Billy Goats and The Pinnacles have been Graded

Dam. Bloody lucky I conned the missus in time now.
Although it was by far not its most difficult it was a very enjoyable run and really showed how capable the patrol is.

But as mudski said at least they are still open. I doubt they would have closed them as they are a pretty major thing to do in that area, and now with the fee'd camping I doubt they would have had many returners if they didn't have the tracks.

But as drew also said. Give it a few years of good rain and idiots they'll get back to some sort of challenge.

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Originally Posted by biggqwesty

Dam. Bloody lucky I conned the missus in time now.
Although it was by far not its most difficult it was a very enjoyable run and really showed how capable the patrol is.

But as mudski said at least they are still open. I doubt they would have closed them as they are a pretty major thing to do in that area, and now with the fee'd camping I doubt they would have had many returners if they didn't have the tracks.

But as drew also said. Give it a few years of good rain and idiots they'll get back to some sort of challenge.

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Camping is still free near Billy Goats top and bottom and all around ....... in fact we never encountered any areas requiring payment in the recent January holidays.

It was also graded only a few years ago too, but with the amount of traffic it sees, it won't take too long to change it's character anyway - you are right, and it will still be one of the best drives in the area.....

Fee'd camping is a whole new can of worms worthy of it own thread , but it wont happen from what I know.

From the top of the Pinnacle fire tower they say on a clear day you can see Mt Hotham and Lakes Entrance,
you just need a bit of breeze to clear the air

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Originally Posted by threedogs

Fee'd camping is a whole new can of worms worthy of it own thread , but it wont happen from what I know.

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Agreed it is.
But I'm happy to pay a fee if it means the upkeep of the camping areas. The fee's should go to CCTV hidden in tree's to spot the vandals...

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Originally Posted by mudski

Agreed it is.
But I'm happy to pay a fee if it means the upkeep of the camping areas. The fee's should go to CCTV hidden in tree's to spot the vandals...

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and you dont think thats not happening lol

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Originally Posted by threedogs

and you dont think thats not happening lol

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Well unless the guys at DEPI are feeding me shite when I asked them. Its not. But they all agreed, it should....

I'm glad I did Billy Goats and Pinnacles 3 odd weeks ago. I can understand why Depi grade these and other tracks. When I was up there a couple
of bush fires in the general area were started by lightening strikes, which we saw some touch down, in areas with limited access for ground crews.
We had good views of these fires from the Pinnacles Fire tower area.
Luckily it was mother nature to the rescue, it rained.

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Originally Posted by mudski

well unless the guys at depi are feeding me shite when i asked them. Its not. But they all agreed, it should....

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they have cameras on some of the gates and in parks with new long drops

This is an issue near and dear to my heart but I'll try and stay on the calmer side of passionate.

kudos to the posts by Mudski and similar thinkers.

The tracks are there for the fire/forestry/parks management in the first place so we are extremely lucky to have access to them.
The biggest issue is so the BFS etc can get the eff out of dodge if the fire behaviour changes.
Given that Mums, Dads, Sons, Daughters, Sisters, Brothers etc make up the BFS I for one am bloody happy that they don't have to be a gun driver to manage a loaded Striker or whatever on skinnys to make an escape down tracks that have jump ups and ruts made by 35 inch reccy vehicles.

Not many fatals happen trying to get in to the fires, they generally happen trying to get out.

Enjoy the bush, respect the fire trails, remember who the poor bastards are who may need them to save their lives not just as a weekend challenge

well said ET, cant agree more.