Touring the Vic High Country in a Jeep Gladiator

After building up a Jeep Gladiator for a lap of Australia, it was time to hit the hills for a shakedown run to make sure everything was in order and ready for the great escape.

What better place to do this than the Victorian High Country, where there are some of the steepest and most challenging tracks in Australia, as well as some of the most spectacular country. Here are our Top 5 High Country takeouts that you simply shouldn’t miss on a trip to the mountains.

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Mount Sterling

At 1749 meters, Mount Sterling isn’t setting any world records for the tallest mountain, though we’ve been told repeatedly the views from the top are absolutely stunning, and anyway, driving to the top of a mountain seems like the perfect first challenge to cut our teeth in the mighty High Country.

The narrow summit track climbs steeply over dirt, gravel and loose rock, and it doesn’t take long to experience first-hand the much talked about Achilles heel of the Gladiator, the break-over angle.

While straddling an endless series of short and steep erosion moundsthat have been built into the track, the belly of the Gladiator smashes and scrapes on their peaks numerous times.

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The extra long wheelbase is great for storing a huge amount of gear, but of course that ability comes with a downside: the front and rear wheels are so far apart that each short and tall hump scrapes the underside of the vehicle while the tyres lose traction with the ground on either side.

I never once scraped the belly of my previous Jeeps while driving across four continents, and now with the brand new Gladiator it happens 10 times in five minutes. A series of endless shipping delays defined the build of this Gladiator, and unfortunately the much-needed suspension upgrade did not arrive from the US before this shakedown run. Suddenly I wish it had.

I try to console myself each time I hear and feel the belly scraping over another rise – this is a Rubicon after all, and the underside is entirely covered with steel bash plates designed for exactly this kind of use and abuse.

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All in good time, another 50mm of added ground clearance will soon put an end to this problem, or at least alleviate it to some degree.

Ground clearance aside, exploring the High Country is every bit as stunning as I dreamed it would be. We have lunch at the iconic Craig’s Hut of The Man from Snowy River fame, before moving onto King Basin Road, which is basically a series of small river crossings.

This track provides the perfect opportunity to train Katie as a stunt driver. She’s never driven a big 4x4 like this before, so I have her carefully pick her way across each stream while I run back and forth with cameras to document our trip.

Katie does an excellent job putting the Gladiator through its paces, slowly wading into each crossing before climbing up and out of the slippery mud and rock banks.

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Billy Goat Bluff

No visit to the High Country would be complete without tackling the infamous Billy Goat Bluff Track, famous for having extremely steep cliff edges on both sides.

Descending from the mountain top to the valley bottom, the track drops a thousand metres in just 10 klicks. It quickly becomes clear that whoever built this track didn’t care for standard road grades or regulations and, as far as I can tell, they just rolled a dozer directly down the rocky ridge line, come what may.

After a very brief section in thick trees we quickly find ourselves descending the knife-edge of a steep and rocky ridge, using low range to hold back the Gladiator’s sizeable bulk. It becomes apparent this track is not for those who suffer from vertigo, or who don’t trust their brakes.

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We tackle Billy Goat going down, which is clearly the easier and more straightforward option. Driving down also has the advantage of spectacular views out to the surrounding mountains.

Aside from a couple of ground-clearance issues, the Gladiator doesn’t break a sweat, and I’m confident it would easily climb the trail too, though maybe with a little wheel slip here and there in the loose rock.

I’m happy we don’t encounter any vehicles climbing the narrow track– opportunities to pass are few and far between, and I the prospect of reversing for hundreds of metres isn’t exactly inviting.

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The Dargo Hotel

A longstanding tradition when exploring the Victorian High Country is a visit to the Dargo Hotel for dinner and cold drinks.

This iconic watering hole is a must visit for any four-wheel driver, and I couldn’t help noticing the shocked looks as I parked the shiny Gladiator in amongst a long lineup of well-worn Hiluxes, Patrols and LandCruisers, all sporting multiple CB antennas and oversize mudflaps, and a couple with bull horns on their bonnets.

Inside the pub the sheer number of trinkets plastered on the walls and the ceiling boggles the mind, and the 4x4 wall of shame soon catches my attention.

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Photos snapped over the years show all manner of destroyed and abandoned vehicles including rollovers and those lost to the numerous river crossings in the area.

It’s a sober reminder of the consequences of poor decision making, and I’m happy to have a visual guide of what not to do in these mountains.

When my chicken parma arrives I’m convinced Dargo breeds Australia’s biggest chickens, which is absolutely not a complaint from me. As you might expect for a remote Aussie pub, the beer is cold and plentiful, and doesn’t stop flowing until the wee hours. Camping in the grass field out the back means it’s only a short stroll down to our swag on the riverbank.

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Visitor in the night

For our final track we move north on the Great Alpine Road to take on the iconic Blue Rag Range Track.

