2014 Victoria High Country 4x4: Day 3 - Mt Pinnibar

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Previous Day: Day 2- Going up Mt Pinnibar

We were lucky enough to have a dry and calm night, despite being up 1772 m on the peak of Mt Pinnibar.

There were a group of passerby last night who questioned if we knew how cold the temperature would be?! I answered: "0", preparing for the worst. In fact, the coldest during the night turned out to be a comfortable 9 Deg and no windchill.

The morning mist was well underneath us, leaving a clear view for us to see the sunrise. And what a sunrise we had !

More photos here: Mt Pinnibar - Garron Point Track

We set off back on the Shade Creek Upper Track after alerting Andre to the steep see-only-sky up and down turn.

It was a nice drive down the track, through Wheelers Hut with a lunch stop at Buenba Flat. In view of the time, aiming to reach Moscow Villa tonight, we gave Buckwong Hut a miss.

It was an uneventful drive, on good condition dirt road, with a couple of detours due to road closures undocumented on the map.

McFarlane Lookout on Beloka Rd

It was not until we were half way down the steep and narrow Garron Pt Track, that it dawned to me, we probably won't make it to Moscow Villa tonight, as there was the prospect of climbing out the deep valley that we are heading down. And I crossed my finger that the climb will not be too difficult like the down track which has deep ruts all over the place. Little did we know about what lied ahead.

We had to stop the car to let the brakes to cool down, the brake's disc temp was close to 200 Deg, an unfortunate aspect of driving a petrol engine car, where engine breaking is not strong.

When we got down to the bottom, and facing the prospect of having to climb out of the valley, a decision was made to set up camp for the night with the beautiful camping site, which is somewhat surrounded by tall gum trees. We have to set up our tents mindful of the potential dangers of fallen branches.

As it turned out, it was a good decision, heavy rain was upon us as soon as we setup tents, just after we finished cooking. The water proofing that I did to the awning turned out to be just perfect.