Subject: 4x4 Trip Report 23B - Long Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 01:01:33 -0500 From: GeoEng1@aol.com To: bushhacker-l@teleport.com Trip Report 23B Date: December 7, 1996 Meeting Location: Estacada Ranger Station Meeting Time: 9:00 a.m. Trip Vicinity: Promontory Park, North of Clackamas Highway (Hwy. 224), NFD Road 4610 Trip Report Prepared By: Pete Castro via notes taken by Kevin Beck Participants and equipment: 1) Gil Meacham, ‘95 Jeep YJ, 31 inch tires, rear positrack. 2) Mike Millen, Late 70’s Jeep CJ7, 32ish or so inch tires, lockers front and rear. 3) Doug Camen and 2 riders - Steve and Steve’s father, Chevy Suburban, 35 inch tires, open diffs. 4) Pete Castro and 1 rider - Kevin Beck, ‘86 Toyota PU, 35 inch tires, rear locker. The BushHackers met at the Estacada Ranger Station at 9:00 a.m. on December 7, 1996. Rick Anderson had set up the initial plan which was to get Christmas trees and do some wheeling and play in the snow. Unfortunately the Ranger Station was closed as it was a Saturday, so no Christmas tree cutting permits were to be had. A vote indicated that the group was split evenly into two groups of four rigs, in favor of pursuing Christmas tree cutting permits elsewhere and wheeling. I was a part of the group who came to do some wheeling. Being as this was my second trip with the BushHackers I was promptly nominated to write the trip report. I proceeded to convince Kevin to take notes as events unfolded. Doug was elected Trail Boss as he had the maps. Rick was nice enough to line out our group as to where the prime wheeling spots were in the locality, which turned out to be Promontory Park, NFD Road 4610. We proceeded to head southeast out of Estacada about 6 or 7 miles on Highway 224. We left the highway at NFD Road 4610. A couple miles off the black top we found a mud hole to the left (north) of NFD Road 4610. Mike ventured back in, missing the biggest hole to find that the trail soon turned into a single track. Soon the road split with NFD Road 4610 going to the left and NFD Road 4611 going to the right. The trail boss opted for the right. We continued onward to NFD Road 120, which is a right off of NFD Road 4611. This turned into a dead end shortly as a downed tree and a locked gate prevented progress. We turned around and headed eastward on NFD Road 4611 again. Soon we started to get into an accumulation of snow/slush that had been tracked previously that morning. We continued onward to NFD Road 130, which again is a right off NFD Road 4611. About a mile in Doug radioed that a downed tree blocked progress. As no one had brought a chain saw and the bow saw didn’t have too many fans we turned around and headed back out to NFD Road 4611. Coming off of NFD Road 130 it became clear that Mike intended to have some fun. The 401 mill (which incidentally, Mike calculates to be 6.57 liters, so your engine has about two and three-quarters times the displacement of my 4 banger) in his Jeep had things sideways as Mike stabbed it in 2WD. At this point there was an accumulation of about 2 to 4 inches of the slick white stuff on the road. We proceeded to head eastward on road 4611. Soon a radio call came asking who had it in 4WD. Myself and Doug admitted to having done so. Mike quite obviously didn’t and was having fun. It wasn’t long though and everyone had the tcase locked in. Soon after we reached another fork in the road with NFD Road 4612 to the left and NFD road 4611 to the right. Doug chose the left fork. At this point there was 4 to 6 inches of snow on the road. It was at about this point the Doug began breaking trail as no one had been on the road ahead of us since it had snowed last. It is was still raining as it did ALL day. A mile or so up NFD Road 4612 things started to get interesting. The Suburban was having a bit of trouble as the snow fall accumulation had increased to the 6 to 8 inch range. After a bit of tire spinning and digging Doug was free and pulled off to the side as Mike and his locked CJ7 took the lead. Just prior to this everyone aired down to about 15 psi (except Mike who doesn’t believe in it for his bias ply mudders which he runs at 18 to 20 psi). Mike took a run at the hill the Suburban hadn’t conquered and kept on going. Gil followed Mike up in his YJ while me and Kevin were airing down my Toy’s 35s. After a bit the all clear radio call was given and I headed up. The snow depth varied from up to 8 inches to as little as 3 inches where Kevin and I speculated that roadside clear cuts had allowed the (liquid?) sunshine to melt the snow. I was on my way up to Mike and Gil when a call from Doug came in saying he could use a hand. We were somewhat surprised as we thought Doug might have planned on sitting this little side trip out. As the group had previously agreed to go as far as we could without chaining up it was about time to turn around anyhow. Neither myself or Doug had yet procured chains for the 35 inch meats and Gil didn’t really look forward to having his chains modify his fender flares given the 31 inch tires and minimal lift. About 10 minutes later I met up with Mike and Gil who had left me with the chore of breaking trail in the 8 to 10 inches of snow to turn around. It took a bit of tire spinning and helpful pushing in the right direction but I got it turned around. Gil and Mike made it look easy as they followed me down. About a half hour after getting Doug’s request for assistance we