Build 2002 HZJ76 Build

[JDM Journeys]

The us GMRS system needs a license (simple one) and has much greater power. I have GMRS as well and they are good but not compared to what they can get down there.

 

[Rigster]

The us GMRS system needs a licensed (simple one) and has much greater power. I have GMRS as well and they made good but not compared to what they can get down there.

Ah yes, the wattage. .5watt send on FRS and 2watts for GMRS. If you shop around, you can get better wattage gmrs up here too, and in some cases they are adjustable, so it definitely pays to shop around!

 

[Rigster]

In gratitude to @FJBen for discovering some missing and loose bolts on his clutch housing, I went under and inspected mine, and they were good, but I DID discover I forgot to reattach the ground strap from the clutch housing to frame, so I did that and greased while I was under there.

I had also noted when it was above 35c (95 F) and I would leave the engine running when parked for a few minutes to keep the inside cool, the overall temp would rise. Not into the red or anything crazy, but something I had not noted before.

My fan clutch seemed tight( wouldn't keep spinning if I spun it) but I decided to pull it, clean it, and refill with silicon lube. Today's test did not see the Temps rise while idling with the AC running, so that is good. Time will be the best tester.

I also did my pretrip test with all the functionaries - 4WD engages/disengaged cleanly, front/rear diff locks.

I had a bit of a scare when my 4WD light was not coming on. I could hear the actuator engaging when I would press the button, but no light.

Before going into panic mode 5 days before leaving on an expedition, I decided to check the bulb. Sure enough, it just needed a new light bulb. I wish all fixes were that easy!

Checked diff locks as well

All good to go for next week! I then took the wife and daughter over to the shuswap River to float down on this hot day!

 

[Rigster]

The long weekend is now behind us and I am back safely with my 3 boys from our caving adventure. It was an exhausting, rewarding and bonding experience for myself and my 3 boys.

I am still trying to figure out why this time it was so much harder than what I remember the last time I did this climb close to 30 years ago....

Access to the mountain requires 4x4 capability and a decent clearance on the vehicle. It was nice to have a son that loved to get pictures of the Land Cruiser in action, so he provided all the following pictures and video

It is interesting how I do not remember the trail as it has changed so much with washouts and storms, but I remember the general topology and managed to pick the correct valley to head up. Trail was tight and overgrown in areas, and I ended up breaking a mirror, and adding to the minor scratches. Surprisingly, I did not need the chainsaw the entire time, though I did go under some fallen trees!

One of my favorite things is to take a Land Cruiser virgin out on a trip like this and several times I have had people say (Identical words, every time!) "Oh, I guess that's the end of the road" and I get to say something like "end of the road?? We are just getting started!"

My oldest son did not disappoint. He stated those exact words and I was able to educate him on what a properly setup Land Cruiser with diff locks can do. By the end of the trip he was sold and was thinking it would be nice to have one.

Negotiating a washed out corner and creek crossing:
tight corner!

After around 6km or so coming up the valley we eventually made it to the base of the mountain where our hike would begin. I am thinking now realize that my kids take better pictures than I do, lol

About 2/3 of the way up the valley, took a moment to enjoy the view:

The last stretch

I usually don't post much of hill pictures and what not, because they never do them justice, but here is a video my son took in case anyone is interested. This was just a rear only diff lock kind of hill so I could come up crawling instead of momentum as there are large rocks everywhere and I wanted to make sure my fillings all stayed in place.
minor hill climb

I will post some more pics as I have time and tell the rest of the tall tale of terror and trepidation!

 

[Gun Runner 5]

The “money shot” in my humble opinion.

 

[Rigster]

Still have not finished catching up on cleanup after the trip, but taking a moment to make an update.

