Thompsons

[monstr]

Hi All Myself and Mudzilla are going up Thompsons This Saturday 12th,We will be at the start of the track Te Aroha side at 9am,The plan is to drive to the summit and then go down the main track to check out the slip, Anyone is welcome to tag along up to the summit but would suggest not to venture to far down the other side without a winch and all the right gear there is a rock face and a couple of other dodgy places where snatching or towing has the potential to turn to crap,Time permitting will be doing some of the play areas on the way back...Cheers...Steve

[dazza85]

If you get down to the slip will you take some photos of it. Ta.

[monstr]

Have had a change of plans ,will not be doing it for a couple of weeks,but will give report and pics when we do..Cheers

[3VILC]

man im so keen to go up there! wish i had my MU now.. going to be a loooong couple of months wait

[brianr70]

Spoke to local guy who has been up from Katikati side about 2 weeks ago, got as far as the Long Bog [if people know what that is], got about 1/2 way thru and had to turn back. damge to truck included removal of snorkel, mirror, bent bull bar

[tgaguy1]

I am doing the Kati kati side on Sunday. I have a few spaces spare if anyone wants to tag along.
You must have a well setup truck, including recovery gear in good condition, very good mud tyres, and previous hard yaka experience.
You must have a working winch
You must be prepared to accept your truck will get damaged
and you will be responsable for your own actions.

After all that if you are still keen give me a PM and I will tell you where and when we are meeting.

Cheers

Jase.

[wopass]

I am doing the Kati kati side on Sunday. I have a few spaces spare if anyone wants to tag along.
You must have a well setup truck, including recovery gear in good condition, very good mud tyres, and previous hard yaka experience.
You must have a working winch
You must be prepared to accept your truck will get damaged
and you will be responsable for your own actions.

After all that if you are still keen give me a PM and I will tell you where and when we are meeting.

Cheers

Jase.

take a few pics for us mate, be interested to see what condition the track is in

[tgaguy1]

Had a good run up and over. We started on the BOP side and exited Waikato side. The PTO's on the Nissans proved themselves again. The Warn 8274 on the Cruiser ended up draining the power from the batteries and not keeping up.
The track is fast and dry. Even the long bog is drying up compared to its normal state. It has made the mud thick and sucking. We helped out a m/c by winching him out of one hole. Most holes are drivable apart from 3 or 4. The slip just below finger rock has been cleared.
I only had one problem on the track. I shredded my power steering belt and the a/c belt in the first winching hole. I think the mud being so thick, packed around the crankshaft pulley, which caused the problem (hitting the hole at speed didn't help it either). So drove the next part of the track with strong arm steering until I replace the belt at the entrance of the long bog.
On the way home we suffered cooling issues with blocked radiators. Thanks to a friendly farmer who let us use his milking shed hose, we cleared the core enough to drive it home.

Here are the photos. My nine year old was photographer for the day so there are a couple of unexplainable loafing shoots. You can get an impression of how dry the track is though.


http://s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/Tgaguy1/Thompsons%20track%20complete%2020%20Jan%2008/

[wopass]

some good photos there mate, the track looks VERY DRY ! but it has been a very dry couple of months..... might go for a trip over there mid may