April 14 -- 4WDABC West Harrison Run

[sdillen]

The Four Wheel Drive Association of British Columbia will be hosting our monthly West Harrison Lake Maintenance Run on April 14. As always, we meet at the Sasquatch Inn (approximately 30kms east of Mission on Hwy 7) at 9:30am and depart from there at 10:00 (SHARP!)

This month we will be installing some signs at the trailheads for Sunrise Lake and Hale Creek. I also plan on heading up to Francis Lake to take a preliminary look at that site before the Association adds it to our portfolio -- and depending on the number of participants may attempt to clear the deadfall from the Weaver-Francis Traverse -- a fun connector trail in the area.

If the rain stop this week (we can dream, right????), we'll also be painting the newly installed tables at Hale Creek.

Typically we return to the Sasquatch Inn area by approximately 5pm.

All levels of vehicle capability and driver skill are welcome on these runs -- there are a wide variety of trails in the area which suit most vehicle build levels (from stock to not). Due to the nature of the event, I ask that no alcohol be consumed.

If I can answer any questions about this run or the Four Wheel Drive Association of British Columbia in general, please don't hesitate to drop me a note.

Hope to see you on Saturday morning!

[miller]

Did you guys go? What's the status of sunrise?

:beer Joe

[sdillen]

Did you guys go? What's the status of sunrise?

Saturday morning was a great day to go 'wheeling -- the rain looked like it was FINALLY going to let up for a bit, and there was even a hint of clear sky when I left the house. I arrived in Mission at a quarter to nine to fill up my fuel tank and met Phil (CJ5) as he was topping off his tank ($110 worth!) and adding a few quarts of oil to his crankcase. While he went to pick up his navigator, I headed out to the Sasquatch Inn to find out who was joining us for the day. What a Turnout!!!!!!!

Steve - Ranger
Colin - Toyota LB
Mike - TJ Rubicon
Shawn - Explorer
Phil - CJ5
John - Grand Cherokee
Dennis - YJ
Scott - XJ
Andrew - Discovery
Gary - Early Bronco
Gord - TJ
Eric - 4Runner
Al - YJ
Jeremy - 4Runner
Rob - YJ
Ulysse - Early Broco
????? - Chevrolet Silverado

As a group we headed up to the Francis Lake recreation site (the Association is pursuing a maintenance agreement for this site) to get an idea about how much work we had in store. We found the site to be in very good shape, although all tables/fire-rings/etc were no longer there. This site is a really nice spot -- lake front within a relatively short drive of pavement. A few summers ago I took my kids fishing here and the convenient boat-launch makes this a great summer afternoon destination.

From here we split into two groups. There had been recent reports that the Weaver-Francis Traverse, a trail which connects the Weaver Lake and Francis Lake forest service roads, was blocked by deadfall after this winter. As the road will be upgraded later this year as it is pushed through to a new road which will wind down to the north side of Weaver Lake, the Association wanted to clear access for the spring. Armed with saws and a bunch of volunteers, Phil headed into the trail....and spent the afternoon clearing trees and negotiating the rock steps. This trail is not "Stock Friendly", but is a challenging trail for those on 31-33" tires with some alternative lines which challenge those with larger tires. If you have the opportunity, try this trail before road construction erases it!

I led the second group on up to Hale Creek to install a new plank in the trailhead sign and then the majority of us started down the north road while a few who hadn't been to Hale Creek in years decided to try the South Road. The beach area was in great shape and garbage cans were full (that's a great thing!) with a separate garbage bag of recyclables sitting next to the garbage bin. Four of us headed back up the north road while everyone else headed up to tackle the south road obstacles.....before long two more rejoined the north road group! The cross ditches are deeper each month and therefore some spotting for longer wheelbase trucks was needed, but I saw huge grins on faces at the top of the trail, so I think all went well!

Afternoon commitments forced a few to head back to town, and others headed up to 20 mile bay for a weekend of camping. The rest of us headed up to the Mystery Creek access into Lookout Lake. WOW has this trail eroded over this last winter. We removed a few trees from the road and made it up to the lake without incident. During this time, I talked to Phil (via VHF radio) who finally extracted his group from the Weaver trail and they decided to meet us via the south trail to Lookout Lake.

It's April and there was still snow on this loop trail. You may recall that last month we were blocked from south access to Lookout due to deep snow. While most of it had melted by this last weekend, there were still several sections of 3+ feet. At the first snow section, I tried to 'float' across the top, but at 12psi, my MT/Rs decided that they were much happier digging DOWN instead of pushing forward. On the bright side, it gave me a chance to stress test my new hydraulic system which drives my Milemarker winch. Ford TTB axles do not slide over snow very well, so it was a long hard pull in order to plow off the trail so everyone behind me could follow along. The next snow section looked worse. I dropped down to 8psi and made it about 20 feet into the drift before I stopped moving.

Through this whole time, Phil's group was trying to get into the trail from the other end, and were spending a lot of time dragging out winch cables as well. But we were SOOOO CLOSE -- at one point I asked how close they were and Phil blew his horn....he was just around a few more corners. So, against the better judgement of those in my group, I tried again and managed to make it about 200 meters before I again sank in the snow -- but as I climbed out the windows of my truck (the door won't open when snow's up to the handle) I saw Phil working toward me with winch cable in hand! Gord and Rob were a short distance behind (also with a winch cables out), so we get everyone pointed in the right direction and slogged our way through the last few hundred meters of snow.

To finish off the day, Rob, Phil, Gord and I wanted to head up to the washout on the Chehalis FSR. It doesn't look good! We returned to the Sasquatch Inn at about 8pm.

I received an update today from the MTSA which indicates that this section of road will not be repaired this year although there will be some repairs made on the Mystery Creek side.

Pictures of Francis Lake: http://gallery.hot4x4.ca/album581
Pictures of the Chehalis Washout: http://gallery.hot4x4.ca/album582
More run pictures and some of the Weaver/Francis Traverse: http://gallery.hot4x4.ca/album580
And more run pictures (SNOW!!!!): http://gallery.hot4x4.ca/album560

All and all, it was a FANTASTIC day of 'wheeling. Hope to see you out next month!

[craig24]

That looked like a fun run.

[trooper+]

i was camping up that way for the easter long and we saw some kids driving that bronco 2 around beating the crap outta it, then the next day we went further to 20mile bay and saw that the bronco way in the middle of the bridge. we looked around to se if any one wat there and needed help but there was no one around so we continued on and on the way home in was below the bridge.

[tohi2care]

Looks like a good time I should be at the next one.

[miller]

Cool....so what's the status of sunrise? Does it need to be cleared? Or has that been done? I'm in the area next weekend and wouldn't mind popping up...but not if it's covered in trees.

:beer Joe

[sdillen]

Cool....so what's the status of sunrise? Does it need to be cleared? Or has that been done? I'm in the area next weekend and wouldn't mind popping up...but not if it's covered in trees.

:beer Joe

I don't think you'll need to clear anything...we've been up there regularly over the winter.

[miller]

Thanks.

[the_balls]

who's the guy in the black YJ with swampers? i'm pretty sure he tugged me out of a snow drift up by stave a couple months ago. if he's on here thanks bud :beer_cheers: