2018 4WDrive Overland SE - June

Camp is set for day two on the trail.
out onto the hard, rocky barrens to the
east. Curiously, we found a screen-grab
of Google Earth that was very useful
in giving us an overview of the various
trails as the printed topography maps
did not show most of the smaller trails.
It was difficult to get an overview of the
surrounding country while just seeing
trail info with our GPS. Ideally, having a
ruggedized laptop with the area cached in
Google Earth would allow you to pick off
elevations as well as latitude and longitude.
We found the right trail and worked
our way up onto the ridge, only to find
ourselves in a small bog on the wrong side
of a pond. After getting “Olive” unglued,
we walked the small trails to find that they
all lead to great shooting nests for duck
hunters, but nothing to lead us around
the pond. We also found that the area was
a strange mix of steep terrain and small
bogs. It was all very picturesque, but tough
to traverse.
Turning around was an exercise in
balance and we worked our way back to
the main road. More out of “what the
hell” than anything else, we tried a track
to the west leading into the Long Range
Mountains. It had another branch that
may have headed south but the bridge
was out of commission and the brook was
not crossable without major roadwork,
so we continued to curl up to the north
while climbing a ridge looking down onto
the Highlands River. Great views but the
After the defeat of the southern route, a campfireside
northern route plan is hatched.
direction and terrain was not going to
help us get to La Poile.
The sun was out, the weather was mild
and we were getting close to feeding time.
We decided to head into the backside of
Bill Shears Pond and find a place to camp
and re-think our plans. On the way in, we
ran into some nice folks in side-by-sides
who were very adamant “You’ll never get
them rigs in there!” We found this odd in
that they were sitting in what amounted
to a glorified golf cart on 25-in tires,
while we were sitting in a fairly capable
truck sitting on 38-in tires. Simply
stated... getting in was no real issue. We
found a nice, level site looking out over
a pond and got to setting up camp. Job
one was digging out all the soggy clothes,
sleeping bags and gear and getting some
sun on them while it was light.
We set up our tents as soon as things
got the least bit dry-ish. The next job
was dinner. As we were having Italian,
the red wine seemed appropriate. We
scarfed down a big load of spaghetti with
meatballs and spicy Italian sausage and
then sat back to enjoy the fire, moonrise
and discuss “where-to-now?”
A wiped-out bridge blocked the northern
route over a small gorge, the southern
route ended in bogs and dense forests.
We had failed to find the elusive quad
track in country. There was still a desire
to make the destination, so we discussed
the possibility of the first approach route,
which was north from Ilse aux Morts, then
east across Garia Brook and then south
to La Poile. We decided to head into PAB,
camp in a campground, get a hot shower
and ask around a bit for advice. We now
had purpose and sleep came quickly in
anticipation of new scenery.
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