Jeep gladiator overland11/24/2023 ![]() In due course an extremely beat up 60 Series Land Cruiser rumbles around the corner, trailing a plume of black smoke. 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. I’m just starting to look for a suitable place to make camp when I hear a rattling diesel engine coming our way. Late in the afternoon we crawl along the rocky Bluff Track, climbing a narrow ridge with commanding views of distant peaks. Katie does an excellent job putting the Jeep Gladiator through its paces, slowly wading into each crossing before climbing up and out slippery mud and rock banks. She’s never driven a big 4×4 like this before, so I have her carefully pick her way across each stream, while I run back and forth with cameras to document the trip. This track provides the perfect opportunity to train Katie as stunt driver. ![]() 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 riving crossings. ![]() Ground clearance aside, exploring the Victoria High Country is every bit as stunning as I dreamed it would be. Wild Camping in the High Country is supremely peaceful. The front and rear wheels are so far apart that each short and tall hump scrapes across the underside while the tires helplessly ground out on either side. The extra-long wheelbase is great for storing a huge amount of gear, but of course that ability comes with a downside. While climbing an endless series of short and steep water bars which have been built into the track to prevent erosion, the belly of the Jeep Gladiator smashes into the humps and scrapes across numerous times. At 5,732 feet, Mount Sterling isn’t setting any world records for tallest mountain, though we’ve been told repeatedly the views from the top are stunning and it seems like the perfect first challenge to cut our teeth in the 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 Jeep Gladiator, the break-over angle. Working down the ridge the track gradually increases in width.
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