The ‘Deserters’ MVO again
Date and time: 9:00am, Tuesday 27 June to 1:00pm Friday 30 June 2023
Description: Please contact your trip leader if you are unsure of any of the following requirements for this trip.
With the High Country closed off come and get value for money with the last club trip of the financial year. Or maybe we just want another good excuse to ‘desert’ to Victoria’s desert areas.
The plan for the Deserters this time around is to again explore the Management Vehicle Only (MVO) and other key tracks in the Wyperfeld/Big Desert area. This is similar to Mark and Sherry’s trip of earlier this year (but in reverse) and is essentially a repeat of the trip from September 2022 for those who missed it or who would like to relive old memories.
This is a midweek trip so it will suit those on school holidays.
Starting in Hopetoun we will concentrate our exploration efforts around Wyperfeld and Big Desert. If we get trip details in quickly we should be able to get a permit to explore some of the MVO tracks that the public can’t normally access. The end point should be in the vicinity of Yaapeet, depending on route, competence of navigator and reliability of trip leader’s vehicle :-).
Please carry all food and water for 4 days plus cooking and camping equipment.
Morning tea and lunches will be in the bush each day – byo simple, “on the move” lunches and morning teas.
Clothing and footwear for sandy, cold and possible wet conditions (depending on forecast).
No camper trailers, pets or firearms.
Reference: Meridian Maps – Victoria’s Deserts Touring Guide 5th Edn.
Accommodation: We will bush camp in designated National Parks campsites with drop toilets available.
Weather: Desert environment, potentially cold nights. Sometimes we even have lovely sunny days at this time of year!
Review the Underbool weather forecast leading up to the trip and bring appropriate clothing, footwear and camping gear.
Equipment: Below are the recommended vehicle requirements. If you are not sure if your vehicle is suitable for a trip, please have a chat with the trip leader.
Good off-road tyres (All Terrain, 60 profile recommended as a minimum), UHF radio (or one borrowed from the club), a well-maintained vehicle with low range (or equivalent), good ground clearance (200mm recommended as a minimum), recovery points, standard recovery gear including dampener, rated snatch strap and shackles, shovel. Drivers must have completed the RRCV club driver proficiency training or equivalent.
Additional Equipment required: Air compressor and tyre gauge, MaxTrax or similar sand recovery equipment. Each vehicle ought to bring half a bag of firewood for our nightly group campfire. A toboggan or similar is handy at Snowdrift campsite if you have kids with you. :-)
Trip Standard: Medium - The sand tracks are straightforward, but there are a few sandhills and deeper sections of sand that require extra skill to navigate. Sometimes there can be a great deal of rain and boggy areas to traverse.
Fuel: Enough fuel from Hopetoun for 450km. There are no planned fuel stops so please carry extra fuel as needed. For sand driving multiply your highway fuel usage by 1.3 to estimate fuel usage.
Distance: Melbourne to Hopetoun 400kms. Hopetoun to Yaapeet 450km. Yaapeet to Melbourne 440km.
Duration: 4 days
Convoy limit: 10 vehicles
Meeting arrangements: We plan to meet at the Lake Lascelles foreshore at the Eastern end of Austin Street, Hopetoun at 9.00am for our trip briefing. (What3Words reference https://w3w.co/collections.baffle.distribute). We aim to finish by about 1:00pm in Yaapeet on the Friday.
Trip Leader: James Lawson, Phone - 0429265550, Email – lawsonj71au@gmail.com
