Trip Report Whipsaw Trail September 16-18, 2009
Long time since I posted but here’s a report of a trip six of us took with five trucks on the Whipsaw trail. This is an annual trip for some of us, and we had such a great adventure, that all of us are considering going again next year. This was the first time for doing Whipsaw for two of the drivers but they have many years experience off road.
The Trucks:
Mine’s a 1990 HZJ73 with 1HZ/H55F with full float, open diff, 411’s, 33 12.50 R15’ Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ’s on American racing Baja wheels, 3 inch OME lift with heavy rear leaves and Manafre 4 inch shackles. Custom bar work front and rear with swing away carrier, reinforced skids and sliders. Safari snorkel, PTO winch, custom storage with rear seat removed, extended breathers, custom roof rack, stainless limb cables and lighting on all four sides of the vehicle. 10 inch sub, satellite radio and GPS.
1989 BJ74. Modified Belton lift, u-bolt flip kits, 315/75R16s MTR on 80 series alloy wheels, 1.5" bolt on spacers, cable locked, 13BT/H55F, Marks under/under gear set, factory 24V winch, factory snorkel (currently with Safari cap), custom tube protection all round, rear seat removed, custom slide out storage, front seats moved back 2", some pin striping and dents. 2.5" exhaust with aero turbine muffler, ceramic coated exhaust manifold, hot and cold side and turbo dump. This truck also towed a Canadian Iltis trailer set up with a roof top tent.
1989 BJ74 with 13BT/H55F, ARB front bar, CB and Ham Radios, Lightforce Lighting, 3 inch OME lift, 24volt winch, power management bus, rear seat removed with custom storage including wet box, 6x9’s and sub. Truck was running 16x8 white steel spokes with BFG B 255/85R16 MTs and Warn 8000lb 8274, ARB locker and full float in rear.
1982 BJ60 with JDM frame, custom skids, sliders, front bar with PTO, rear ARB bumper modified to have Swing away, 13BT/H55F with 4 speed transfer case for lower gearing, cable lockers front and rear, custom storage camp set with bed, custom paint, numerous dents, shaved rear rockers for improved departure, 15 x10 steel spokes with 35 inch Super Swampers, OME 3 inch lift and 2 inch body lift.
1991 HDJ81 with auto tranny, 31 inch Yokohama AT-S, triple locked, brand new custom front and rear bars (tested this trip) with swing away, custom sliders (tested this trip) and rear seat removed. Custom 3 inch open exhaust, light force lighting and 1 inch lift, full float rear axle.
We decided to take the route from the Princeton side over to Coalmont as the forecast called for evening rain and we thought it would be good to use the covered camp area at Wells Lake. Our first stop was at the Ore Mill on the Whipsaw FSR and all of us took a bunch of pictures and picked up a core sample. This is when the garbage pickup started and by the end of the trip Two full bags of empties and Two full bags of garbage were collected off the trail. I also came home with a large tent (garbage) that was left at Lodestone Lake.
The trail was pretty much two wheel gravel travel until we got past the grave marker and cabin of Richard Holding. We happened across some wood and loaded it onto the Iltis Trailer and ratchet strapped it into position. It managed to make the trip into Wells Lake.
We stopped several times to take some pictures and to shoot videos, the most memorable being the climb of the 60 and 80 series rigs up the rock face half way between the Richard’s cabin and wells. A little tire chirping out to the 60 but the 80 just smoothly climbed the slick rock with no dramas. After shooting some video, I started on the way but one of the group pushed my buttons (literally) and I lost it (four wheel drive). The transfer and electric hub buttons were off and I couldn’t figure out why my truck couldn’t make it up the next easy rut. Funny moment.
After the rock face we enjoyed the alpine until we had to descend towards Wells Lake.
Its amazing how much a trail can change in year. The previous year had a section of trail with a hill and an eroded “V“ channel right down the middle that was good for a little tire lifting and some exciting moments. This year the channel was all filled in by sediment from erosion further up.
The trail from the cabin to Wells had some tricky sections and it was really cool to watch the articulation of the Iltis trailer; it made all obstacles with ease.
We left Princeton at 11:30 and got to Wells at 5:30 so had plenty of time to set camp, talk about the day’s challenges and settle in for some gourmet food. Steaks, roasted veggies, barbecued shrimp, pesto tortellini, espresso, toad in the hole, brats, eggs, and stir-fry where on the menu this trip. What I thought was the funniest was all of us sitting around flossing our teeth after we ate.
