Well that was a pleasant surprise. Two hours from Brisbane, 16 km north of Jimna, LCMP is a place worthy of a visit. Sure there is 4wd'ing but there is a lot more on offer there. It is bigger than I expected with a good variety of tracks from easy to difficult and enough basic facilities to keep most people happy at $60 pn per carload. There had been 50mm rain over the previous two days but none so far Friday so off we went. Really good burgers in Kilcoy and soon we were bouncing along the dirt road past the old fire tower near Jimna. Lower pressures meant a more comfortable trip in. You have to sign in and out of the park so safety is a priority and they make it clear with their few rules... no idiots welcome. The few cattle are a reminder of the parks history but now the rolling hills let them earn a new type of living. The green tracks form a comprehensive network over a mixed topography. They are interconnected with rougher, steeper and extreme tracks and all of it was a bit tricky given the greasy conditions. A large gathering of comp trucks were involved in a mix of off road competitions a few of us were lucky enough to see. We didn't need a competition to provide a challenge as the first green track we took was slippery enough for that. Cowah Creek was up and our initial crossing was up to the doors. Crossing two was up to Ben's bonnet with water coming in near the gear stick so we discreetly altered course. Chris was all class as he drove with Keelin across another shallow creek and straight up the steep muddy bank. Christine followed suit and after red lining her first attempt made it with a bit more momentum the next try. She put her partner to shame and he has copped it ever since. Craig produced a burping sound during his ascent and that soon became a bang as he debeaded and totally lost his front passenger tyre. Cooper thought it was all fun and a safety line from Daniel 's and Tiffany's mighty V8 secured him while the ARB double compressor soon had him mobile. Hang on... was that the same V8 that needed winching under Tiny's direction soon after, while Trent and Teena made it up by driving with one wheel up the embankment? Not to be outdone we watched in amazement as some of the great minds of the western world snatched backwards up a difficult hill while breaking every DA rule John Lynch has given us! A couple of times we found ourselves sliding sideways at the mercy of gravity and no effective steering or brakes. Next time we will go in the dry and that will open up so much more of the park to us. Tiny's rendition of Slip Sliding Away was timely and funny. Camp Road is a short steep gully and on the day it was fascinating to watch the more specialized rigs having a go. Winching and balloon tyres were common there. It seems you could be entertained for quite a while just watching the attempts on the more difficult traverses. Well... happy hour(s) and the fire are always the perfect finish for a day on the tracks. Check out Laura's spectacular shots of the fire with Josh's fire crystals mixed in. Josh has a special massaging glove too so he can come along on any trip. The night gave us a comfortable sleep... especially Leighanne in her luxurious new van. Before leaving we drove to Cowah Falls and walked,waded and clambered to the rock pool fed by the twin falls. Wonder woman herself climbed up to a ledge and leapt then plummeted into the chilly depths below. I have a new hero especially as I felt so inadequate being overtaken by the boys whose co Thanks Tiny for organizing, Ben for leading and the rest of us for being such a great group.
Kerry Look
Kerry Look
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