Thanks Garry, there will probably be lots more coming.
~Bill
~Bill
May 20-22 2006 Trip Reports to Churn Creek
- Thread starter wussyPup
- Start date
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Bill? WussyPup? where are the fire spinning pictures?
The fire spinning pics are still in my film camera. I had two rolls developed but used a 36 exposure film and still am only at #28. I've been trying to finish it but so far no luck. I'll post them when they are done. Very good camera but old technology. Patience is a virtue they say, although nobody ever accused me of being virtuous.
~Bill
~Bill
this is one that mat sent me
Last edited:
wussyPup
just another ex-VI Cruiser
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
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wussyPup
just another ex-VI Cruiser
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Threads
- 142
- Messages
- 1,191
- Location
- Langford, British Columbia, Canada
- Website
- www.flickr.com
- Thread starter
- #26
The May long weekend trip to Churn Creek was my first event with Coastal Cruisers and for me, it will be one I won’t soon forget. I had a great time traveling through some awesome country with some wonderful people. I’m looking forward to more.
I hope that I’ve got my facts right and the order of events correct; hopefully someone will correct me if needed.
My adventure started with a scramble to catch the last ferry off the Island Friday night. Greg had graciously offered me a place to stay that night so that I could travel with him, Jan and Angelica the next morning. The awesome thing about Greg’s generous invitation was that it was extended to a stranger on the net; at the time, I don’t think he realized that we’d met briefly at Cruiser Days last summer. Although the couch was very comfy, I slept as well as a six year old on Christmas Eve.
Morning came, and fortified with some “interesting” tasting green protein shake and coffee, we headed out to the G&S shop to swap wheels and tyres on Greg’s BJ74. Continuing with the six year old kid analogy… I’d just walked into a candy store; there were parts and tools to fill many dreams. The wheels were swapped quickly and we had soon returned to Greg’s to meet Jan and Angelica in their Hilux Surf. After brief introductions, we were off for fuel and then onto the highway in light rain to Chilliwack. My cig lighter wasn’t working, and I wanted power for my GPS receiver, so we stopped for me to pickup a power outlet and wire at Canadian Tire. Jan found a comfy chair he couldn’t live without and after a half our, our 5 minute stop was done and we were on the road again. I hadn’t had much highway speed driving with my new tyres so was happy to find them running true as we made good time to Hope and up the Fraser Canyon and eventually out of the rain. The 13B-T in the BJ74 cruised nicely up the hills, while the more heavily loaded Surf with the 2L lost some momentum, and the 1HD-T in the HDJ18 just grinned (oh, maybe that was me). The 3 JDM diesels with RHD stopped for fuel in Clinton and collected a few stares from onlookers.
Greg led the way along the Meadow Lake Rd, through Canoe Creek and on towards the Gang Ranch suspension bridge. It was cool to see the terrain and vegetation change along the way. Jan and Angelica in particular needed several photo stops; I hope they will post some of their pictures here. After crossing the Fraser, we stopped at the Interpretive Sign describing the Churn Creek protected area and speculated where the rest of the group had set up camp. 2 minutes further down the road we saw the CC sign on a paper plate and made our way to the camp site. Our timing was excellent, because as we were parking vehicles and preparing to set up camp, the first group of Cruisers rolled into camp. After scouting the camp site, I spotted a perfect sandy spot above the river and briefly wondered why no one had claimed this gem. As I was parking nearby in preparation to setup my tent, one of the group (sorry, I can’t remember names) walked over. “Oh no”, I thought, “What taboo have I broken by picking this spot?” It turned out that the spot was already occupied by fire ants so I moved along and left the “prime” spot to them.
Camp was set up pretty quickly, but there were still Cruisers out on the trails and I wasn’t able to contain my desire to “get out there…” so Greg, Jan, Angelica and I agreed to head out for a little pre-dinner exploring in the Surf and HDJ81. Jan was pretty comfy in his new chair and enjoying a beverage so it was a pretty hard sell to get him going. We headed south and soon met Mike roaring up the main road; we chatted a bit and carried on to the Blackdome Road past Brown Lake. It was handy having Greg in the passenger seat (left hand side) to do the talking. A good distance after meeting Mike, we met the others in the group, and stopped to chat with them as well. We learned that we were miles away from Blackdome so decided to return to camp. Jan wasn’t impressed that we’d dragged him away from his comfy chair and bevy for little more than a tour de dust. We returned to a happy, busy camp, preparing their dinner. A fire was lit and people gathered around to share stories and trade lies. As the evening happily wore on, Dan entertained us with his twirling fire stick. Plans for the next day were discussed and it was decided that the group would split into two groups, one to explore locally and spend the next night at the same camp, and the other group to attempt to cross the Windy Ridge Trail. That night as I tried to fall asleep in my tent, the sane voice in one ear would whisper “Stay with group in camp and explore this beautiful area.”, while the reckless voice in the other ear would insist “You’ve got a Cruiser. Use it!” And so went another night of little sleep.
