Mount Cheam Trip (1 Viewer)

[Deny]

Bill,
I feel your pain, You don't know how many trips me and Derek organized, and were the only ones to show up, but hell we did get a lot done with so few trucks, and managed to do a lot of exploring. Although there are quite a few guys wheeling up here in the Peace, some weekends also have a poor showing, and you just have to live with it. So much stuff to do and so little time to do it in, but wheeling is usually #1 in my books!
Cheers,
Deny

 

[Enigma]

ok Bill...wheres the trip report? It's 4:30 now..and you've been up since 6!

I'm sure I speak for everyone who went yesterday, that was a great little trip. I just wish I hadn't of forgotten my camera, So I'm expecting lots of pics soon to be posted.

 

[fitchik]

I would have loved to join you all as well, however, I had family emergency in Penticton and took off out of Abby asap....
IF by chance you decided to do trail runs on a saturday - I am in like a "bee to honey".... I would really like the opportunity to take my trusty HJ61 on a trail....

BTW: I cruized up to Penticton with no problems. Greg shimmed the turbo wastegate and it has been smooth sailing up the hills... no hesitation between the changing of gears (mine is an automatic transmission).... thanks GB once again!

drove 327 km and the tank is still half full....I put in 68 litres of diesel before leaving. With the diesel additive, I seem to be getting more mileage.

Hope we can all do a trail run on a Saturday soon someday... and keep up the good work Bill!

 

[Scalp]

MOUNT CHEAM TRIP – OCTOBER 2, 2005

Coastal Cruisers members attending: Gary Telford ’81 BJ60, Jeff Steiger 2004 Tacoma carrying an ATV, Bill Wilkinson ’88 BJ74.
Guests: Kirk & son in Jeep Cherokee, Jason and two sons in Jeep YJ, and Klaus Micheals with Bill.

We rendezvoused at the Vedder Road Husky station Sunday morning for the greasy spoon breakfast (not recommended) , ready for a great day of wheel’n. After a slow start we headed up through sunny Sardis to Vedder Crossing and up Chilliwack Lake Road past the hopeful early anglers flogging the streams. Then on past Slesse Park, and up the Chilliwack Bench FSR.
Ah, I love the smell of diesel early in the morning. We gained elevation on the Chipmunk Creek trail, and passed a few rough spots where one vehicle, no names mentioned, with bald tires and no locker, had to be pulled up. We reached Archibald Peak, elevation 1730 m., and had lunch looking south into the Cascades at Mt. McKGuire, Sleese Mountain, and Canadian Border Peak. There were lots of blueberries and bear droppings. Other wildlife noted included one hawk and two chipmunks. The air was fresh and chilly and a few snowflakes danced around our heads. The kids got pretty excited at the sight of snow. Jason fearlessly descended the daunting Widow Maker Hill and powered back up again, mud flying in all directions, much to the amazement of a group of trail bikers down below.

With rain starting to close in, we moved on and eventually smoked around to Cheam Peak at 2107 m. The views of Chilliwack, the Fraser River, and Harrison Lake were definitely worth the trip. We took a narrow overgrown trail down from the peak, where some kind souls had slashed the encroaching willow trees. At one point Jason got bogged into a stinky-muck mud ditch and bent his center tie rod and stretched one front shackle. We played on the gravel/sand hills a bit before heading home in heavy rain. Its getting dark early now and this probably was our last club run of the season. I’ll post some photos tomorrow on our site at www.coastalcruisers.ca which will also include a couple of last years run up there too.
~Bill

 

[Enigma]

I'll just add; Gary had his nephew, And it was 3 kids Jason had with him, I had one riding with me. He slept most of the day..including all the fun parts where I got stuck in the gravel pit .
After sitting there watching Gary, Jason and Kirk play in that one pit, I finally figured yah ok what the hell and took a shot at the one big hill. First attempt at chugging up didnt get me to far, so a little more of the dumb dumb pedal got me a good 3/4 of the way up, but then my locker decided to throw me sideways about 3' and I was stuck. Cliff behind me and couldnt move forward at all, So Gary gave me a lil tug up and over the top and I was free. Fun fun.

and waddya mean no names..c'mon...it was a the Cherokee that had to be yanked up the hill!
Actually, Kirk did pretty good. He's stil very much a noob at the 4x4'n stuff. He made it past the obstacle, but then lost momentum right after that. So Jason tugged him up farther otherewise he would have started spinning and fallen back into it.

