It's not often that a Trip Report time frame starts well before "We all turned up at..." but this one had some interesting behind the scenes machinations, which was definitely unusual considering the short notice. I doubt Bevan will ever fall for the "if a couple more people come along we will make it an official trip" again. There are lengths that a bloke will go to so they don't have to be at the Mrs's Tupperware party but Bevan has raised the bar on that one.
Also called into question was what possible motive could E.T. have for volunteering to be Trip Scribe and what events occurred to leave the poor bugger as the only GU at KFC Mundaring surrounded by a tribe of grinning GQ pedallers all eyeing off attractive bits of plastic that they could "accidentally" rip off the 'Evil Trol' at the first recovery opportunity?
Well, the other GU that was down for the run fortuitously left it till after E.T. left home to post up that
" Sorry but I can't come to watch though, I will get out and dirty sometime, I swear.
Here's an excuss you've not heard before, the physio this morning told me not to sit for too long. Good one eh?"
Well, Chris, you better have typed that standing up or could it be that there is a different motive to you having a GQ and a GU and you are a triple agent for the darkside... GU Mafia members you have been warned!
All of which gets us to the Mundaring KFC Car park and the trip line up of Coopers who was so keen he got from Rockingham to Mundaring in under an hour and maintained he got all the green traffic lights which was to haunt him as he got every red one on the way home at 1:00 in the morning. Coopers was on his own until 1BBQ, Expatkwiwi, Chris72GQ, Evil Twin and Peaches then Hedge Hopper with Steve, a visitor from England, in the Nav seat rolled up giving us a convoy of 6 as we rolled out for Flynn Road at 7:00 P.M. We did however notice that Hedge Hopper is a dab hand at scoffing KFC as we chose to roll when he was only half way thru a dinner box.
We were in the capable hands of 1BBQ as Trip Leader not because it was his idea but because E.T. got the first blow in for the GU's by making him trip leader in the Official Trip Notice when 1BBQ was offline. An effective ploy but thwarted by the continual meddling of Expatkiwi from TEC with a continuous stream of timely advice over the UHF.
Note to self - must fit Radio Jammer equipment to 'Evil Trol' ASAP.
So, after a quick air down at Flynn Road and a vehicle scrutineering which elected Hedge Hopper as the 'official' Low Rider of the trip we were off up the last 1/3rd of the Powerlines Track.
The first challenge after the Creek saw 1BBQ high centred momentarily and E.T. reaching for the recovery gear but Chris72GQ charged to the rescue of a fellow GQ with some timely spotting and Bevan was thru followed by the most of us taking a combination of different lines. All, that is, except Bevans saviour, Chris, whose truck took the opportunity to have a serious anxiety attack and spat the dummy. Bevan was so distraught that he collapsed to the ground (ain't that pea gravel a bitch) while Expatkiwi and Chris had a look and initially it was thought it may be electrics so E.T. went back down to see if he could help (Hey, I was trying to help, truly) but the diagnosis changed to dodgy fuel pump which was a show stopper. We advised the rest that Jeremy would flat tow Chris back to civilisation and I would tag along and we would catch them up. The remainder said they would wait till we returned so they were close by in case further help was needed which is why we have such a fantastic Club.
It was also about now that I realised that the crappy run of luck I was having was still happening as my Camera was happily 'flashing' but not taking piccy's which when coupled with the flat tyre I had on the Freeway that morning was 'irritating' so it was off to the Highway with Chris72GQ. Now Chris absolutely insisted that he be dropped at the Highway intersection with Flynn Road and the RAC would get him sorted from there. Jeremy was equally insistent that we take him to Mundaring or at least Sawyers Valley but with protestations from Chris that he would be fine and keep in contact by phone so we should 'go have some fun' we left him there and headed back with promises that we would call back into Flynn on the way home if he was still there.
