SingleTrackSleepOut

The last weekend in August 2015, three of us, (myself, Slug and Beans) made plans to ride from my mates place, out through a series of State Forest, Conservation Areas and National Parks to make camp for one night.

It was something we'd planned on doing for ages. Combining our keen riding interest with camping, another favourite way to spend our weekends.

The general plan was to head out Saturday after meeting up and discussing the direction and what equipment we'd all be taking. This was the first time we'd camped just on the enduro bikes so we had to pack light. We'd planned to incorporate a lot of single tasks and quite difficult terrain.

In packing, I realised how hard it was keep it simple, yet still prepared.

My packing list ended up something like this:

Carried on bike:

Tent in protective canvas bag

3L liquid containment fuel bladder

Gerber jnr. machete

Spare front tube

In backpack:

Exped mat

0d sleep bag

Hiking gas burner, pot, pan, billy, knife/fork/spoon, lighter

Dunny roll

Food (happy camper vac pack beef, baked beans, 2min noodles, damper mix)

3 Litres of water

Tool bag:

All sorts of misc. spanners, Allen keys, Puncture Repair Kit, Tire Levers, Co2 bottles, multi Tool, Small First Aid Kit, Tow Rope etc. etc.

On the day I used my Garmin eTrex20 to map out our course, and the Spot2 Tracker for safety.

SATURDAY:

After deciding a general direction we double checked our gear, fuel and bikes and head off. It’s quite a great feeling heading out through town, loaded up in convoy, puffing blue two stroke smoke out the pipe as the bike warmed up, ‘ding-dinging’ down the road. It wasn't long before we leave the bitumen and hit a service road into the bush. It was immediately obvious that the extra weight on board was affecting the handling of the bike. It had been a while since I'd ridden with a bit of gear on-board, and would take some getting used to. A few minutes in and the bike was nice and warm and crisp on the throttle and we enthusiastically began to hook into the sandy single tracks off the side of the service road. I was sweeping our group of three, and watched as the others also noticed the weight of their bikes and positioning of their gear affecting their riding. Rounding one corner a few minutes into the ride Slug stops and lets more air of the tires, bringing them down to around 15psi, looking for traction. I was happy enough at 18, especially not knowing what the rest of the day would bring. It was entertaining to watch Beans flail about grappling the KTM with all his stuff hanging off the back by just a few occy straps. His backpack and position of his tent on the seat meant he couldn't comfortably sit and I laughed out loud as I followed him through the twisty trails sitting just about on the fuel cap as he came to terms with what we were up for.

10 minutes or so saw us pass through the first section of bush where we now crossed the main bitumen road, and move into the next portion of land. Slug has been through here before and as normal was making ground a fair bit quicker than we were, despite the more cumbersome machine he was on. It helped that he has packed lightly, seriously lightly. True to his style; flanno, blue jeans and a ‘sleep where ya lay’ attitude, he pushed his 600 through the singles like it were a 125.

The trail eventually lead to a clearing, actually a transmission line easement. Making the most of the free space, the locals had cut in a bit of a grass track type course in the grass. We did a loop or 3, but were struggling to have a good crack with the wet clay that made up the track and the extra gear on board. Continuing north in the next part of bush, the terrain changed from swampy lowlands to thick Australian scrub, where the single tracks began to climb the hillside and cut its way through ferny undergrowth. Beans fell victim to a gnarly rut and I pulled up behind him while he had a breather. Slug had gotten far enough ahead that he turned around and came back to find us since he heard our bikes stop. Regrouping, I took the opportunity to explain that I was feeling good and light; but only because I’d left my tool/bag back at the house! The lads looked worried but I was confident that if we took it easy we’d be alright as long as no drastic mechanical failures ensued. 

Not long after we caught up to some other riders on the single track ahead. They were baulking at the fairly large hill ahead on the trail, and without hesitation Slug rounded them up and shot up the hill. I think they were a little surprised to see a 30 year old 600 single make its way past their late model 450s and negotiate the hill like it wasn’t even a challenge. The trail continued to generally head north, but we made the morning interesting by linking up as many single tracks as we could. Conditions were great, with the sun now high in the sky and the remaining moisture in the ground meant zero dust. Time flew by as we were really enjoying ourselves. We stopped at an old quarry and watched a local and his family drive the mounds in his big four wheel drive. We sat about for 20 minutes or so talking and watching this guy before we realised that we really did have a fair way to go to get to the section of bush we intended on camping in, and it was after midday already so we pushed on.

Various trails lead us further in and although not that far from civilisation it began to feel really quite remote.

Next section of bush opened up near one of the nearby towns and we ran alongside the bitumen road for a while. I was quite surprised when the track took a hard right, dipped down and we found ourselves riding through a large, probably 1.8m drainage culvert under the road! Fantastic!

