Having read up on the haunted stream a few years back I forgot it was even in this area but looking at nearby geocaches I soon had the track in my sights.
Early brekky of pancakes with maple syrup done on the BBQ hot plate with our trusty silicone BBQ sheet for easy cleaning and we packed ready to go with a BBQ lunch on board .
Stopped at the Swift Creek supermarket for some water and bread then up Brookville rd past the quarry then past the local tip where the sealed petered out to a well formed dirt track onwards up to Mt Baldhead where we decided on a retrace back a few hundred metres so avoiding the widy summit rd then headed into the bush tracks towards Dawson city before taking a supposedly closed track down the steep heavily treed track to the beginning or end (depends on which way you started from ) of the Haunted Stream Track .
I hadn't aired down at this stage until it was wet I certainly would but low range 1stand 2nd gears copped a workout in the downhills here , it was a little weird as I hadn't really had much experience in low range work in auto's but it was fairly easy with the diesel.
At the Track head we had a quick stop to have a look around before tackling the first of 54 crossings in the next 24 Kms , nine of them were very deep most never even got over centre of wheel height but there was a few slippery exits and entries and several steeper tracks on both sides .
About half way we stopped for our lunch of ham cheese and pineapple wraps done over the hot plate with a cuppa .
There was a geocache a little further up the track , I let Shahla steer the car through the next creek crossing while the boys walked over some rocks to the other side .
We only passed a number two other groups on the track which was good as there wasn't much room for manoeuvring around on some cliff side tracks .
The geocache was located in the old town ( long since gone ) of dog town and there was a bit of rock scrambling and river crossing to get to it as the road was shut and overgrown Corinna drove around and met dash and I a little up the track past two more crossings.
It was getting well into mid afternoon and because we were low in a valley there wasn't much sunlight and the sky above was turning an ominous shade of black so I wanted to keep it moving as we were only 3/4 of the way along with 12 or so more crossings .
A steep rocky exit and we were near a large firebreak where the track splits a little before heading back to the alpine way near Tambo Crossing , I must say this area is well sign posted and if you had no maps the drives could still be fairly confidently done .
We exited on a corner inlet near the Tambo river and back to camp having spent the last 5 hours with stops on the track but if you were in a rush it could be done in just over three hours .
Other campers had set up back at swifts creek we had a quick chat about road conditions before doing tea and a video before bed .
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