There’s something very special about waking to diffused sunlight flooding through your tent and listening to nature’s tiny bird voices greet the rising sun. Soon afterwards were the soft voices of others rising and preparing breakfast. The early morning light brings out the contrast in the canyon walls and shows the colours most intensely. I spent some time wandering quietly (I hope) through the camp taking a few pictures of the Cruisers still at rest, and managed to capture a bleary eyed Dan looking a little bit like “the morning after”. After a leisurely breakfast, those that were heading for the Windy Ridge Trail were packed, and the diesels were warming up, clouding the air like only diesels can; and that’s a good thing. This warm up ritual must have more to do with psychologically preparing the drivers than warming up the trucks, ‘cause I’m sure none of these vehicles normally get a 10 minute warm up any other time. After a final chat, we took our places in what would become our normal line up for the next two days: Mike in his white '96 HZJ75, Dan and Steve T. in Dan’s Dan's '81 BJ60, Mat in his blue '84 BJ60, me in my ’90 HDJ81, Greg in his '89 BJ74, and “tail gunner” Phil with his BJ60. The sweet sound and blue perfume of 6 diesel Cruisers carried us out of camp.
Mike quickly roared ahead and the rest of the line stretched out to avoid the dust as we made our way south along the Empire Valley Road. After passing Brown Lake, we turned east towards Black Dome Mountain and climbed out of the warm valley into the cooler trees higher up. Remembering Dan’s tale of airtime over the cattle guards, I made sure to take them at a more reasonable speed. Mike took us off the main road southwards on a road that gradually deteriorated in quality. A rutted descent boosted my heart rate as my inexperience allowed the Cruiser’s rear wheel to slide into the rut and knock me around for a bit. By the end of the day, a section like this wouldn’t be worthy of noting but at the time it was exciting. The switchbacks leading down to Porcupine Creek were so tight that even the short BJ74 had to backup and take them in 2 tries.
The trail paralleled the creek for a while before the ford, but the trail had been washed out and covered by a slide so we were forced to drop over the bank into the creek, and follow it to the ford where we could easily climb out. The creek wasn’t very large but there were several deep holes, large boulders, stumps and logs to work around. We spent a few minutes filling some of the deeper holes, placed spotters and took our turns snaking down the bank, around the obstacles and pop up the opposite bank. Although not required, I would have felt a lot more comfortable with sliders instead of running boards protecting my rockers. This was my first time in moving water and steering under spotters’ guidance; thanks guys for your patience and help.
We hadn’t traveled long when we were stopped again. This time there was a landslide covering the trail. We took turns over the next 20 minutes to clear the loose material on the surface and then dig a trench for the high side wheels to follow. Mike led the way and although the trench helped, his wheels jumped out and he slide dangerously over the edge towards the creek below. Fortunately a few logs parallel to the trail preventing him from completing his slide off the trail and flipping. Out came the shovels to widen and deepen the trench and the rest of us took our turns. The hood of an 80 series hides a lot of view; when approaching the slide the other side and protruding stump were out of sight, but not out of mind. I knew that this was one of those situations that once you start you need forward momentum to keep from sliding sideways and tumbling down the bank towards the creek; no stopping or hesitation allowed. The trench held, and the rest of us made it without major incident but someone (I can’t remember who) had a close encounter with the stump.
