VK2/MN-031 (Mt Bruigate) and VK2/MN-130

VK2/MN-031 (Mt Bruigate) and VK2/MN-130, 01/11/2017 by VK2NU/P

No blog for a couple of weeks, as my SOTA activation last week ended in failure. Two summits attempted in the Mid North Coast region, and both aborted due to the 'roads' in being unsuitable for 2wd vehicles. Disappointing, but as Laura Bingle once said, 'you'll never never know, if you never never go!'

Before starting, this entry will be shorter than usual due to failure of my iPhone (specifically the battery), resulting in a lot fewer pictures than usual. This was a combination of the phone (a iPhone 4), needing a new battery, and me leaving the camera app turned on, hence draining the battery a lot quicker than usual..

Both of these summits are in the Gloucester Tops area. MN-130 is in the Barrington Tops National Park, and MN-031 is on Private Property to the West of the Park.

Before starting, a big shout out to Compton, VK2HRX for giving me some detailed info on the area, and contacts for accessing VK2/MN-031.

After not even putting my hiking boots on last week, I was keen to have a decent walk, so decided to park in the National Park, and walk the 8.9km to Mt Bruigate (passing MN-130 on the way), then back-tracking, activating the second summit on the way.

Set the alarm for 4am, programmed the car GPS (my first mistake of the day - more of this to follow), and drove 3 hours to get to Barrington Tops, via the Bucketts Hwy, and Gloucester Tops Road.

I knew I needed to park at the intersection of Gloucester Tops Road and Sharpes Creek Trail, so I typed Gloucester Tops Road into the GPS and it asked me if I needed an intersection, which I did. On hitting the letter 'S', it instantly gave me Sharpes Creek Walking Trail as an option, which seemed good to me - Wrong.

No, No...Don't do it..

The GPS took me to the track shown above.. The trail looked very good (if recently burnt out), so off I walked. After a few hundred metres the track took a very, very, steep decent and headed right. At the bottom of this, which I assume was Sharpes Creek, due to the running water I could hear, there was a sign telling me I was heading towards the camping ground. This should have set-off alarm bells as I knew the campsite was miles off where I needed to be, but I still blindly walked on. After a few hundred metres more, I decided to turn on my handheld GPS, and only then did the penny drop  that something was wrong..

I backtracked to the car, about a 2km round trip, and the very steep decent, was now a very steep climb. I've since discovered around 160m. An hour wasted, back to the start and my legs were already burning from the climb out of Sharpes Creek.

Once I got my bearings, and my breath back, I drove a few km further up Gloucester Tops Road until I found what I was looking for.

Note: The 'walking track' is not marked on Google Maps, or SOTA Maps, but is clearly shown on Topo Map 9233-4N (which also covers both of these summits). I'm not using this as an excuse, that can be simply put down to 'user error'.

This is the one...

There is a locked gate at the Trail head, which was a shame, as the track is very good (to VK2/MN-130), and would be easy for even a 2wd vehicle.

Sharpes Creek Trail, two lanes wide...

I started out at 08:10am (on the correct trail), and had a brief stop just below the summit of VK2/MN-130, for a drink and to phone Tony, VK2WFT to give a progress update and tell him roughly my ETA at summit #1. Time now 09:05am, 5.9km to go.

Phone reception is very poor and this was the first point since I'd entered the park that I had reception (Telstra).

Tindag Ridge Trail, just West of VK2/MN-120

The road splits here, going either side of the summit of MN-130, and I turned right onto Tindag Ridge Trail. The track starts good, and would be fine for 4wds, but after a few hundred metres gets worse. It looks like the last vehicle down this section was tracked, as the marks are still clearly visible in the dirt.

View to the South of Tindag Ridge Trail..

At this point the track takes a very steep descent, and is tricky due to loose dirt/rocks. 

Gate marking boundary of NP and Private property. Not used in some time.... I'd been told of this by Compton, VK2HRX, so was happy to know I was on the right track.

It was at this stage I found that my phone was showing only 10%, so I turned it off, hoping to save it for spotting purposes on the summits to come.

The trail passes out of the park and into private property, but not a soul was seen throughout the walk. Aware that I was running late I pushed myself pretty hard on this section, and found the turn off to the summit without further any problems. 

Note: There are several tracks that turn off Tindag Ridge Trail, that are not even marked on the Topo Map (9233-4N). However, it is pretty obvious which is the main trail.

Arrived at Mt Bruigate at 10:35am local (23:35utc), and had the station set-up by 10:45am. Plenty of trees around to hang antennas, and unlike previous activation's, I had no issues getting a line over a branch with the catapult/fishing reel method. 

No phone reception/spotting, so blindly started calling CQ on 7.090 SSB. I called for a while and then tuned the band listening for any activity. I found a net that was just winding up, but nothing else. 

At this stage I took a short rest and lie down, as I was pretty exhausted. Switched to CW, and called for a while, finally getting an answer from Steve, VK7CW at 11:39am. Steve always spots me, so I was hoping the flood gates would open, but nothing at all.. Back to SSB and finally worked a couple of 'none' SOTA chasers from the Riverina area (any port in a storm). I then heard Tony, VK2WFT, who had been looking for me, with a very marginal signal.. 4 contacts in 1hr:20mins... Remembering the Hills I had to climb, and the 8.9km ahead of me, I packed up quickly and was on the move at 12:15pm.

It took me 1hr:30min to 'race' from VK2/MN-130 to Mt Bruigate, and it took me 2hr:30min to get back. If I was pretty exhausted at the first summit, I was totally 'knackered' by the second. This summit is off track, and you have to climb through the bush for a 100m or so. This wasn't too bad, but probably seemed worse due to my physical state at this point. 

Note: I found the best place to start this climb was the point were the two trails diverge. Further along, the trails cut into the hillside, and you would have to climb a 6 foot high wall of dirt and rocks.

The trees were too thick for the catapult, so I tried the 'bottle and line method' of getting a string up. Not quite as high as I would of liked, but I was too tired to try again. 

Knowing I had phone reception from this spot, I turned the iPhone back on to self spot....Obviously what little charge I had left, wasn't enough to power the phone.. No self spotting again!

First CQ was on 40m CW, and thankfully Gerard VK2IO, came straight back. None of the troubles of the last summit, and I got 9 contacts in 25 minutes.

Job done, tired, thirsty, I packed up and headed back to the car. I still had 3km to go, but this was the good track and mostly downhill. Back at the car I devoured 2 litres of water, and a packet of 6 lamingtons, before the 3hr drive home!

'Apologies again... too many words, too few pictures.'

The good..

• The Trails
• Gloucester Tops Road, and River Trail into the park is very pretty, crossing several fords in the river.
• Easily accessible summits.

The bad..

• Propagation.
• iPhone batteries, and phone reception.
• My ability to program a GPS.

On a final note.. The camp site looks like a great place to base yourself for a few days, as there are several summits in the area. Facilities are basic, but the whole area is stunning. If you like it more comfortable, there is a caravan park further down the valley (with Cabins). The park is actually part of the property that covers Mt Bruigate, and there is a trail direct from the park, that joins Tindag Ridge Trail.

Would I do it again... probably not the same way. VK2/MN-130 would be fine, and I'd look at doing Mt Bruigate via the Caravan site I think? I like a walk, but this was just a tad too much....