Once we reached the end of the valley, we geared up and began the long ascent up the mountain. Everyone looks pretty cheery BEFORE the hike.... lol

We eventually reached a plateau area where most people headed up this way will setup camp. We took a break here

I reminded the lads to take regular breaks, and to pace themselves, and to remember to take a moment to stop and check the view! This was getting closer to the pass we needed to head through, but looking back down the valley we came up

We reached the pass and my two older boys were pretty happy and did their top secret handshake
handshake

About 30 minutes from the cirque/pass we came to the cave entrance

 

[Rigster]

Ok, so I have been slowly catching up on chores, cleanup, and some fixing.

On with the story! Not long after reaching the cave, we made up our sleeping arrangements while we had daylight left, and I proceeded to make some supper. I am pretty sure we interrupted the usual denizens of the cave, as not long after I had started making us a hot dinner, we had either one curious goat, or the 3 I saw earlier may have all been curious, and attracted by the smells.

We all slept very well that night after such an arduous hike up the mountain. Though I was woken up about 6 times throughout the night when the goats would come in and check us out. I was sure to admonish the lads in putting away any food and snacks and keep their packs close.

The next morning came and we hauled our sore bodies out of bed, and I made up some hot oatmeal to start the day. Prior to really gearing up, I still wanted to investigate a bit and see how the lads were doing. We heading deeper and down to where the first repel would be. It was a ways in and down, and while down there, I received confirmation from the lads to do this.

It was after we hiked back to the entrance that my youngest was bringing up the rear and when he caught up I knew something was not right, so I asked him id everything was ok, and he just started bawling that he thinks he has claustrophobia, but didn't want to keep the rest of us from going. I immediately got him to look me in the eyes and I said I was not upset at all, and I thanked him for being honest and letting us know because that is exactly what I had asked them to do. Secondly, I said I would much rather know NOW than have him panic halfway through in a tight spot or something.

I decided to test my other sons and asked them what should we do? They did not disappoint, they said if we can't all do it together as a team, then we should not go at all. When did my teenage sons become so mature and wise??

With no immediate agenda, we took our time packing up camp and took a few pictures of the view

The view from the cave entrance was spectacular with the morning sunshine. The lads after encouraging their little brother that it is all good! We had a brief meeting and talked about coming back again, then packed up and started our long journey back.

The long hike back... now where did I park that Land Cruiser???

We took our time hiking back out, and making our way back to town where I treated the lads to a nice big supper and reminisced over the last couple of days, comparing sore muscles and blisters... lol

 

[Rigster]

I have Dave from Japan4x4 digging for electric mirrors with FLAT glass. OEM for my unit is no good as the JDM versions are all convex... so he is digging for alternatives. In the meantime, I decided to MacGyver the old mirror back on in the event a solution is not on my doorstep before my next expedition at the end of the month... a convex mirror is better than no mirror, especially when towing.

It does not fold anymore, but it is solid. Good temp solution...

Bonus shot... my youngest son is becoming quite the photographer... he took this when we got back down and were loading up our gear. I am starting to think I should take him on all my trips and things I do with the Land Cruiser just so he can capture it all... lol.

 

[Rigster]

I finally got around to cleaning up the cruiser from last weekend's trip, inside and out. There are a few more character marks after the trip and 4x4ing, but otherwise it cleaned up well.

Now I am focused on my 2 week yearly expedition at the end of the month and getting prepared for that. There is a chance that the province could ban backcountry vehicle use due to the heat and dry conditions, so that would effectively cancel our trip, which would be greatly disappointing. However, following the all-powerful law of Murphy, if I did not make any preparations, the trip would be a go.

Do you prepare or not? Sheesh! Lol. I figured it needs to be done, so do it. Replacing a torn boot on the drive shaft, new chain case oil, diff oils, and a few adjustments. Oil change will happen after this year's trip.

Hopefully we get some rain, and the trip will still be a go!

 

[Rigster]

I am back from the 2 week backcountry explore this year, and still getting caught up with life. What a wonderful time to get away and decompress. I will try to get pics posted and the story told as quickly as possible as I get caught up with work, etc.

