Dwellingup fence line track Saturday 5th March 2022

The track is well named as it does follow a series of fence lines of adjoining farming properties.

Participants

Don & Jane GU Nissan Patrol 4.2 (trip leader)

Matt Mitsubishi Pajero

Sean Mitsubishi Triton

Dave Toyato Prado

Alex Holden Colorado

Keith & Kirk Ford Ranger

Lin Toyato FJ 40

Graham & Monica GU Patrol (Guests)

Gary, Clare, Gabriel & Azriel 80 series Land cruiser (tail)

Our meeting point is the bakery in Pinjarra, this place has a nice large car park, good coffee, food and facilities. We arrived 20 minutes early and half of the participants had already arrived. The last arrived at 9.30 so we made an early start.

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The trip started at the Scarp Road which despite being bitumen has large potholes and corrugations. This soon changed as we entered the bush track. At a nice shady spot we stopped and dropped tyre pressures in anticipation of further challenges ahead. The track is narrow, well shaded and twisty in sections and is an exciting combination of challenging 4wding sections along the fence line. 

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We bypassed a section of track that has become very challenging now. With a track rating of 4/5, it’s for another day with a smaller group.

Beyond Jane you can see the gnarly crossover, the first of several crossovers needed to traverse this section.

An early lunch was had at Scarp Pool.

This place has all the facilities with a very pleasant swimming area. The adults found the water was delightful on hot feet and the kids went in all the way. 

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We left the scratchiest part of the track out of the trip yet the cars were already heavily pinstriped.

Later in the day when discussing the scratches on the vehicles, it was suggested that they might be considered “memory marks” or “story books”. After lunch, it was back to the tracks following fence lines again.

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This section has striking views of well-maintained farming properties with large dams set up for recreation; paddle boats, diving boards and jetties were present. It appears that stock don’t visit for a drink. There was much oohing and drooling over the big shed, it can hold 10 cars! And it is for sale!!

A very long, steep uphill provided plenty of thrills for everybody, Matt had estimated this climb as 330 metres.

The next down hill section provided different challenges; a very large tree had fallen providing the perfect road block across the track.

It was at a narrow section of track with high banks either side with no opportunity to turn around and backing up the track was not practical due to its steepness. The chain saw was required for clearing duties and did the job in a short time. Wedges were used to widen the cut so the chain saw could keep working.  Because the track was so steep once the log was cut it rolled down the hill with a little assistance, yay for gravity. No need to winch the cut logs out of the way.

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The last section of the down slope, the bit after the log, provided another challenge; a step down onto the road which provided a great photo opportunity.

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We were almost finished for the day when another steep uphill track looked interesting so we went up and down the other side. Our progress soon came to a stop as another tree was down across the track. My initial impression was that we could drive over the log with a little track building.

Matt moved lots of dirt and buried small limbs to create a ramp this was necessary for some people.

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Others turned around and found another way out to finish the day.

Kept getting hooked up on the fuel tank

On reflection I should have taken the time to cut the tree and clear the track as we had done with the first tree we had encountered. 

Take home lesson: A chainsaw is a pretty good option when it comes to cleaning a track of a fallen trees, by doing that, we keep it open for other 4wdrivers as well.

Reccies were done in parts by ourselves and Joel at different times so as a result not every bit of the route was driven. Some unexpected surprises occurred such as the trees on track and tight u turns. Thanks for your patience and generosity.

It has given us encouragement to return to area in the future, hopefully for an overnighter, as we did not drive all the tracks we have discovered.

Story by Don and Jane

PS Graham & Monica in the nice Black GU Nissan Patrol (guests and potential new members) reported that they had a really good day out and we enjoyed their company and questions.

Check out the Youtube vid of this trip by one of our Club’s Youtuber