And ya..some peoples did a heckuva lotta trail clearing on that one road.
Cant wait to see the pics!

 

[Scalp]

Jeff: I unfortunately ran out of film before you got stuck on the gravel pit hill. Hopefully, somebody has a pic of that.
Most of my new pics are now in www.coastalcruisers.ca in the Mt. Cheam folder.
Denny & Petra: Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate that.
~Bill

 

[Scalp]

Also, I got a super great shot of Jason's YJ all twisted up and stuck in that smelly icky mud ditch. I sent it in to Toyota Trails for their "Trails End" page. Jason, you may yet be famous! I'm not going to show that one now because they like it to be exclusive for TT.
~Bill

 

[Enigma]

Jeff: I unfortunately ran out of film before you got stuck on the gravel pit hill. Hopefully, somebody has a pic of that.
Most of my new pics are now in www.coastalcruisers.ca in the Mt. Cheam folder.
Denny & Petra: Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate that.
~Bill

eh? I see no such folder?

 

[fitchik]

eh? I see no such folder?

Saw loads of excellent photography.... woah - absolutely bea-u-t-i-ful photo's

Looking for the folder your speaking of.... can't find it??

 

[Scalp]

I just got an email from Garry B in Squamish and he is going to index his site www.coastalcruisers.ca tonight to show the Cheam folder. Try again later. ;p
~Bill

 

[Scalp]

OK, its on the site now. Some of the pics are from last year's Cheam run. Some are from this Sunday's run.
~Bill

 

[fitchik]

Thanks Bill the pics are nice. Fall is so incredibly colorful.

Cheers,
Petra

 

[Scalp]

Its especially colourful above the treeline on Mt. Cheam where the berry bushes and shrubs change to red and yellow hues at this time of year.
~Bill

 

[Scalp]

Here is that picture of Jason's YJ Jeep that got stuck in the stinky icky mud ditch Sunday at Mt. Cheam. Toyota Trails didn't want it because it was the "Jeep thing."
~Bill

 

[Enigma]

Here is that picture of Jason's YJ Jeep that got stuck in the stinky icky mud ditch Sunday at Mt. Cheam. Toyota Trails didn't want it because it was the "Jeep thing."
~Bill

ahh..well..I had envisioned the pic was of your Cruiser tugging it out of its predicament.

Something along the lines of 'One of the many things a Toyota does best, unstucking stuck Jeeps'

 

[Scalp]

I don't have one of me pulling out the Jeep, but here's one of Jeep pulling Jeep. The only thing we have to guess is: Who's pulling whom? Like, is the Cherokee pulling the YJ back, or is the YJ pulling the Cherokee? Either way: CRUISERS RULE!
~Bill

 

[Derek A]

Well, I just have to say, out of a club membership of 41, its rather pathetic that so few people are willing to come out. Its hardly worth organizing these trips if nobody wants to wheel. Maybe next year we should forget about club trips and just meet once a month and talk about Cruisers only.
~Bill

Now you know what the club is REALLY all about..

 

[Scalp]

Well, I would like to think that members really DO want to come wheel'n, but most of them are of the age where they have a lot of family responsibilities and demands on their time. They have lists of house repairs, car repairs, job requirements, parent's needs, other interests and hobbies, etc. that have to be fitted into their timetables. The younger guys, like yourself, generally have more time, like you have had for the last couple of years. You'll be getting married next year and next thing you know, you too will be in the same boat with no time like you had before. Its a natural progression I guess.
~Bill

 

[fitchik]

LMAO - AND the Jeep pulling the Jeep.... that's a knee slapper.
Ditto to Cruisers Rule... however, lets be nice to the Jeep People , they have feelings to . It is fun teasing them....

 

[Scalp]

There is another factor at work here that nobody really wants to talk about. That is the very high costs of buying, maintaining and fueling our Cruisers. People now are faced with steeply rising fuel costs, rising home heating costs, rising property assessments and taxes, higher food prices, and higher overall rises in inflation and the cost of living that makes the official CPI figures look like a cruel joke. Further, the wage deflation, wage cutbacks, and diminishing number of decent paying jobs are all dragging down our ability to deal with these expenses and the end result is that something has to give, and just maybe the luxury of running a Cruiser is one of them.
I don't want to go off on a big rant about this, but I expect many Cruisers will be parked this winter and what we have seen lately in poor turnouts may just be the ongoing trend in the future. I certainly hope not because I love cruising and hope to continue wheel'n as long as I can. Maybe the time has come for us to seriously consider BIODIESEL.
~Bill