SUNNY CORNER TRIP REPORT.

Sunday 1st March 2009.
This trip was originally scheduled for 15th February but had to be cancelled because of rain in the days prior. How come that whenever we plan on going to “Sunny Corner” the weather is anything but sunny? Not to be detered, Colin rescheduled the trip for 1st march and this time the weather was just about perfect. There was very little evidence of the rain that they had earlier, although we did manage to find a few small mud puddles but there was more dust than mud.

The following people attended;-

We all made it to the meeting place at Lithgow before the scheduled time and so we reverted to a draw to see who got to do the trip report and I drew the short musk-stick. Robyn and David’s run of trip reports had come to an end and they did not see in anyway unhappy. We left the Information Centre at just after 9:00am and headed of to Yethome where Colin had pre-arranged to meet our visitors for the trip; both families from the Bathurst area. We met them as arranged and after introductions were made we headed off along Yetholm Drive at about 9:35am. It wasn’t long before we left the black-top behind and were on the dusty gravel roads where we stopped, locked hubs and aired down.

At some point during the next 10kms Colin told Ken he could put the trip notes and maps away ‘cause he wouldn’t need them, he was sure he could remember what tracks to take and what turns to make. At this, Alex and Zoe, Adrian’s children, said that they were familiar with the area as they had been through it on their trail bike lots of times and could show us where to go if Colin/Ken got us lost. Knowing the “Colin & Ken” team, we were unlikely to know if we were lost or not. If we were, then I’m sure they would just drive around until they found a track that was familiar and say that it was all a pre-planned part of the trip. A bit further on though, Ken did let it slip when he asked Paul, who had done the recce with Colin if the track were on looked familiar to him and on another occasion said to Colin that he thought that he had missed a turn. Either by good luck, or by good management we ended up at the Winburndale Rivulet which was indeed on the planned route even if Colin’s wrong turn had cut about 10 kms off the trip.

So far no dramas, although the track down to the creek was a bit steep with some rough and rocky sections that added a bit of interest. We pulled into a small clearing alongside the creek for morning tea and some socialising.

After coming down the steep hill on one side of the creek it was now our turn to tackle a similar uphill section on the other. Again, nobody had any problems; it was just a case of taking it slow and steady. The next interesting section was a detour off the main track onto a secondary track around the back of Smith’s Round Hill. Although this section was an old, largely disused, track it was easy but certainly more interesting than the almost manicured main track.

Along the Eskdale road near Mount Horrible we stopped at a clearing that gave us a great view across the flat plain to the north-west. This was to be our lunch stop but because of Colin’s earlier short-cut(s) we arrived here ahead of schedule so we decided to push-on and have lunch a bit later. A bit further along the Eskdale road we came across the first evidence of the previous weeks rain – a series of mud puddles with varing degrees of depth and width. Some we could go around and some we couldn’t and even “Fillup” survived them all without any recurrence of the problems he had when he last challanged a mud-hole.

There were a number of times when the track was blocked by fallen trees and/or branches but these were eventually cleared and we were able to proceed with minimal delay. The ever-prepared Colin was in his element; he had brought along the appropriate equipment and soon had the track open again.

Things were progressing too well so Ken decided to tell a couple of jokes that got very few laughs (come to think of it I don’t think there were any laughs). This feeble attempt at humour prompted Alex and Zoe to try their hand at some “knock-knock” jokes which I promised to include in the trip report but alas, I have forgotten the punch-lines.

Our next challenge was a serious mud-hole (some of us chickened out and took the alternate route) while the rest (including “Fillup”) attempted and all but Joseph suceeded in clearing without any problems. Did Joseph get stuck on purpose in order to show-off his recovery techniques? Whatever, his bright white, clean snatch strap ended up being a very muddy black colour.

The next challenge, which we all cleared easily, was the climb up Battery Fire trail. The next bit of a challenge was an improntu decision to see where the Parr Hill track went. It looked “interesting” from the bottom with some steep, rocky sections visible before the track dissapeared around a bend. What was around the bend? We didn’t know but we were determined to find out. As it turned out the first bit was the roughest but we all made it without any dramas. A locked gate at the top prompted Colin/Ken to retrieve that map from its hiding place, and after a short delay they announced that there was another track that would lead us back to the Eskdale Road thus completing a full loop.

We aired-up, unlocked our hubs and said our farwell’s when be got back to the black-top. On behalf of everyone on the trip I would like to thank Colin for organising and leading the trip. It was great day with everyone enjoying the outing. It was good to have a couple of visitors along and I’m sure they went away with good impressions of our club. I think this is only the second trip to Sunny Corner that I’ve been on when it has actually been sunny.

Wal Phelps
Trip Reporter.