S 25°24'32.2"
E 120°57'20.0"
When it comes to remote travel by four wheel drive vehicle, there is one track that stands head and shoulders above all others. Considered the pinnacle of remote 4wd travel not just in Australia, but across the entire world, The Canning Stock Route is over 1,000 miles of continuous offroad travel through extremely remote and vast desert country. Constructed a hundred years ago as a series of wells to move cattle from the North West of Australia to the South, the CSR is a tiny track carved through the desert. There are no services and no support of any kind. If we get into trouble, we’ll have to get ourselves out one way or another.
Coming to Australia I was excited to include my family in my expeditions, and I’m grinning like mad as I collect my Dad from the Perth airport before we drive 600 miles to the start of the mighty CSR. At the last outpost of civilization we fill up with 65 gallons of fuel, 55 gallons of fresh drinking water, cram the fridge with all the fresh food it can hold and pack the drawers and storage with tinned food, pasta, rice, potatoes and everything else we can carry. Fully loaded the Jeep is heavy, and I have no doubt we’ll need everything we have on board.
Within ten minutes of starting the track it becomes obvious how barren and how remote the terrain is we will be passing through. At times corrugations on the rock, dirt and sand track are severe, and our overall moving average is just 15mp/h as we make slow and steady progress through the barren and harsh desert. Each day we see groups of wild camels, kangaroos, emus, a variety of birdlife and see plenty of evidence of snakes and lizards on the soft sandy track. On day three we begin to encounter huge red sand dunes that we must drive directly up and over, often requiring a sharp turn right at the crest to stay on the track. We’re attempting the track very late in the season, and there are no tire tracks in the sand ahead- it’s been at least a few weeks since anyone traveled the track.
Most days we are up and moving with the sun, often driving by 6am in an attempt to beat the scorching sun and 100F heat that doesn’t let up until hours after sunset. Mercifully the temperature drops overnight enough for us to find sleep.
As the days begin to blur together I start to realize the only thing that remains constant on the CSR is change. Just when we get used to sand, the track changes to rock and when we get used to wide open spaces the vegetation changes dramatically and we’re scratching both sides of the Jeep driving along overgrown riverbeds.
Through it all, the Jeep performs flawlessly, never so much as spinning a tire even while climbing the soft sand dunes with blown in sand. As I have come to expect the GEOLANDAR X-AT tires also perform flawlessly while aired down to provide plenty of grip across all the changing conditions. The Canning is notorious for shredding lesser tires, and I’m happy to report the GEOLANDARS took it all in stride.
Arriving at the end of the track after ten days and just over 1,000 miles through the desert and dunes is bittersweet. Not counting burnt-out hulks we never saw another vehicle or person on the track, other emphasizing just how remote we truly were. On one hand I’m elated we made it through, and on the other I’m not looking forward to driving back into civilization and all that entails.
After refueling at the Northern end of the Canning in a remote Aboriginal community, we still have another 400 miles on dirt before we reach pavement.
Even after all this, I’m still looking forward to it.
-Dan Grec
CategoriesConsumer NewsTeam Yokohama
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