 3 night high country trip in early August. After following the snow report for the High Country for 2 weeks before the trip the forecast was looking amazing with up to 20-40cm of snow for the weekend.

Day 1 – Bendigo to Nug Nug Campground

Friday 3rd August 2018

Meeting at Bunnings at 3.00pm Friday afternoon 5 vehicles heading for Myrtleford with Jim leaving at 5.30pm.

We got to Myrtleford about 6.00pm fueling up with Alpine diesel and grabbing pizzas for dinner we headed along the Buffalo River road towards Nug Nug campground, that night was very dark and even with the spot lights on was still hard to see, after we nearly cleaned up a deer on the road, we found our way into the campground at about 7.30pm.

It hadn’t stopped raining the whole way up, and we set up camp and congregated under awnings for a few beers, with us retiring to bed at about 11.00pm.

Day 2 – Nug Nug to Beveridges Station

Saturday 4th August 2018

Saturday morning the rain had eased off but when we woke we noticed one of the member’s swag had been saturated from the rain and he had ended up sleeping in the car, having a very bad night with no dry bedding. Unfortunantly with sub zero temperatures up the top of Mt Selwyn and no dry bedding, he had to leave the trip early because it would not have been safe to continue without sufficient dry gear.

So 5 vehicles headed off up Buffalo River Rd towards Lake Buffalo and at the lake we turned left on Yarrabulla Creek Rd going around the base of Mt Buffalo, turning right at Goldies trk then just over the bridge we aired down before hitting Buggery trk. This track is a nice low range track not to hard, there was a fair bit of fog so the views were non-existent. From the Helipad and Bills window all you could see was white.

We got to Camp Creek Track and turned right heading downhill, it was slippery in spots and still raining a little when we got to the Buffalo River. It was flowing a little fast so I dropped my front wheels in and I thought that it would be ok. I went a bit further in however and it was a bit deeper than expected and the vehicle got stuck at the entrance to the river. We had to brave the freezing cold river to hook a winch line onto the rear recovery point and then Andrew winched the vehicle back up on the bank with Brett securing Andrew’s vehicle. We were concerned that the motor could have leaked a bit of water into the intake, so to be safe and avoid the possibility of hydro-locking the motor Jim took out the glowplugs and we turned the motor over, she started up no problems. GREAT RECOVERY.

So we turned around and headed back up Camp Creek Trk until we got to Buffalo Range Trk, turning right hoping to get a little snow along here reaching heights of 1200m but unfortunantly did not get a thing. We had a nice drive up to the Helipad the headed down towards Mt Selwyn Rd, we turned up Mt Selwyn Rd towards Mt Selwyn then we got the snow. We got up to Canyon trk then turned around and headed for Buckland Valley back down Mt Selwyn rd to Beveridges Station where we got a nice grassy area, set up camp for the night and a huge fire.

Day 3 – Beveridges Station back over Mt Selwyn

Sunday 5th August 2018

Sunday morning when we woke was going to be a nice clear day. Jim and Brett had to head for home taking the Buckland Valley rd all the way out, so Andrew, Steve and myself headed back up to Mt Selwyn.

Taking Selwyn Creek Rd, which turns into Tea Tree Range rd we enjoyed some great views on the way up and then took a sharp right hand turn up Mt Selwyn Rd where we got a bit more snow to drive through, going over Mt Selwyn at 1400m. We then turned right down Canyon Trk which turns into Australian Trk which is a very nice scenic drive and the views of Mt Buller are amazing. Then we veered right onto West Humphrey trk and we were able to get into 2wd, onto East Buffalo rd heading along here looking for a place for lunch.

We found a nice little campsite beside the river so we had lunch there, and then decided to stay here for the afternoon. With plenty of firewood, we set up camp and stayed for the night enjoying a very relaxing afternoon.

During the night the wind picked up and blew my awning wall off, then Andrew came over and asked if I would help him pack his awning up as well and moved him away from a big tree he was camped under.

Day 4 – Bendigo via Myrtleford

Monday 6th August 2018

When we woke on the Monday morning it was raining so we packed up camp and headed for home, still on the East Buffalo Rd. We turned right onto the Abbeyard Trk passing through all of the farmland it was a really nice drive, then we get to Lake Buffalo and over the Wier wall onto Buffalo River Rd and then onto Myrtleford, we stopped at the Violet Town pub for a counter meal and then headed home.

Participants