After a chat with the owners of Quorn Caravan Park, it was time to head out to the Argadells and meet up with the rest of the High Range 4WD Club members. The first surprise was a bitumen road where I remember a dirt one for Ardenvale Road but it soon turned dirt but it wont be long before it is all tarmac.
Arrived at the Argadells Homestead and another chat before moving to the Springs campsite. On opening the first gate I heard some chatter on the CB radio. They were already heading off to Mt Arden. Let them know I wasn’t far away and I soon caught them as they were pulling out of camp. I took up tail end charlie.
Being a mixed group of vehicles from soft roaders to high clearance ones, there were going to be some challenges ahead. I have already done these tracks back in 2009.
The first couple of tracks were not too bad with only one challenge in a gully with a drop off the side and we soon made it to the ridge line with some great views.
The ridge track had some tricky rocky areas but we soon all made it to the top of Mt Arden, including the soft roaders. The views from here were spectacular overlooking Lake Torrens to the west and Port Augusta to the southwest.
The tricky bits were still to come with some rocky sections that tested out the soft roaders on the descent down from Mt Arden but all got through unscathed before stopping for some lunch. After a mild morning, it was starting to warm up with the temperature up around 32C.
A side trip to the South Gorge with a chance to get out and have a short walk to enjoy the view and then it was on to Buckaringa Gorge. It was still early so a few of us decided to go to the northern part of the property and tackle some of the more exciting tracks.
These tracks were a lot more rocky than the others we had tackled as well as a lot steeper. When we made the ridge, there was a bloke hiking the Heysen Trail that goes through here. We were impressed that he was doing it given the heat this afternoon.
After going over some of the tracks we had traversed this morning, we found a different track to descent off the ridge coming across some goats and kangaroos as well.
Back at camp, cooked up a chicken stew then it was time for some beverages around the campfire, before hitting the hay.