The track ducked back into thick scrub on what almost appeared to be someone’s private land, or at least their own trail as it skirted a fence line, although it was on the public road side I doubt anyone would know it was there. It lead us to a main dirt road, which on the map passed through some farm country and private properties. You know the ones that head past the homestead and farmhouses almost like you’re on their driveway, although it’s a gazetted road on the map. Quite interesting. We waved to an older gentleman outside his house and he calmly waved back. He appreciated that we weren’t hooning through the place I suppose. We could see they were fairly isolated and probably don’t get many folk passing through. The trail climbed up quite high and we saw some of their driveways would shoot off towards their houses and were paved to enable the cars to get traction when it rained, quite unreal! Climbing up the trail after the homes I could see we were getting up on top of one of the ridges. Slug punts the 600 up on the back wheel and carries it most the way up the hill and once up he looks back as I gave him a big, ‘winning’ fist in the air type cheer!

I wouldn’t say that we were lost, although I didn’t really know where we were. But that’s what made it an adventure. I had the GPS if needed but were just headed in the general direction that felt about right. The trails were leading along nicely. At one point we did get into a bit of a pickle where we were trying to head up a spur to get back to a main trail but it was fenced off. This was in the State Forest so without taking too many risks we back tracked to another main dirt road and follow it.

As the afternoon progressed we noticed the rear end of Slugs bike began to look a little oily. We stopped at one point where we had a look. The 600s oil tank had sprung a leak. Beans had some stuff to fix it so we cleaned it up and applied the resin and let it dry while we thought about how much ground we had to make up. The sun was now getting low in the sky, perhaps 4pm.

We popped out of the dirt and onto the tar to get to the next section of bush, luckily only travelling a km or so before getting off road again. I was pleased to keep the two stroke in the dirt as it’s not all that happy at constant speeds and I worry about the engine when doing constant highish speeds, that and the gearing is only good for a cruising speed about 70kmh!

This section of bush was also great with sandy flowing trails. Although I was getting a bit tired from carrying the large pack on my back, and my shoulders were burning a bit when I stood up and rode aggressively in the single tracks. We eventually landed in a portion of land that was no longer accessible to the public (mines) and did our best to skirt the property. Again we hit some bitumen and headed towards our final stop.

Riding into Town on the road we passed all the ‘weekend warrior’ enduro riders coming out of the top end of a popular riding spot. They too looked surprised to see us loaded up and heading into the bush rather than out of it at the end of the day.

We headed in to find camp and scouted about for a bit to make sure we were well off the main trails and out of the public hunting areas to avoid disruption from piggers through the night. We’d seen some four wheel drives earlier headed into the area so wanted to make sure we kept well away from their antics.

We went through two gullys before being happy with an area and as the sun was below the ridgeline the headlights came on. Beans realised how poor the KTM headlight really is...but he then notices that his main light’s out and is riding by the light of his parkers! Off track we head and up into a clearing well off the track and find a relatively grassy flat area to make camp. It’s just about dark by now and although the sky was clear, the moon was a good hour or two away from showing itself and shedding some light into the gully we were in. We make camp with the tents and gather some wood for a fire while the slightest amount of light is left. My head torch is playing up, has done for a while now, and I decide that letting my eyes adjust to the darkness is my best bet.

Once we’re settled and out of our boots we get the little fire going and begin to relax. Eating our small meals by the fire and chatting about the great days ride made it very memorable. It wasn’t long before Beans reveals why his pack was so damn heavy, pulling a 2L coke and bottle of rum out. Can’t help himself can he. The night goes on and we sit around the campfire carrying on a bit and generally having a great time. The sunny day had given way to a cool evening, luckily I had bought the liner for my jacket and kept well warm. As usual there was a few bumps in the night and we speculated what all the strange noises about were. Slug was seeing strange lights in the scrub not far from camp, Beans was jumping at the slightest noise behind us. It makes the night entertaining as the lights were just the bright full moon rising behind us and almost appearing to reflect off the clean, white bark of the gums down the gully. The noises Beans jumped from was a slight breeze blowing a bit higher on the hill of the gully releasing old, loose bark from the trees that fell onto the ground. I joked about the grumpy wombat wandering out from his nearby hole to see what all the commotion was up on the surface, joked enough about it to make the lads go investigate the hole, only to find out old mate wombo’ only ever got so far on the hole and gave up…he wasn’t home. As the few rums kicked in later in the night, so did the night spooks and the lads begun to scare themselves and laugh out loud at the same time as a few ‘hoots’ came from the right of camp off in the distance. It was a regular, constant hoot. Discussing the possibilities made it interesting, was it a bird, piggers dog, or even a wild dog? It sounded small, maybe puppies lost, or an injured animal? It carried on long enough that we dismissed it as any real threat.

