Well, it was a great day for wheeling. Too bad more of the web wheelers couldn't get out. ;p
Met Garry at Rickys shortly after 10:30 in a bit of drizzle. We waited until about 10:50 for anyone else who might show. So we headed out to Husky to top off our tanks. On the way, I saw a couple other Cruisers, a beige LHD 60 and a blue RHD 61. Garry went back to Rickys to make sure it wasn't members coing out for the run while I finished fueling up. In the end there were no stragglers back at Rickies. So we headed out.
On Chilliwack Lake Road we had our first hold up from a mud slide which crews were trying to clean up. Just learned from the news that it is still moving so crews will be there 24/7 just trying to keep the road open. Next there was a detour around another slide. All that just confirmed that taking the bench road would not be a good idea. Got to the turn off up past the prison camp. Garry aired down and I locked in my auto hubs. A couple guys unloaded sleds. It was their first time in the area. I told them that it would be best if they stayed in the valley bottom and out of the open slopes. Later they past us on Foley and headed up the mountain to open slopes.
I decided that we would give a try to make it to Foley Lake rather than just going to Chipmunk. Garry being locked front and back, carrying a full set of chains, and a winch had something to do with that.
I set off in the lead. The snow to the Foley Lake Road junction was real sloppy - just giving us a taste of what we would find. Running the lead was tough. At the junction, I suggested to Garry that he could take the lead.
Even for him it with all four locked it was tough going with all 4 tires spinning. At one point Garry thought his lockers might not be working right so I took the lead again. It was pretty clear his lockers were working fine. Any slope and I had to make a run, go as far as I could and then back up and take another run. As soon as there was a spot for Garry to get in the lead I stopped and let him by. The little slope before the first bridge on Foley FSR was fun for both rigs. I managed to get off of Garry's trail (its not easy staying in the path cut by a SWB). So, I was back to the old technique of two feet forward and then 4 feet back. We made the turn off to the bridge which starts a new FSR off to the East. Right after it, we were contronted by a small slide across the road (about the 4 km marker).
Garry had a look and thought he would try it. By then a group of ATVers had arived to watch the show. He ended up digging a hole and then hanging his front axle up on a log from which he had to winch himself off. I am sure he could of made it on the second go without the winch; but it was pretty clear that with 31s, no lift and a LWB, there was no way I was going over it. We decided to get a fire going at the junction and have lunch. In the meantime, the ATVers went over the small slide and headed up the road. The ATVers were back soon. I imagined that they had gotten stopped at the bentonite sluff that stopped me last winter near the 5 km marker.
After a good lunch we walked up to the sluff to find the raod completely gone. We walked up on the slide to check it out. The road had been repaired last summer as we could see on the other side of the slide it was higher than it was last year. The whole bentonite base had given away. The first part of the slide was a mix of bentonite and trees and brush - great stuff for sucking up boots. The second part of the slide was almost all shale and trees. It'll take a fair bit of work to fix, as all the bentonite will have to be removed from the top of the slide down to the creek and then backfilled with rock. No one is going to be going to Foley Lake on anything motorized for a while.
Heading back out was a good workout on the arms trying to keep the rigs going strait and not into the river or the ditch. The snow last year was deeper but this dense slushy stuff was just plain nasty pulling you one way or the other.
By the time we got to the Chilliwack Lake Road it was dark. The guys on the sleds who had headed up the mountain had not yet returned. They didn't take my advice to stick to the valley floor. Hope they're okay.
Here's a vid of Garry leading and some pics we took. Sorry no pics of driving - was too busy turning the wheel one way or the other.
MOV00518.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Foley Lake FSR Jan 11, 2008 - a set on Flickr
Was a great day Garry. Thanks for coming out and also for cutting trail! Looking forward to the next run when I get a weekend free. Maybe spring break.
. 
was really looking forward to it too..ahh well. next time!
I had a look on Google Earth on Sat night and saw that it basically zig zagged right to the top of the mountain. No report of snowmobilers lost near Chilliwack, so I guess they got out okay. They didn't look prepared for an extended visit.