The trail narrowed and the pin stripping began in earnest as we made our way towards Yodel creek and lunch near an old cabin. The skies threatened rain, but all we got were a few drops which was a good thing, because rain ahead would turn “Mike’s” hill into an impassable greased slide. The trail became much wetter and Mat’s open 60 needed the odd tug. In hind site, I wish that I had experimented more to learn how much the 81 could handle without using the lockers, but Mike set a brisk pace and we had a lot of ground to cover to reach “Mike’s hill”. The hill is a long and steep dirt trail with exposed tree roots to slip on and slide sideways towards the edge. The side cut near the top of the hill had washed onto the trail making it impassable, so just where the trail gets steeper than comfortable, you have to make a quick turn over an exposed root, up onto a steeper bypass to the top. Mike and Dan climbed up with just a bit of tyre spinning, but Mat’s Cruiser lost traction trying to climb over the root onto the bypass. Steve T. and Dan dragged the hook up the steep hill and we got to see Mat’s new Costco winch it action. It pulled like a Champion and after a second placement, Mat was able to climb to the top. The roof rack on the 81 hooked into a tree branch near the summit, dragging it into Dan’s back, puncturing his shirt and drawing blood. Sorry Dan!
The trail through the trees at the top of the hill narrowed down to a cattle trail with trees cutoff about 6” above the ground. It would be perfect for a snowmobile traveling over a foot of packed snow, but for this fat 81 driver, it was pretty nerve wracking. The trees were so close that corners required backing up to get aligned. Sliders and a Hanna rear bumper with corner protection would have been very nice. Mat stopped a couple of times to spot me through the tight spots; as he’d count down the clearance on one side in ¼’s of an inch, Steve T. or Dan on the other side would just nod and say “less here”. This section of trail seemed to last forever and I was very glad to get out of there. We came into a small valley with a series of beaver dams flooding the trail; it was nice to be in the open again and I was thankful for the extended diff breathers.
Our trail construction chores weren’t complete yet. We encountered another creek with a slide covered approach. After a bit of scouting we decided on a bypass route over a deep, narrow creek channel. Out came the shovels and axe to ease the approach angles while Mike and his chainsaw provided some filler for the deep creek. Mike went first, driving his front bumper into the far side while his rear bumper scraped the near side. His front tyres lost traction on the slippery logs in the creek but after some jockeying forward and back, he was able to climb out. The bumpers loosened up the banks making it easier to dig them down for the next set of Cruisers. The banks took some revenge by twisting the rear tube bumper on Mike’s 75. The water pressure on the logs in the creek was very strong and after each crossing we had to realign the logs for the next Cruiser. Greg’s 74 managed to get hung up with a bumper on each bank.
The trail came out onto a wide, well maintained gravel road, and I was sad that we were done with the trails, but after 30 seconds we turned off and followed a track along the side of a bog. Dan with his huge tyres easily churned through leaving deep ruts for Mat to follow in. Even with a tug, Mat’s 60 didn’t have enough clearance and rather than break something we filled in the ruts with logs and sticks so that Dan could tug him out of the ruts. With Dan pulling, Mat drove one wheel between the ruts and the other through the bush on the side. All was going fine until wham, the front corner of Mat’s 60 ploughed into a hidden stump. Still under tow, the momentum lifted the opposite rear corner high into the air. Ouch! Mat’s 60 took damage on a couple panels and realigned the door so that it wouldn’t open or close smoothly. Around the corner from this bog, was another one. This time, as we were inspecting the line through it, Phil commented that it was tempting to just “boot it” straight through. Visions of Tapage’s mud pictures floated through my mind. I asked Greg and Phil, how much speed was required, and heard “lots, no crawling”. As I pointed the Cruiser into the pit, and punched the skinny pedal, I heard “Not that much!” Too late, tires spun, mud flew, I grinned and thought mud is cool! Weeks later and I still don’t have all that mud totally cleaned out; mud sucks!
A short ways up from the mud pit, Mat’s stuck in a boggy section of trail. As we’re checking out options we hear the call “Mike’s flipped!” We run up to see Mike’s 75 with one side buried to the axle in wet sand in a creek, and the other side high up on the bank; not flipped yet but dangerously close. A couple of us help support the side of the truck while plans are quickly discussed. First, a come-a-long is used from the side of the truck to steady it so that it won’t tip. Greg brought his 74 with winch into place and started to pull on the 75, but the winch just dragged the 74 towards the stuck truck. We strapped the rear of the 74 to a tree and the creek reluctantly released Mike’s Cruiser. Mat was still stuck in the bog, so I tried to back up to him for a tug, but I missed the line and ended up just as stuck as Mat. Ironically, he winched me out and then we were both able to drive on out. Past the creek, the trail climbed back into the trails and we were soon stopped by a tree across the trail. Mike and his magic saw made quick work of the tree but as we were preparing to leave there was the unmistakable sound of air leaving a tyre. A root had jumped up and ripped the valve stem from Greg’s right rear tyre. Phil provided a hi-lift and my off-road education continued. After changing the tyre we were on our way and were soon at our camp past Swartz Lake shortly after 8:00 PM.
