VK2/MN-135, No Name, Woko National Park, 01/04/2019 by VK2NU/P.
Car Park, Junction of Curricabark Rd, and Mount Myra Rd.
WOKO National Park, VKFF-0524 contains two summits that are both on Trails, each 6 points and are both unactivated... VK2/MN-125 Mount Myra, and VK2/MN-135 - Nameless.
I've just had a four month break from SOTA, mainly due to the hot Aussie summer, but have had these on my to do for a while.
Mount Myra, according to Google, and the Government SIX MAPS, has a communications tower at the top, so I figured it may be possible to drive this one, and then drive/walk to VK2/MN-135 via Mount Myra Trail (not to be confused with Mount Myra Road).
M1 Motorway North passed Raymond Terrace, Bucketts Way to Gloucester, Thunderbolts Way through Barrington to Curricabark Rd.
Curricabark Road was sealed for the first 15km of so, but then turns to dirt, but is well maintained. I initially drove to Dewitts Trail, as this was my proposed route for Mount Myra. I'd assumed that having a communications towers on the summit, would mean a half decent road, for maintenance and servicing. This however did not seem to be the case, and although I found the Trail without issue, I decided not to risk my 2wd vehicle.
I then backtracked to Mount Myra Road, thinking I would drive up this as far as I could, en-route to VK2/MN-135. I actually drove passed the junction of Mount Myra Road, several times as it was not marked, and certainly not obvious. Thankfully I had the coordinates plugged into my GPS, and eventually found it (S31.78119, E151.75734).
Unfortunately this road looked even worse than Dewitts, so a hasty call was made to ditch the car and go for a walk.
Looking back down the first 200m of Mt Myra Road, the dirt Road to the right is Curricabark Rd.
The initial part of the walk, was a gradual climb through cow paddocks, along a 'grassed track'. Seeing so much greenery is unusual in the Aussie bush, and I'm more used to dusty/rocky dirt tracks. I should point out that I'm unsure who owns this first section of Mount Myra Road? It obviously passes through private farmland, but I'm not at all sure whether it is public right of way, or not?
Track cut into hill
Open gate about 200m from Curricabark Rd
It is impossible to get lost as there is only the one trail to follow.
Edge markers located all along Mount Myra Road (seems unusual for a private farmers track?)
Passed Raspberry Creek, the track steepens (Filtered view)
After the first 2km, or so, the track gets a lot steeper, slowing down the pace, and burning the calf's!
Not sure what the A.R.C is??
Why so many padlocks.
After the gate, the track deteriorates somewhat with several trees blocking the route, but from a walkers viewpoint, it is still fine.
Eventually after about 5.4km walking we reach the intersection with Giro Trail.
The sign looked brand-new....
But Giro Trail looked a little worse for wear!
Another steep, leg burning 1.2km brought me to the point, where the GPS was telling me I had reached my destination.
Giro Trail, looks like it hasn't seen much traffic.
Could do with a good mow!
You can just see a rocky pinnacle through the trees (is this the summit)
According the maps I have seen, Giro Trail passes through the summit AZ. At the highest point of the track, my Garmin 64s, was saying I was only 4m below the summit, but this was obviously not the case, as I could see the hill climbing to my left. I found a spot I could leave the track and headed into the bush for about 30m. From here I could see the rocky outcrop, that appeared to be only about 10m higher than my location. If I'd been less tired I would have climbed the rocks, but I'd had enough by this stage. Not sure whether the 600+ metres climb, or summer-off had 'done me in', but my legs were like jelly by now.
It took 45-minutes to set-up, due to some sub-standard attempts to get lines over tree branches (resulting in many tangles). I eventually used the squid-pole, resting against a tree branch to support the dipole.
I managed to self spot, although phone coverage was minimal (Telstra slightly better than Optus), and made 11 contacts between 11:50 and 12:34 EST on 40 and 20m. I again had the issue where SOTAWatch would not display my Spot after the first attempt, and ended up having to type each entry twice, only to find I had duplicate spots when I got home.
The walking time up was slightly over 3-hours (I blame the 600m + climb), but the return trip only took 1hr 45mins. It was 8ºC when I started walking and 24ºC when I got back
I'm sure with a 4wd, I could have tackled both summits, but it was a good walk to dust off the cobwebs.
Drive back out. Looks like a good place to camp based on the NP website..
Manning River Fording Curricabark Road, or is it the other way around?
The Good:
I then backtracked to Mount Myra Road, thinking I would drive up this as far as I could, en-route to VK2/MN-135. I actually drove passed the junction of Mount Myra Road, several times as it was not marked, and certainly not obvious. Thankfully I had the coordinates plugged into my GPS, and eventually found it (S31.78119, E151.75734).
Unfortunately this road looked even worse than Dewitts, so a hasty call was made to ditch the car and go for a walk.
The initial part of the walk, was a gradual climb through cow paddocks, along a 'grassed track'. Seeing so much greenery is unusual in the Aussie bush, and I'm more used to dusty/rocky dirt tracks. I should point out that I'm unsure who owns this first section of Mount Myra Road? It obviously passes through private farmland, but I'm not at all sure whether it is public right of way, or not?
After the first 2km, or so, the track gets a lot steeper, slowing down the pace, and burning the calf's!
Locked gate as the Road enters Woko National Park.
After the gate, the track deteriorates somewhat with several trees blocking the route, but from a walkers viewpoint, it is still fine.
Eventually after about 5.4km walking we reach the intersection with Giro Trail.
Another steep, leg burning 1.2km brought me to the point, where the GPS was telling me I had reached my destination.
According the maps I have seen, Giro Trail passes through the summit AZ. At the highest point of the track, my Garmin 64s, was saying I was only 4m below the summit, but this was obviously not the case, as I could see the hill climbing to my left. I found a spot I could leave the track and headed into the bush for about 30m. From here I could see the rocky outcrop, that appeared to be only about 10m higher than my location. If I'd been less tired I would have climbed the rocks, but I'd had enough by this stage. Not sure whether the 600+ metres climb, or summer-off had 'done me in', but my legs were like jelly by now.
It took 45-minutes to set-up, due to some sub-standard attempts to get lines over tree branches (resulting in many tangles). I eventually used the squid-pole, resting against a tree branch to support the dipole.
I managed to self spot, although phone coverage was minimal (Telstra slightly better than Optus), and made 11 contacts between 11:50 and 12:34 EST on 40 and 20m. I again had the issue where SOTAWatch would not display my Spot after the first attempt, and ended up having to type each entry twice, only to find I had duplicate spots when I got home.
The walking time up was slightly over 3-hours (I blame the 600m + climb), but the return trip only took 1hr 45mins. It was 8ºC when I started walking and 24ºC when I got back
I'm sure with a 4wd, I could have tackled both summits, but it was a good walk to dust off the cobwebs.
The Good:
- Good weather
- Good track
- No biting insects
- Nice drive in.
The Bad:
- Steep
- No views for the latter stages of the trail, or summit area.
- SOTAMaps, Google and SIX MAPS all appear to be little out on the actual summit location, and possibly height. Garmin Maps, was even worse!
Stuff up of the day... When I stopped to take the last photo, I left the keys in the car, and managed to lock myself out. Fortunately the boot was still unlocked, so I had to empty it, remove the parcel shelf and climb over the top to open a door!
No comments:
Post a Comment