Grease Monkey - Conditions and Closures

There appear to be no real issues pending for GM18. We will update this on Thursday.

At this point closures are just the usual culprits.

National Parks Watagans and Jilliby

• Click Creek and Slippery Rock remain closed. None of our trips use them Note that these are trails that Hunter Region (4WD Association) have arranged direct access with Parks. We wont be near them though.
• There are a couple of closures related to access to Private Land - doesn't impact us.
• Lemon Tree is closed - we have taken great care to ensure it is not on the GM18 list.
• Daniels Point Road/Maculata closed - old issue and disappointing but we do not use them for GM18.

State Forests Olney and Awaba

• Nothing of note though the failed bridge on Forest Rd is noted, doesn't impact us

Fire
Strangely enough there are no current fire bans impacting the area.

Weather
It actually looks to be drying out across this week. There is a small chance of rain over Friday to Sunday, Sunday the more likely, but on each day the expected amount is quite minimal. Don't forget though that the Watagans are infamous for mud and with the recent rain we can expect to find it.


In summary things seem to be looking up.

Update Friday morning

Other events: Mountain bike ride/race
Saturday There is a big mountain bike event on starting at Laguna (not in our area) and ending in Olney (which is in our area). We'll be looking into this more today but it may mean plenty of bikes on the main graded trails. The tip is that the roads stay open though expect the mountain bikes to behave like they own it.

Weather
Generally while there is a bit of cloud the rain has mostly gone. Nil rain Friday and Saturday, small chance of light rain on Sunday. It's a little bit windy and it's (mostly) from the cold south, so temperatures are down a little bit. 12 or 14 overnight 22 ish during the day. Saturday might be warm.

Fires near me
There are none in the Hunter at the moment.Fire rating is "high" but there are no fire bans. Remember though that camp fires have been banned by Morisset Show Grounds unless elevated 400mm. SO bring a fire drum if you intend having a fire.

National Parks - Watagans and Jilliby
Nothing new to add. More or less stay off Daniels Point Road and Lemon Tree.

State Forests
Nothing new to add - just the downed bridge on Watagan Forest Road that we wont be using.

Summary :- we pretty much couldn't hope for better conditions. Bring warm cloths and waterproofs just in case for Sunday. If you have a chain saw think about packing it in case the wind brings trees down.

See everyone at Grease Monkey!