I didn’t last too long that night before my body told me it was time to lay down and sleep, exhausted form the days riding I entered my tent and it wasn’t long before I was asleep. I normally sleep pretty soundly and don’t wake too much and I enjoy the peacefulness of being out in the bush. I woke maybe two times through the night though. The first time I could hear the boys still talking, it was pretty late, and the fact Beans had music now playing on his phone meant they both must have had a bit of a belly full of those spirits! The second time was the sound of the undergrowth being crunched behind my tent. Initially my eyes flicked open, and listened carefully. No one knew where we were, which can be either very good…or very bad. I figured the lads would have been passed out and not woken to much so I was slightly more alert at this point than normal. Until I heard a bit of a cough, grumble, spit that was exactly that of Slug. Must have been taking a midnight slash.

SUNDAY:

In the morning I woke to the groaning from Beans, who'd risen at first light and plopped himself next to the fire that Slug had been keeping going all night. I hear sticks breaking and see through the opening of my little tent the flicker of flames as the sun was not fully up yet. It was very early morning. I laid back down for a while, there was no way I was getting up that early, it was cold and still not quite full light. A while on I hear the others up; kind of surprising knowing how late they’d crashed out. I sit up in the tent and see Beans right up close to the fire, jacket up around his neck, hunched up tight…he’s shivering. “good sleep mate?” I call out from in my warm sleeping bag. He was moaning for a few reasons. It was a cold night, and probably a fair bit cooler than I had expected, and I was glad to be in my 0degree sleeping bag. I know the boys packed light, but perhaps too light. All of Beans gear was new, he normally camped out of the ute and could take as much gear as he wanted, but I think the mat and bag this night weren't enough for him and he'd scrambled around before bed to throw on every single bit of clothing he had on and managed to shiver his way through the night. Turns out Beans had a very bad night’s sleep, having placed his tent on the slightest of inclines, waking up in the corner of this tent, in a ball, freezing cold. That and the boys had a bit of a night cap around the fire...that may or may not have gotten a bit out of control. I'll just say that a the empty bottles of spirits next to the fire in the morning surprised me, as I'd hit the hay quite early. I'm sure they were more than a little dusty. He was trying to warm up by the heat of the fire, and I was glad to have not had much to drink, to not be hungover, dry mouthed and running out of water in the camelback…because I knew that we still had to get home!

A quick tin of ‘sketti on the fire and a cup of tea before packing up, then we were on our way.

Packing up Camp

Heading out of the part of the forest we'd camped out in, we headed for Town where we'd refuel the bikes and our bellies. The general store lady is always good to us trailbikers and helps out with the fuel bowser and cheers us up with a good hot meal. Burgers and coffees all round shook the chill off the morning.

Heading back out through the backroads of we found ourselves back into the bush. We aimed for a more direct route home, due the stiff muscles and general lack of energy from the other lads.

The morning ride was filled with tracks we'd covered the evening before, except for one route where instead of running the singles back we followed the power lines. It was quite steep and had me thinking about the effort that would have gone into the design and installation for the transmission poles. It was a challenge for Beans, who was sitting and bouncing off the seat at every mound, rather than standing an absorbing all the bumps as we normally would. I could tell he was struggling. We approached one particularly large hill that was cross rutted, and rocky covered in soft sand making it a tough little climb. I was sweeping up the rear while Slug charged ahead. He was a confident rider and would tackle anything without hesitation, although I could hear the big thumper barking a bit more than usual as it hit the hill ahead, indicating that it may have been a bit trickier than expected. I was about 50 meters behind Beans and his KTM, focused on the approach to the hill, where I rounded a slight corner looking closely at my lines when I notice Beans sideways, stumbling off the side of the bike as he misjudged a line, probably having less than desirable body positioning on the bike and just flunked the hill.

I had a bit of a giggle, calculated my next move and buzzed up, around and past where he'd fallen. I checked if he was ok, and he was, although clearly buggered from hanging over, and carrying such a large amount of gear in this terrain. I blipped up onto the ledge that was the fire trail, forming a bench on the hill. I put the bike on the stand and adjusted my rear luggage. Beans was still struggling. Just trying to get his composure, he was off the bike, huffing in deep breaths while he held the bike upright. Luckily the 300 is electric start, he fires it up and re positions it...a struggle follows but he eventually climbs up and on the to clear trail I am now parked on. 'Fark this.' he pants.

That put us onto one of the highest points in the surrounding area. It was a great little lookout, down over the nearby township and 360 views of the bushlands surrounding us. It only looked small on the map but once we were out there, it was pretty good. The only shame about it all was that it had been some sort of dumping ground for the locals who misused the access into the lands and dumped their shit everywhere. We even saw an oxy bottle (plumbers) thrown down the hill; perhaps quite dangerous!?

It was a good opportunity for a photo anyway. I didn't take any on this trip, so these were dragged from Slug's phone the next day.

Power Line Track Lookout

We made it back home by a bit after midday. Pretty glad to have made it back in one piece to be honest. It was quite an eventful ride and we were all pretty stoked on it. We learned a fair bit from this little trip. One was that we had to get out and do more of it. Two, not to forget the tools. Three, to pack a bit lighter. Four, it’s not a boozy campout!

That’s all for now.

Cheers for reading.