The next day was the day where the obstacles got tougher and we had a surprise at “ The Ditch” but we didn’t know about this until the end of the trail. The previous day we all ran our tires at 25 lbs but everyone aired down to 20lbs except me. The year before I ran the trail at 25 and came the opposite way, but I wasn’t thinking about Falcon Hill. I lost forward travel about half way and had to choose a new line. I quickly backed up and kept going. The guys said they saw my tires bouncing so I know that I need to try 20lbs next time as all tires seemed to mould over the rocks at this pressure.
Once we were at the top, the rest of the trip seemed pretty simple and we got to try out the flex of our suspension on a boulder on the trail
We also saw some range cattle and stopped for lunch in a beautiful spot.
Close to the end of the day we got to “The Ditch.” To put the day into perspective though, it took us over 6 hours to go 10km on day two. I noticed that there was a lot more standing water on this trip and when we got to the ditch, it was about thigh high and when you poked a stick into it, it sank about a foot before you got to firm bottom. To make matters more interesting, the way out had a 4 foot vertical wall to climb. We spent some time discussing what we were going to do and then one of the group got a good idea to drain the ditch. We dug on the downstream side and also at the crest of the wall to provide a less steep exit. The water level dropped and what we were left with was a mud hole about frame rail deep with sloppy goo.
The 60 series was sent over first as the bumper was shaped more like a bulldozer blade than the others and he carved down some of the wall until he eventually got his front tires over the crest. After that it was a winch recovery and then the 60 winched all of us up the wall. It took about an hour and half to get all trucks across after we first arrived at the Ditch.
After that it was 20 minutes to camp and about an hour washing off the rads and rear doors of our vehicles.
Our Casualties:
· Broken brake light switch
· Pinstriping
· Water in some diffs
· Broken trailer light
· Bumper s****es
· Sand Delta in my driveway. Two tubes of grease. I greased my suspension and joints the day before going , and when I got back, I still added two mini tubes.
We parted ways at Tulameen, some going back to the Coquihalla using FSRs and others going to Harrison through Boston Bar using other FSR’s. Of course we’ll be going back next year.
Long time since I posted but here’s a report of a trip six of us took with five trucks on the Whipsaw trail. This is an annual trip for some of us, and we had such a great adventure, that all of us are considering going again next year. This was the first time for doing Whipsaw for two of the drivers but they have many years experience off road.
The Trucks:
Mine’s a 1990 HZJ73 with 1HZ/H55F with full float, open diff, 411’s, 33 12.50 R15’ Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ’s on American racing Baja wheels, 3 inch OME lift with heavy rear leaves and Manafre 4 inch shackles. Custom bar work front and rear with swing away carrier, reinforced skids and sliders. Safari snorkel, PTO winch, custom storage with rear seat removed, extended breathers, custom roof rack, stainless limb cables and lighting on all four sides of the vehicle. 10 inch sub, satellite radio and GPS.
1989 BJ74. Modified Belton lift, u-bolt flip kits, 315/75R16s MTR on 80 series alloy wheels, 1.5" bolt on spacers, cable locked, 13BT/H55F, Marks under/under gear set, factory 24V winch, factory snorkel (currently with Safari cap), custom tube protection all round, rear seat removed, custom slide out storage, front seats moved back 2", some pin striping and dents. 2.5" exhaust with aero turbine muffler, ceramic coated exhaust manifold, hot and cold side and turbo dump. This truck also towed a Canadian Iltis trailer set up with a roof top tent.
1989 BJ74 with 13BT/H55F, ARB front bar, CB and Ham Radios, Lightforce Lighting, 3 inch OME lift, 24volt winch, power management bus, rear seat removed with custom storage including wet box, 6x9’s and sub. Truck was running 16x8 white steel spokes with BFG B 255/85R16 MTs and Warn 8000lb 8274, ARB locker and full float in rear.
1982 BJ60 with JDM frame, custom skids, sliders, front bar with PTO, rear ARB bumper modified to have Swing away, 13BT/H55F with 4 speed transfer case for lower gearing, cable lockers front and rear, custom storage camp set with bed, custom paint, numerous dents, shaved rear rockers for improved departure, 15 x10 steel spokes with 35 inch Super Swampers, OME 3 inch lift and 2 inch body lift.