arrived to see Doug halfway off the road, just after the hill where he initially had trouble. Doug told me it was 30 degrees and I said temperature? Doug replied tilt. Yup, tipsy had earned his nickname again. After a bit of wheel spinning (on Doug’s part) and winch smoke (on Mike’s part) and shoveling (on most everyone’s part) the Suburban was headed downhill on its own power. We headed back down to NFD Road 4611 and continued eastward to NFD Road 147. NFD Road 147 took off to the left and given the trouble the Suburban had been having, Gil took the lead and cut a clean track in the previously untracked 4 to 6 inches of snow. Soon after Mike headed up. Then the radio conversation got interesting with Mike and Gil saying we might want to come up and take a look at this. This turned out to be a black 1995 Camaro (as identified by Steve) minus the interior, the battery and a few windows plus a few aftermarket bullet holes and a burned piece of newspaper where the gas cap used to reside. Figuring it was a stolen rig we recorded the plate and VIN numbers as well as the GPS location with Gil’s hand held unit. As NFD Road 147 dead ended we headed back out the NFD Road 4611. Again heading eastward. At a fork in the road we stopped and had lunch (mainly in the rigs as it was still raining). At this point our location on the map became somewhat mysterious and only Gil’s GPS unit truly knew where we were for the remainder to the trip. After lunch we took the fork to the right. A bit down the road things started to get narrow and Mike had taken over breaking trail (and overhanging tree limbs - weighted down by the wet snow). Mike called back asking if the group wanted to proceed, and we did. Everyone was collecting their share of pin striping. Soon we came to an off camber section of two track, of course to the downhill side of the road. The Suburban was having quite a time of it and we decided it was time for a little strap assist from the rear. My Toy (being immediately behind the Suburban) was selected to pull the Suburban backwards back on to the trail. After being strapped on I suggested that we might add another strap so I could get a bit further off the off camber section. Mike pointed out the both rigs were insured, at which point I locked the passenger side door (downhill side) in the event things got sideways. After a little cooperation we got the Suburban restarted on this section on proceeded eastward. At this point there were getting to be quite a bit of overhanging brush on the road and a few slides that kept everyone pretty focused on driving. Mike called back a few times to break the radio silence and to make sure the rest of the group was still coming. After a bit we came up on a slide that crossed the entire trail, dropping a section of roadway about 4 feet. The CJ7 made it through without much trouble. The Suburban rocked, rattled and slide through it, the Toy kind of hopped over it with just a tad to much right foot input, the YJ crawled over in style with Gil’s expert driving. At this point the group considered turning around but decided to continue onward. Gil’s GPS put us near the Roaring River Campground on Hwy. 224. The maps didn’t serve to help clarify as to how we’d got to where we were. The group continued eastward still picking up pin striping, the snow was fading to about 1 or 2 inches and the trail started getting a little muddy. At one point we encountered a slush hole which was up to the YJ’s bumper (a least past the hubs without the wave action), as it appeared in my rearview mirror. Soon afterward things slowed up as Mike had found the end of the trial, where it turned into a one track hiking trail which we were pretty sure the Suburban couldn’t fit on, besides that we didn’t want to tear up the trail. Being as it was about 3:00 p.m. the group decided to call it a day and head on out. We were about 15 miles from the Highway as the 4x4 goes. On the way out things were fairly uneventful as everyone now knew the tough spots and the trail had been tracked by all four rigs. The slide which crossed the road was a snap for the YJ, while my Toy took three cuts at it, the Suburban cleared it on the first shot with Steve at the wheel, of course Mike’s CJ7 made it without a problem. About 3 or 4 miles from the Highway we ran across a Forest Service rig marked Law Enforcement. As we figured he might like to know about the Camaro we had found, we stopped to chat. The Ranger was aware the car was in the forest somewhere as someone had previous reported finding it and its plate number to the Forest Service, the only problem being that they hadn’t noted too accurately where it was so the Ranger had been looking in the wrong valley. The Ranger reported that the plates were clear (indicating it hadn’t been reported stolen). The odd things people do. While chatting with the Ranger he pointed out a blue YJ that was off the road, stuck in a lake of a mud hole, to the south of the road. I suspect that this was the mud hole Rick had told us about. The Ranger said that the young lady who owned this rig had 5 days to remove it. Evidently it had been operated unauthorized by a friend of hers, so it wasn’t reported stolen, but it certainly was stuck in running board deep water. Soon afterward we hit the highway, swapped phone numbers and headed home. It seemed that everyone had found what the were looking for. A good time with a bunch of fellow 4x4 enthusiast.