We started setting up camp near one of the lakes in the Mud Lake chain. Phil and Dan took Mike’s truck to collect firewood. I should have gone with them for more “education” on how to pull a tree with a bumper. They came back with some wood and an additional bend in Mike’s mangled bumper. We ate our dinner and gathered around the fire pit which was a lot nicer after Mike built a fire. Dan wasn’t repeating his fire show, and I was pretty tired so it was an early night for me. I think it rained during the night, Phil reported that it snowed lightly for a while, and I slept like a baby.
The next morning, we packed up and were on the trail shortly after 10:00 AM. We were soon onto good gravel roads and before long we were at Tyaughton Lake. Mike led us up a series of trails up towards some old mines. These trails had the nastiest branches, scratching paint and attacking the top of Greg’s snorkel. Eventually we reached deep snow and we were forced to stop. We carried on by foot over the snow for a while and were treated to some great views of the surrounding peaks, and some up close peeks of the wild flowers blooming after just breaking through the snow. We descended the trails in reverse order, with Mike in the rear. We stopped at the bottom for lunch, and just as Mike arrived, his mangled bumper fell to the ground to our great amusement.
After lunch, we took good roads towards Carpenter Lake and Gold Bridge. A missed turn took us almost to Gun Lake before we returned to the Hurley River Road. Soon after reaching the Hurley it started to rain. With the dust knocked down, we were able to make good speed towards Pemberton Meadows. There were still several feet of snow along the side of the road at the higher elevations.
We re-fueled and aired-up at Pemberton before heading to Whistler for dinner. We enjoyed a drink and a good meal together, but I had to leave early so that I could catch the last ferry from Horseshoe Bay to the Island that night.
This scenic trip was a great introduction to some wonderful Coastal Cruisers members and their rides, and was quite the eye opener for me about what my Cruiser is capable of. Thanks all for your friendship, guidance, and assistance. I had a great time and look forward to more trips with the Club.
-Steve
I hope that I’ve got my facts right and the order of events correct; hopefully someone will correct me if needed.
My adventure started with a scramble to catch the last ferry off the Island Friday night. Greg had graciously offered me a place to stay that night so that I could travel with him, Jan and Angelica the next morning. The awesome thing about Greg’s generous invitation was that it was extended to a stranger on the net; at the time, I don’t think he realized that we’d met briefly at Cruiser Days last summer. Although the couch was very comfy, I slept as well as a six year old on Christmas Eve.
Morning came, and fortified with some “interesting” tasting green protein shake and coffee, we headed out to the G&S shop to swap wheels and tyres on Greg’s BJ74. Continuing with the six year old kid analogy… I’d just walked into a candy store; there were parts and tools to fill many dreams. The wheels were swapped quickly and we had soon returned to Greg’s to meet Jan and Angelica in their Hilux Surf. After brief introductions, we were off for fuel and then onto the highway in light rain to Chilliwack. My cig lighter wasn’t working, and I wanted power for my GPS receiver, so we stopped for me to pickup a power outlet and wire at Canadian Tire. Jan found a comfy chair he couldn’t live without and after a half our, our 5 minute stop was done and we were on the road again. I hadn’t had much highway speed driving with my new tyres so was happy to find them running true as we made good time to Hope and up the Fraser Canyon and eventually out of the rain. The 13B-T in the BJ74 cruised nicely up the hills, while the more heavily loaded Surf with the 2L lost some momentum, and the 1HD-T in the HDJ18 just grinned (oh, maybe that was me). The 3 JDM diesels with RHD stopped for fuel in Clinton and collected a few stares from onlookers.
Greg led the way along the Meadow Lake Rd, through Canoe Creek and on towards the Gang Ranch suspension bridge. It was cool to see the terrain and vegetation change along the way. Jan and Angelica in particular needed several photo stops; I hope they will post some of their pictures here. After crossing the Fraser, we stopped at the Interpretive Sign describing the Churn Creek protected area and speculated where the rest of the group had set up camp. 2 minutes further down the road we saw the CC sign on a paper plate and made our way to the camp site. Our timing was excellent, because as we were parking vehicles and preparing to set up camp, the first group of Cruisers rolled into camp. After scouting the camp site, I spotted a perfect sandy spot above the river and briefly wondered why no one had claimed this gem. As I was parking nearby in preparation to setup my tent, one of the group (sorry, I can’t remember names) walked over. “Oh no”, I thought, “What taboo have I broken by picking this spot?” It turned out that the spot was already occupied by fire ants so I moved along and left the “prime” spot to them.