A Mach run back to the waiting bunch and we were off up the Powerlines again with Expatkiwi and Hedge Hopper showing the rest of us how it was done in a couple of gnarly challenges until we arrived at Shotgun. Now I am not sure why but weird stuff always seems to happen at this spot and tonight was no exception. Hedge Hopper who had been going gangbusters in the Low Rider hit it up one of the tracks and as he crested managed to brush a Limestone outcrop and jam some bits in between the bead and rim of the front left tyre (obviously the Navvy's fault as that is his side even in the Colonies, eh Steve) so it was tyre change time. Having had a flat that morning it obviously behove me to go over and offer lots of helpful advice and encouragement and it was then I noticed the unique method GQ owners use to change tyres which goes something like this...
Inspect tyre and walk to back of car to get jack, trip over stump;
Take jack to front of car, trip over stupid stump;
Go to get wheel brace and spare wheel, trip over stupid goddam stump;
Take spare and wheel brace to front of car, trip over stupid goddam mongrel stump;
At this point I was about to suggest we tow the car somewhere where there wasn't any stumps but I was getting some strange perverse enjoyment from the antics so I kept quiet. I do think the Stump will require a long period of counselling and may even take legal action for assault, vilification and mental anguish. Anyway, much to the stumps relief we were soon off again happily negotiating each new challenge as they were encountered to the incessant chatter of the TEC assisting his Trip Leader. Damn you Jeremy, how can we distract him enough so he can balls it up if you keep helping, but there is a God and as we all know he drives a U and he was about to strike.
It was getting lateish as we arrived at the penultimate set of challenges before the Fenceline mainly because we were having a really laid back night and would often just chat for a while at each stop as we were in no rush. Now, I call this spot the Jump Up because I have only ever done the track up the side of the Rock Outcrop with the fairly intimidating ledge at the top which is actually easy as it is just small enough to negotiate in the Patrols and you get good traction just at the last second but tonight we would be going left up thru the Wombat Holes. After a thorough reccy and a fateful comment from Jeremy 'I've never made it up this one but this looks better tonight, definitely best to go left at the top' we choose a route we thought was doable put spotters in place for the first couple of trucks. Bevan led off and went thru OK, Coopers nailed it, the Low Rider sailed thru, I managed to squash the roof rack ladder as I crested and interestingly we all went right not left. So we all baled out to watch Jeremy conquer the climb that had beaten him off to date and he was killing it until he went waaay right at the crest and you guessed it, came to a halt in spinning wheels and spewing dust clouds. At this point I was just about to bolt for the GU and a snatch strap when 3 bodies hit me out of the dark and I was pinned in merciless fashion until they buggers could get Coopers GQ down to give Expatkiwi a gentle pull of a metre or so and he had traction and was back in business.
So, finally the Fenceline and no chicken tracks taken tonight so it was off up the main climb after a Reccy where all of us opted to go right on the least daunting line to avoid the crevices. All except Expatkiwi who, with us all watching on, went straight up the guts thru the crevices on a perfect line making it look like we were the ones who had taken the gnarly track proving the previous incident was divine intervention (Thank you God, your cheques in the mail). That left only the transit thru to West Talbot Road and down to the BP at The Lakes where we had a debrief and reluctantly called it a night at 12:30 and headed for home. Chris72GQ had been keeping us updated by phone and was picked up by the RAC within the hour of being dropped off earlier in the night and we all hope it is something real simple with the truck mate.
A big thanks to Bevan and Jeremy for keeping us safe as All-Powerful Trip Leader and Tail End Charlie and if you are wondering why I had volunteered to scribe the Trip Report and shafted Bevan to be Trip Leader, well, that is because last night was my 50th Official Trip with the W.P.C. In those 50 trips I have never had anything less than a fantastic time on each and every one and last night had everything the Club stands for, a great time, terrific people and everyone drops everything to help a mate. I also swooped on the chance to elect Bevan as Trip Leader as I thought it fitting to be taken for an armchair ride by a person who must also be close to cracking the "50".
