I headed out past Tallangatta and then south on Tallangatta Creek Road. Well down the valley I turned into Cravensville Road and climbed up onto the top of the range. At the ridge line, I turned right into Gibb Range Road and travelled about 5.3 km to an embarkation point that I have used previously to head to the first summit for the day.

Gibb Range VK3/VE-069 1289 m 8 points

The access route that I used followed an old access track to a logging coup, then another track to the edge of the coup and then along the coup boundary to the summit. The regrowth has become thicker since my last visit – perhaps a scrub bash from the eastern side might be considered next time. I set up near the summit.

Twenty minutes of operating on 40 m SSB yielded 12 contacts, all on 40 m SSB. I packed up and retraced my route to the vehicle. I then travelled on along Gibb Range Road to Beetoombah Spur Track and headed north.

Beetoombah Spur VK3/VE-120 1089 m 6 points
Wabba Wilderness Park VKFF-0944

I again set up in the scrub on the east side of the track, which marks the boundary of the Park. Once on air, I worked 12 stations in about eleven minutes. I heard Rob VK4AAC/2 calling, very weak to me. He could not hear my replies. I switched to 20 m and worked Rob comfortably. With no further responses to calls on 20 m, I switched back to 40 m for only one more station. I had lunch whilst waiting for Gerard and Manuel to come up on air. I finally worked Manuel and Gerard on 40 m CW, both on VK2/IL-001. After those contacts, I packed up and started to retrace my route to Gibb Range Road.

Unfortunately, about half way back along the route, I had a rock puncture the sidewall of a tyre. I had to work out how to access the spare wheel and to change wheels, and then resume my journey. I took it slowly and carefully and finally reached Gibb Range Road. I then headed east, making my way out to Benambra – Corryong Road. Here I considered my options, having no spare tyre…. I decided to risk it and headed south to Wild Boar Track.

Mount Sassafras VK3/VE-029 1587 m 10 points
Wild Boar Range Scenic Reserve

I approached the access track with care and made it safely to the summit area. I walked across to the trig point and set up nearby. On switching on the radio, I found Manuel and Gerard on VK2/IL-005 for S2S contacts on 40 m SSB. I changed frequency and started calling. I worked another 10 stations over the next 10 minutes before closing after several calls with no responses. I packed up and headed back to the car.

The exit was taken carefully and fortunately I had no further issues. I headed north through Nariel Valley and then west on Murray Valley Highway back to Wodonga.