Sunday March 3, 1996 9:00am Estacada Oregon Attendees and rigs Guy Hammer(trip leader) '79 Red/White Ford Bronco George Reiswig '90 Black Isuzu Amigo Travis Brennan '84 Yellow/White Chevy Blazer Gordon Compton '77 Green Ford 250 Denny Zander '72 Lt Brown/Dk Brown Chevy Blazer By 9:30 we all had arrived at the store in Estacada. Denny rolled in last with his gas cap missing. He stuffed an old rag in the hole (a rolling Molotov cocktail). The weather was wet, but warm. We headed up the mountain northeast of town on Coupland Rd./Squaw Mtn. Rd. 3 miles out we were on snow/ice with spots of exposed road. Those that locked their front hubs back at the store were in and out of 4X while the others slid their way up in 2X. The road was packed snow/ice with very little traction. We stopped at the junction of 4614 & 4613 roads to discuss options and air down. Everyone choose their favorite air pressure with George going all the way down to ~15lbs. We found out later that George had the right idea, by the end of the day we were all aired down low. It made a big difference. We headed down the 4613 road to the wash out. On the way we stopped to take a shot at a small road with a lot of snow. George motored right up it, then Denny followed. Denny's Blazer would not go up the road. Travis and his Blazer, along with Gordon made it up and back. George took time out to perch his Isuzu on a mound of rocks and gravel. After crossing some snow drifts and fallen trees we came to the washout. It looked intimidating, but was not a problem. There was plenty of good road remaining. Just on the other side of the washout a thoughtless group had held a small party and deposited their trash over a 100 yard stretch of the road. We stopped and cleaned up after them. A short way down the road we came across a challenging looking road heading off to the left. George Led, followed by Denny, Gordon, Travis and Guy. The excursion yielded a mud hole with 2" ice (now chunks after George went through) and a leaning tree with a narrow place to get around. Each vehicle slowly maneuvered around the tree and close to the edge. Everyone did very well. The road ended with a windfall of trees. Turning around was similar to one of those puzzles with one blank square and lots of movable squares. One by one we drove past each other on the narrow road. At the bottom of the hill we came to a good place to have lunch. Before eating the group made some attempts at short but steep hill climbs from the lunch area up to the road. Denny took a stab, but with open diffs. was unable to get the Blazer up the hill. Travis took several runs and had most of his rig on the road, but could not pull his Blazer all the way up. George tried with his Isuzu and had similar results. George tried again with his diffs. locked up and launched himself up on the road with a little bit of air under all 4 wheels. Gordon powered his big Ford up on his first try. We figure his wheel base allowed his front end to get a good ways onto the road before his rear axle had to deal with the steep edge. Everyone broke out their lunches and refueled the body. The weather cooperated by not raining on us. Shortly after we started eating a couple wandered over to ask if we could help them get their Ford Tempo to the top of the hill. After Lunch, Guy towed the stranded front wheel drive car up the hill while we followed. At the top of the hill, we came to the intersection of the 4610 road and the Huxley lake trail. Directly in front of us were some tracks up the hill side that begged us to follow. George and Travis (the two with the lockers) drove up and around without much trouble. Denny just got his front wheels up the hill and was stuck. Backing down stuffed his bumper & hitch into the ground. Denny got out his tow strap and George offered to do the pulling. Before George could get the slack out of the strap, Denny backed onto the road. Gordon gave it a shot. The big Ford got hung up with its rear bumper hung on the edge of the road and his front wheel digging in. As Gordon rocked back and forth to free himself, audible clunk emanated from his front axle. We all pitched in and dug out his rear bumper so he could work his way back onto the road. When we started to continue on, we heard over the radio that Gordon could not get the Ford to turn right. The noise we had heard was his right front drive knuckle. It was so badly damaged that the front wheel could not turn to the right. Gordon was able to pound out the u-joint caps to get some slack and then use some of George's racing wire to tie up the axle. Gordon now only had rear wheel drive. Since his truck could still move on its own and it was too early to head back, we continued on. We headed down the Huxley Lake trail that took us past a burned out car and to a dead end. We decided to backtrack to just before where we ate lunch and head up the 4610 road. On the way, we ran into another car that started down the ice road and was not able to get out. Guy and George helped them back to the top of the hill and rejoined the group at the 4610 road. Shortly after the intersection we came upon a gravel pit with several interesting short trails heading off in all directions. Again the locker equipped vehicles were able to motor up all of the trails. Denny discovered his 35" BFGs were still able to make contact with the Blazer body. No damage to the tires, but his fender flares now fit a little looser. We played around in the pit for a while and then headed on. As we headed up 4610 road we started to gain in elevation. The snow was very heavy (wet) and was getting deeper as we continued. Gordon decided to park his 2wheel drive and ride with Denny. Guy scouted ahead and reported that there were only two set of tracks ahead. a pair going in and a pair coming out (with chains). Denny started up first with Travis behind. George followed and Guy brought up the rear. Denny kept it in 4wheel high and was able to go about 1/2 mile bouncing and sliding. Travis was able to keep up and George was right behind asking "let me try, let me try". With the snow about 2' deep Denny's Blazer started to labor. We had out distanced Guy's vehicle. With unbroken snow ahead, Denny pushed his Blazer for about another 200 yards before it just wouldn't go any farther. Denny backed down and to the side to let others have a shot. Travis went about another 50' and George was able drive by the two Blazers and disappear around the corner. George came back reporting that it got worse with deep snow drifts. We decided to head back. Guy reported on the radio that he was backing down. Denny and George were able to turn around. Travis made another attempt and became high centered on his frame and cross member. No amount of manual push could get him moving. George hooked up to Travis with a tow strap and gave a tug. Nothing happened. George gave a second tug with a little bit more run and Travis was back in action. We decided we would head home after stopping to get Gordon's Ford pointed in the right direction. Travis hooked up and pulled Gordon backwards on to the road. Well, that was the plan anyway. Gordon ended up in the ditch, up to his frame in snow. It looked like we had made thing worse. Denny hooked up in front to pull Gordon out of the ditch and onto the road. It was clear that it was going to take more than a gentle jerk. Denny took off with about 15' of slack while Gordon ducked down behind his dash board. Denny hoped his new bumper and hooks would hold up. Denny hit the end of the strap with a fair amount of steam. The big Ford lurched forward as the Blazer stretched the strap. It took about 4 good pulls and Gordon was back on the road. The 4" Keeper strap made for a soft but effective extraction. It was now around 4:00pm, so we headed for home. After stopping at the Texaco in Estacada to gas and air up the group broke up and headed out. We had a full day of 4 Wheeling in conditions that we don't get to drive in very often. We had the right mix of snow and mud, with a few interesting moments to remember. I think everyone felt it was another successful run. guyh@teleport.com http://www.teleport.com/~guyh Denny Zander [dennyz@ichips.intel.com]