Camp was set up pretty quickly, but there were still Cruisers out on the trails and I wasn’t able to contain my desire to “get out there…” so Greg, Jan, Angelica and I agreed to head out for a little pre-dinner exploring in the Surf and HDJ81. Jan was pretty comfy in his new chair and enjoying a beverage so it was a pretty hard sell to get him going. We headed south and soon met Mike roaring up the main road; we chatted a bit and carried on to the Blackdome Road past Brown Lake. It was handy having Greg in the passenger seat (left hand side) to do the talking. A good distance after meeting Mike, we met the others in the group, and stopped to chat with them as well. We learned that we were miles away from Blackdome so decided to return to camp. Jan wasn’t impressed that we’d dragged him away from his comfy chair and bevy for little more than a tour de dust. We returned to a happy, busy camp, preparing their dinner. A fire was lit and people gathered around to share stories and trade lies. As the evening happily wore on, Dan entertained us with his twirling fire stick. Plans for the next day were discussed and it was decided that the group would split into two groups, one to explore locally and spend the next night at the same camp, and the other group to attempt to cross the Windy Ridge Trail. That night as I tried to fall asleep in my tent, the sane voice in one ear would whisper “Stay with group in camp and explore this beautiful area.”, while the reckless voice in the other ear would insist “You’ve got a Cruiser. Use it!” And so went another night of little sleep.
There’s something very special about waking to diffused sunlight flooding through your tent and listening to nature’s tiny bird voices greet the rising sun. Soon afterwards were the soft voices of others rising and preparing breakfast. The early morning light brings out the contrast in the canyon walls and shows the colours most intensely. I spent some time wandering quietly (I hope) through the camp taking a few pictures of the Cruisers still at rest, and managed to capture a bleary eyed Dan looking a little bit like “the morning after”. After a leisurely breakfast, those that were heading for the Windy Ridge Trail were packed, and the diesels were warming up, clouding the air like only diesels can; and that’s a good thing. This warm up ritual must have more to do with psychologically preparing the drivers than warming up the trucks, ‘cause I’m sure none of these vehicles normally get a 10 minute warm up any other time. After a final chat, we took our places in what would become our normal line up for the next two days: Mike in his white '96 HZJ75, Dan and Steve T. in Dan’s Dan's '81 BJ60, Mat in his blue '84 BJ60, me in my ’90 HDJ81, Greg in his '89 BJ74, and “tail gunner” Phil with his BJ60. The sweet sound and blue perfume of 6 diesel Cruisers carried us out of camp.
Mike quickly roared ahead and the rest of the line stretched out to avoid the dust as we made our way south along the Empire Valley Road. After passing Brown Lake, we turned east towards Black Dome Mountain and climbed out of the warm valley into the cooler trees higher up. Remembering Dan’s tale of airtime over the cattle guards, I made sure to take them at a more reasonable speed. Mike took us off the main road southwards on a road that gradually deteriorated in quality. A rutted descent boosted my heart rate as my inexperience allowed the Cruiser’s rear wheel to slide into the rut and knock me around for a bit. By the end of the day, a section like this wouldn’t be worthy of noting but at the time it was exciting. The switchbacks leading down to Porcupine Creek were so tight that even the short BJ74 had to backup and take them in 2 tries.
The trail paralleled the creek for a while before the ford, but the trail had been washed out and covered by a slide so we were forced to drop over the bank into the creek, and follow it to the ford where we could easily climb out. The creek wasn’t very large but there were several deep holes, large boulders, stumps and logs to work around. We spent a few minutes filling some of the deeper holes, placed spotters and took our turns snaking down the bank, around the obstacles and pop up the opposite bank. Although not required, I would have felt a lot more comfortable with sliders instead of running boards protecting my rockers. This was my first time in moving water and steering under spotters’ guidance; thanks guys for your patience and help.
