Hi guys,
For those of you who were not there - and you know who you are!
As we converged on the unsuspecting town of Deroche first thing in the morning, the weather was trying to decide what to do - and failing miserably at it. We picked up all the usual essentials, coffee, fuel and beef jerky and hit the trail. Steve T., Marcin and Ania C. as our leaders, Sopel, our guest Pawel, his son Kevin, his dog Baxter and myself were anxious to get away from the city and relax, just after Kilometer 4 we ran into the first of several incidents of the day. A tow truck was blocking the FSR while in the process of trying to rescue what looked like a dodge truck some 80' down a very steep drop, we don't know if there were any casualties or if this was another stolen vehicle, we managed to get around them and continue on after some picture taking. We took the turn-off just before Hale Creek and happily idled along towards the top picking up firewood along the way. The trail has changed since last year's trip and became more challenging, Sopel and I brought chainsaws and they earned their keep today as we had to clear the trail in several areas. The harder part of the hill climb where even the stock 60s made it last year was more interesting and spotting was required. Pawel's JDM 80 handled beautifully and I almost managed to lay my truck down on it's side. We continued slowly towards our goal stopping several times to cut more trees all the while being subjected to rain, hail, snow and sun, until we reached one point where the snow on the ground became too thick and we had to stop. The first injury of the day was Steve's as he discovered a broken Birfield, between that and the rising snow we decided to surrender for now and head back for Hale Creek for some lunch. The way down for the most part was easier, stopping every now and then for the occasional photo ops and some minor spotting. We arrived at Hale Creek, enjoyed some smokies on a fire, get attacked by black flies and watch Sopel's truck catch air (again) when he allowed Kevin to drive it. We had a little fun going up and down the river bed by the beach and I lost an argument with a log and needed a pull by Sopel. Reality started to kick in and we packed up and headed back, Marcin, Pawel and Sopel went for the hard way while Steve and I took the easy way out. Due to extreme washouts and since it was late Marcin and the gang had to turn around and go out the easy way. Just before the day was over Sopel managed to get the next injury as he proved once again that a Landcruiser can fly and bent one of his leafs. The rest of the trail was smooth and we regrouped at Starbucks in Mission to laugh about the days carnage and compare funny stories.
The way a Sunday should be.
If I missed something Marcin will remind me soon enough. I'll try to have the pics up tonight.
For those of you who were not there - and you know who you are!
As we converged on the unsuspecting town of Deroche first thing in the morning, the weather was trying to decide what to do - and failing miserably at it. We picked up all the usual essentials, coffee, fuel and beef jerky and hit the trail. Steve T., Marcin and Ania C. as our leaders, Sopel, our guest Pawel, his son Kevin, his dog Baxter and myself were anxious to get away from the city and relax, just after Kilometer 4 we ran into the first of several incidents of the day. A tow truck was blocking the FSR while in the process of trying to rescue what looked like a dodge truck some 80' down a very steep drop, we don't know if there were any casualties or if this was another stolen vehicle, we managed to get around them and continue on after some picture taking. We took the turn-off just before Hale Creek and happily idled along towards the top picking up firewood along the way. The trail has changed since last year's trip and became more challenging, Sopel and I brought chainsaws and they earned their keep today as we had to clear the trail in several areas. The harder part of the hill climb where even the stock 60s made it last year was more interesting and spotting was required. Pawel's JDM 80 handled beautifully and I almost managed to lay my truck down on it's side. We continued slowly towards our goal stopping several times to cut more trees all the while being subjected to rain, hail, snow and sun, until we reached one point where the snow on the ground became too thick and we had to stop. The first injury of the day was Steve's as he discovered a broken Birfield, between that and the rising snow we decided to surrender for now and head back for Hale Creek for some lunch. The way down for the most part was easier, stopping every now and then for the occasional photo ops and some minor spotting. We arrived at Hale Creek, enjoyed some smokies on a fire, get attacked by black flies and watch Sopel's truck catch air (again) when he allowed Kevin to drive it. We had a little fun going up and down the river bed by the beach and I lost an argument with a log and needed a pull by Sopel. Reality started to kick in and we packed up and headed back, Marcin, Pawel and Sopel went for the hard way while Steve and I took the easy way out. Due to extreme washouts and since it was late Marcin and the gang had to turn around and go out the easy way. Just before the day was over Sopel managed to get the next injury as he proved once again that a Landcruiser can fly and bent one of his leafs. The rest of the trail was smooth and we regrouped at Starbucks in Mission to laugh about the days carnage and compare funny stories.
The way a Sunday should be.
If I missed something Marcin will remind me soon enough. I'll try to have the pics up tonight.
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I guess you guys just had to play untill somthing broke. Looks like you had fun. Wish I could have fit this in to my scedule.