This track also climbs a narrow and rocky ridgeline well up into the alpine country, and from the top we can easily see nearby Mount Hotham, as well as Mount Sterling far in the distance. Once again the views are spectacular, and we find it difficult to tear ourselves away until late in the afternoon.

The sun has well and truly set by the time we near the end of the trail, so we decide to call it a night on the side of the track. It’s pitch black by the time we crawl into the swag, and just after our heads hit the pillow we hear the strangest animal noise I have ever heard in the wilderness.

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At first I think it’s an injured cow, but after hearing it over and over I think maybe it’s wild dog howling at the now full moon.

The sound is eerie and makes it difficult to fall asleep, though thankfully it stops after a couple of hours and we’re able to drift off.

In the morning we wind down into the picturesque mountain town of Bright to research our nocturnal camp visitor.

I’m shocked to learn of the endangered alpine dingo, and a quick google confirms the sound we heard was in fact a dingo howling at the moon, something I wasn’t expecting to cross paths with before we venture much further north.

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Shakedown Success

Starting from scratch on a new touring vehicle has been an exciting and challenging process.

I built so many little features and creature comforts into my old Wrangler I had actually forgotten I would need to make those same improvements on a new vehicle. I’ve never owned a ute before, and it’s taken a long time to wrap my head around the feeling that the cab and the bed are essentially two separate vehicles.

I can’t reach gear stored in the bed from the driver’s seat, forcing me to re-think how and where I pack each piece of equipment. Without a doubt, storage has been the biggest challenge so far for me, which is ironic given how much there is.

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All the major systems performed flawlessly, and overall I’m happy with how the individual pieces have come together to create a functional and capable house on wheels.

The solar panel, charge controller and lithium battery power everything with ease, cooking meals on the spacious kitchen is a pleasure, and sleeping under the stars in the swag puts a smile on my facefor its sheer simplicity.

With a much-need suspension upgrade on the horizon I’m confident the Gladiator will be ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead of us as we explore far and wide right around Australia.

You can follow Dan’s ongoing adventures on YouTube and Instagram @TheRoadChoseMe

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The Button Man

You never know who you’re going to meet while having adventures in the wilderness, and while I often look forward to meeting the strangest of people, I should be careful what I wish for.

Late in the afternoon while crawling along the rocky Bluff Track, climbing a narrow ridge with commanding views of distant peaks, I’m starting to look for a suitable place to make camp when I hear a rattly diesel engine coming our way.

It’s the first vehicle we’ve seen since breakfast, and it just happens to be at a wider spot in the trail where I pull to the side to wait.

In due course an extremely beat up 60 Series LandCruiser rumbles around the corner, trailing a plume of black smoke. I can’t help but notice the rusty Cruiser is virtually riding on the bump stops, which is probably explained by the severely overloaded roof rack, and crammed-to-the-brim back seat and cargo area.

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The bloke driving rumbles to a stop, and I’m struck by his appearance. Tall and thin with long wispy grey hair, his eyes beaming with mischief.

He must be in his late 60s, though he looks ready to climb a mountain at a moment's notice. I can’t help but notice his enormous stretched out earlobes sporting jewelry like I’ve never seen before.

We chat back and forward for five minutes, and it quickly becomes clear this fellow has been in the bush for a long time by himself. On this topic, I’m not one to judge, and I’ve even been known to turn into a wild man of the wilderness myself from time to time.

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I’m not surprised in the least when he mentions he’s been out for four or five months. When he starts talking about the recent snowfall I realise he doesn’t care much for dates and times – the last snowstorm up here was seven weeks ago.

He explains that due to unforeseen circumstances he was held up and forced to stay in the area longer than planned, but doesn’t elaborate on that. He doesn’t seem upset in the least, and we bid each other a cheery farewell before moving off in opposite directions.

He’s obviously a bit quirky, and likely hasn’t spent much time around people lately, but that’s no crime, and to be honest I’m a bit jealous he can just spend four or five months alone in the mountains.

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I didn’t know it at the time, but we just met the infamous Button Man, who two days prior was the prime suspect in a double murder committed just a stone’s throw away.

A couple of days later we met a young couple who filled us in with all the details. The Button Man has been living in these mountains for decades, living off deer he hunts with spears he makes himself. From the deer bones he makes buttons and intricate jewelry, including the huge items stretching out his ears.

This guy is actually a local legend, though I have to wonder if some of the stories we’re told are overblown urban legends.

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One tale has him sneaking into campsites to take photos of sleeping people with their own cameras. Obviously they get quite the fright when they discover the unexpected photos.

The police have recently discovered two bodies nearby, and short on leads they immediately investigate the “crazy guy” living wild in the mountains. A SWAT team paid him a visit by helicopter to detain and question him, though they came up with nothing and turned him loose only a day or two before we met.

Of course, he had nothing to do with it.