MUNDARING POWERLINE TRACK

Through online boards and our website we had been contacted by locals from around Australia and Geoff from the Jeep Owners Club in Perth was following our trip on our site and sent us an email to invite us on a run. When we called to let him know that we had reached Perth he said: "I know, you have been spotted on the road by a friend on the board!" We guess we can't hide anything around here...
He organized a trail ride just for us and we met up east of Perth to go on the Mundaring Powerline Track, a popular route for local four-wheelers. The area here is very flat and these hills are about as high as it gets, Geoff apologized. Because of a major construction site on the highway we had to take an alternative route to the track. The trail runs, how could it be different, along a power line and offers some nice obstacles involving big boulders, sand and quite some twisting. There are also several mudholes but because it hadn't rained in over two months, these were dry.
We came to a rocky slope and we all could test our rigs' articulation. We crawled down the track and snaked beneath the power lines (pic01) until we got to a wider area where several options were open. Steve in his YJ lead the trail and worked his way downhill. Dennis steered his 1999 Wrangler with 35 inch tires down a rock garden, a stretch of big boulders which was off camber to the left (pic02). He successfully manouvered through this obstacle. I took a similar line and after moving a rock with my left front tire managed to drive it as well. All remaining vehicles chose the twisty by-pass (pic03). A couple of stock Toyotas caught up with us; their drivers enjoyed the show but took a third less tricky route and pushed on. Further down an area which usually consisted of mud was dried up and featured deep ruts to play in. On a tougher section one of our Bushwacker fender flares got quite a beating. The rear part of the right rear flare ripped off partly as the rig leaned into a solid dirt wall.
The track started to climb up the hill again and we tackled some steep inclines with more photo ops. Just before we reached our lunch spot we hit some opposing traffic. A group of trucks more typical for Down Under passed: Nissan Patrols, Mitsubishi Pajeros (Monteros), and Toyota Land Cruisers. They snaked down the trail and disappeared in the distance. We enjoyed our snacks in the shade and talked about rigs, four-wheeling, and touring. Soon after we reached a crossroad which we took back to the main highway. The track actually continues for quite a while and contains an obstacle known as the LR300 hill because a Mitsubishi LR300 (4x4 minivan) once rolled down the hill.

Before hitting pavement, we aired up our tires and posed for one last group shot. Geoff invited us to stop by his shop to fix our torn fender flare and view his Jeep collection (see Cool Rigs).
We were once again amazed at the hospitality of Australian four-wheelers who went out of their way to hook up with us.

pic01

pic02
pic03

for more pics click here