We initially searched out a spot to set up camp southeast of trout lake, BC near poplar creek. To get to this area from where I live, I had to take a ferry across arrow lake

Prior to meeting up with the other fellers from SAR my 2 younger boys and I met my wife, daughter and a couple of friends at some natural hot springs for 2 days prior to heading onward to Poplar Creek
Camped near the hot springs:

This is the "highway" between Trout Lake and Kaslo, BC

Found suitable camping area for us in Poplar Creek. We saw some rain and fortunately they lifted the campfire ban the day after we made camp. It is not the same camping without the nightly campfire.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

The us GMRS system needs a license (simple one) and has much greater power. I have GMRS as well and they are good but not compared to what they can get down there.

Our club for the most part uses GMRS and it works well for us especially in remote areas. Where it has issues (especially compared to HAM) is in areas like off-road parks where a LOT of people are using GMRS. Unlike HAM it can be be VERY difficult to find a discrete frequency that’s not being used by other groups.

 

[Rigster]

We found that the area we had chosen to begin our exploration was often so disused as to be grown over, or in some cases, washed right out and impassable.

We ranged further and further out, trying to find ways around. Healy Creek is one popular area because of the incredible views. We attempted to link up to there and see if anyone had dealt with the slide that took out the trail there. We attempted another route, but this one had also been washed out. Amazing the bridge remained.

Both sides of the bridge to get on and off were washed away

 

[Gun Runner 5]

You just need a Dodge Charger.

 

[Rigster]

You just need a Dodge Charger. View attachment 3430311

LOL - that only works in Georgia...

 

[Rigster]

On the other side of the "highway" we tried to find further trails, but they primarily seemed to be cut blocks and forestry roads. However on one new cutblock we discovered an old cookhouse/bunkhouse from back in the mining days 100+ years ago.

An old wood stove between the structures

 

[Rigster]

After getting frustrated with washed out and overgrown trails, we decided to head back up the valley and take the old silvercup trail as we knew that should still be accessible and it allowed for some nice views.

The other side of the mountain

looking down the mountain to the southeast end of trout lake.

Heading back down the mountain.

From the lake picture above, there is cloud cover over a cabin on the lake that we stopped at to take a photo. The old cabin is actually in pretty decent shape.

 

[Rigster]

We pretty much exhausted the area we were in as far as viable trails go, without traveling for 30 miles on the ATV's just to get to some areas we have not been, so we decided to head to our second location - Retallack, BC

There is not much left of Retallack, but there are a couple of original old buildings standing, and we chose to camp on the old flat area of the town where there were no longer any buildings standing.

From this new location, we were able to discover the trails and area on the north side of the highway. We have previously searched and ridden the areas south of the highway.
We managed to find some pretty clear and spectacular trails from this new location.

I climbed as high as I could and took some pictures of the area

 

[Rigster]

More pictures cont'd

Way down below you can see the highway. Our camp is just above the area where the rode disappears, around midway up the picture.

We headed back to camp from here, as we took several hours to find this trail and follow it through to the top.

 

[Rigster]

The next day we went across the highway to investigate an old mine site. We found the processing facility at the bottom of the mountain

All of the wooden infrastructure to move the ore to the processing facility had at some point in time collapsed. From the debris. it looks like there was a tram system in place

looks like they had a concentrator just above the processing facility

 

[Rigster]

We were looking for a way up the mountain to the mine entrance, and came across some more infrastructure, and a lower entrance with very cold air blowing out. It was partially collapsed, we did not investigate

A little further on, we saw cables coming down off the mountain above a waterfall, so we investigated...

There must have been an avalanche at some point in time as there was quite the debris field below the waterfall:

A little further down the trail and we found more infrastructure collapsed

Below you can see the tram ore buckets and railcars

We never did find a trail that would lead us up to the main mine, it was either washed out or grown right over. We followed the trail (old K&S railroad) until we came to a place we had already been last year, and subsequently turned around to head to new undiscovered territory