We hadn’t traveled long when we were stopped again. This time there was a landslide covering the trail. We took turns over the next 20 minutes to clear the loose material on the surface and then dig a trench for the high side wheels to follow. Mike led the way and although the trench helped, his wheels jumped out and he slide dangerously over the edge towards the creek below. Fortunately a few logs parallel to the trail preventing him from completing his slide off the trail and flipping. Out came the shovels to widen and deepen the trench and the rest of us took our turns. The hood of an 80 series hides a lot of view; when approaching the slide the other side and protruding stump were out of sight, but not out of mind. I knew that this was one of those situations that once you start you need forward momentum to keep from sliding sideways and tumbling down the bank towards the creek; no stopping or hesitation allowed. The trench held, and the rest of us made it without major incident but someone (I can’t remember who) had a close encounter with the stump.
The trail narrowed and the pin stripping began in earnest as we made our way towards Yodel creek and lunch near an old cabin. The skies threatened rain, but all we got were a few drops which was a good thing, because rain ahead would turn “Mike’s” hill into an impassable greased slide. The trail became much wetter and Mat’s open 60 needed the odd tug. In hind site, I wish that I had experimented more to learn how much the 81 could handle without using the lockers, but Mike set a brisk pace and we had a lot of ground to cover to reach “Mike’s hill”. The hill is a long and steep dirt trail with exposed tree roots to slip on and slide sideways towards the edge. The side cut near the top of the hill had washed onto the trail making it impassable, so just where the trail gets steeper than comfortable, you have to make a quick turn over an exposed root, up onto a steeper bypass to the top. Mike and Dan climbed up with just a bit of tyre spinning, but Mat’s Cruiser lost traction trying to climb over the root onto the bypass. Steve T. and Dan dragged the hook up the steep hill and we got to see Mat’s new Costco winch it action. It pulled like a Champion and after a second placement, Mat was able to climb to the top. The roof rack on the 81 hooked into a tree branch near the summit, dragging it into Dan’s back, puncturing his shirt and drawing blood. Sorry Dan!
The trail through the trees at the top of the hill narrowed down to a cattle trail with trees cutoff about 6” above the ground. It would be perfect for a snowmobile traveling over a foot of packed snow, but for this fat 81 driver, it was pretty nerve wracking. The trees were so close that corners required backing up to get aligned. Sliders and a Hanna rear bumper with corner protection would have been very nice. Mat stopped a couple of times to spot me through the tight spots; as he’d count down the clearance on one side in ¼’s of an inch, Steve T. or Dan on the other side would just nod and say “less here”. This section of trail seemed to last forever and I was very glad to get out of there. We came into a small valley with a series of beaver dams flooding the trail; it was nice to be in the open again and I was thankful for the extended diff breathers.
Our trail construction chores weren’t complete yet. We encountered another creek with a slide covered approach. After a bit of scouting we decided on a bypass route over a deep, narrow creek channel. Out came the shovels and axe to ease the approach angles while Mike and his chainsaw provided some filler for the deep creek. Mike went first, driving his front bumper into the far side while his rear bumper scraped the near side. His front tyres lost traction on the slippery logs in the creek but after some jockeying forward and back, he was able to climb out. The bumpers loosened up the banks making it easier to dig them down for the next set of Cruisers. The banks took some revenge by twisting the rear tube bumper on Mike’s 75. The water pressure on the logs in the creek was very strong and after each crossing we had to realign the logs for the next Cruiser. Greg’s 74 managed to get hung up with a bumper on each bank.
The trail came out onto a wide, well maintained gravel road, and I was sad that we were done with the trails, but after 30 seconds we turned off and followed a track along the side of a bog. Dan with his huge tyres easily churned through leaving deep ruts for Mat to follow in. Even with a tug, Mat’s 60 didn’t have enough clearance and rather than break something we filled in the ruts with logs and sticks so that Dan could tug him out of the ruts. With Dan pulling, Mat drove one wheel between the ruts and the other through the bush on the side. All was going fine until wham, the front corner of Mat’s 60 ploughed into a hidden stump. Still under tow, the momentum lifted the opposite rear corner high into the air. Ouch! Mat’s 60 took damage on a couple panels and realigned the door so that it wouldn’t open or close smoothly. Around the corner from this bog, was another one. This time, as we were inspecting the line through it, Phil commented that it was tempting to just “boot it” straight through. Visions of Tapage’s mud pictures floated through my mind. I asked Greg and Phil, how much speed was required, and heard “lots, no crawling”. As I pointed the Cruiser into the pit, and punched the skinny pedal, I heard “Not that much!” Too late, tires spun, mud flew, I grinned and thought mud is cool! Weeks later and I still don’t have all that mud totally cleaned out; mud sucks!