1991 HDJ81 with auto tranny, 31 inch Yokohama AT-S, triple locked, brand new custom front and rear bars (tested this trip) with swing away, custom sliders (tested this trip) and rear seat removed. Custom 3 inch open exhaust, light force lighting and 1 inch lift, full float rear axle.
We decided to take the route from the Princeton side over to Coalmont as the forecast called for evening rain and we thought it would be good to use the covered camp area at Wells Lake. Our first stop was at the Ore Mill on the Whipsaw FSR and all of us took a bunch of pictures and picked up a core sample. This is when the garbage pickup started and by the end of the trip Two full bags of empties and Two full bags of garbage were collected off the trail. I also came home with a large tent (garbage) that was left at Lodestone Lake.
The trail was pretty much two wheel gravel travel until we got past the grave marker and cabin of Richard Holding. We happened across some wood and loaded it onto the Iltis Trailer and ratchet strapped it into position. It managed to make the trip into Wells Lake.
We stopped several times to take some pictures and to shoot videos, the most memorable being the climb of the 60 and 80 series rigs up the rock face half way between the Richard’s cabin and wells. A little tire chirping out to the 60 but the 80 just smoothly climbed the slick rock with no dramas. After shooting some video, I started on the way but one of the group pushed my buttons (literally) and I lost it (four wheel drive). The transfer and electric hub buttons were off and I couldn’t figure out why my truck couldn’t make it up the next easy rut. Funny moment.
After the rock face we enjoyed the alpine until we had to descend towards Wells Lake.
Its amazing how much a trail can change in year. The previous year had a section of trail with a hill and an eroded “V“ channel right down the middle that was good for a little tire lifting and some exciting moments. This year the channel was all filled in by sediment from erosion further up.
The trail from the cabin to Wells had some tricky sections and it was really cool to watch the articulation of the Iltis trailer; it made all obstacles with ease.
We left Princeton at 11:30 and got to Wells at 5:30 so had plenty of time to set camp, talk about the day’s challenges and settle in for some gourmet food. Steaks, roasted veggies, barbecued shrimp, pesto tortellini, espresso, toad in the hole, brats, eggs, and stir-fry where on the menu this trip. What I thought was the funniest was all of us sitting around flossing our teeth after we ate.
The next day was the day where the obstacles got tougher and we had a surprise at “ The Ditch” but we didn’t know about this until the end of the trail. The previous day we all ran our tires at 25 lbs but everyone aired down to 20lbs except me. The year before I ran the trail at 25 and came the opposite way, but I wasn’t thinking about Falcon Hill. I lost forward travel about half way and had to choose a new line. I quickly backed up and kept going. The guys said they saw my tires bouncing so I know that I need to try 20lbs next time as all tires seemed to mould over the rocks at this pressure.
Once we were at the top, the rest of the trip seemed pretty simple and we got to try out the flex of our suspension on a boulder on the trail
We also saw some range cattle and stopped for lunch in a beautiful spot.
Close to the end of the day we got to “The Ditch.” To put the day into perspective though, it took us over 6 hours to go 10km on day two. I noticed that there was a lot more standing water on this trip and when we got to the ditch, it was about thigh high and when you poked a stick into it, it sank about a foot before you got to firm bottom. To make matters more interesting, the way out had a 4 foot vertical wall to climb. We spent some time discussing what we were going to do and then one of the group got a good idea to drain the ditch. We dug on the downstream side and also at the crest of the wall to provide a less steep exit. The water level dropped and what we were left with was a mud hole about frame rail deep with sloppy goo.
The 60 series was sent over first as the bumper was shaped more like a bulldozer blade than the others and he carved down some of the wall until he eventually got his front tires over the crest. After that it was a winch recovery and then the 60 winched all of us up the wall. It took about an hour and half to get all trucks across after we first arrived at the Ditch.
After that it was 20 minutes to camp and about an hour washing off the rads and rear doors of our vehicles.
Our Casualties:
· Broken brake light switch
· Pinstriping
· Water in some diffs
· Broken trailer light
· Bumper s****es
· Sand Delta in my driveway. Two tubes of grease. I greased my suspension and joints the day before going , and when I got back, I still added two mini tubes.
We parted ways at Tulameen, some going back to the Coquihalla using FSRs and others going to Harrison through Boston Bar using other FSR’s. Of course we’ll be going back next year.
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thanks for sharing