A short ways up from the mud pit, Mat’s stuck in a boggy section of trail. As we’re checking out options we hear the call “Mike’s flipped!” We run up to see Mike’s 75 with one side buried to the axle in wet sand in a creek, and the other side high up on the bank; not flipped yet but dangerously close. A couple of us help support the side of the truck while plans are quickly discussed. First, a come-a-long is used from the side of the truck to steady it so that it won’t tip. Greg brought his 74 with winch into place and started to pull on the 75, but the winch just dragged the 74 towards the stuck truck. We strapped the rear of the 74 to a tree and the creek reluctantly released Mike’s Cruiser. Mat was still stuck in the bog, so I tried to back up to him for a tug, but I missed the line and ended up just as stuck as Mat. Ironically, he winched me out and then we were both able to drive on out. Past the creek, the trail climbed back into the trails and we were soon stopped by a tree across the trail. Mike and his magic saw made quick work of the tree but as we were preparing to leave there was the unmistakable sound of air leaving a tyre. A root had jumped up and ripped the valve stem from Greg’s right rear tyre. Phil provided a hi-lift and my off-road education continued. After changing the tyre we were on our way and were soon at our camp past Swartz Lake shortly after 8:00 PM.
We started setting up camp near one of the lakes in the Mud Lake chain. Phil and Dan took Mike’s truck to collect firewood. I should have gone with them for more “education” on how to pull a tree with a bumper. They came back with some wood and an additional bend in Mike’s mangled bumper. We ate our dinner and gathered around the fire pit which was a lot nicer after Mike built a fire. Dan wasn’t repeating his fire show, and I was pretty tired so it was an early night for me. I think it rained during the night, Phil reported that it snowed lightly for a while, and I slept like a baby.
The next morning, we packed up and were on the trail shortly after 10:00 AM. We were soon onto good gravel roads and before long we were at Tyaughton Lake. Mike led us up a series of trails up towards some old mines. These trails had the nastiest branches, scratching paint and attacking the top of Greg’s snorkel. Eventually we reached deep snow and we were forced to stop. We carried on by foot over the snow for a while and were treated to some great views of the surrounding peaks, and some up close peeks of the wild flowers blooming after just breaking through the snow. We descended the trails in reverse order, with Mike in the rear. We stopped at the bottom for lunch, and just as Mike arrived, his mangled bumper fell to the ground to our great amusement.
After lunch, we took good roads towards Carpenter Lake and Gold Bridge. A missed turn took us almost to Gun Lake before we returned to the Hurley River Road. Soon after reaching the Hurley it started to rain. With the dust knocked down, we were able to make good speed towards Pemberton Meadows. There were still several feet of snow along the side of the road at the higher elevations.
We re-fueled and aired-up at Pemberton before heading to Whistler for dinner. We enjoyed a drink and a good meal together, but I had to leave early so that I could catch the last ferry from Horseshoe Bay to the Island that night.
This scenic trip was a great introduction to some wonderful Coastal Cruisers members and their rides, and was quite the eye opener for me about what my Cruiser is capable of. Thanks all for your friendship, guidance, and assistance. I had a great time and look forward to more trips with the Club.
-Steve
Mud_Guppie
EBI Cruisers
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2002
- Threads
- 135
- Messages
- 1,293
- Location
- Port Coquitlam, BC
- Website
- www.extremebends.com
wow, Nice write up
I was driving Dan's Cruiser when Mat got pulled into the stump, ooops
but Dan did destroy Mike's bumper!!!
I was driving Dan's Cruiser when Mat got pulled into the stump, ooops
but Dan did destroy Mike's bumper!!!
Wussypup:
Steve thanks for that great write up of the Churn Creek weekend. I hope it motivated others to make sure they get out for these fun runs. The run next weekend to Chataway Lakes should be hot and I expect we'll get some swimming in. You and tjflex take excellent pictures.
~Bill
Steve thanks for that great write up of the Churn Creek weekend. I hope it motivated others to make sure they get out for these fun runs. The run next weekend to Chataway Lakes should be hot and I expect we'll get some swimming in. You and tjflex take excellent pictures.
~Bill
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