What:   Oregon BushHackers Trip #25 REPORT
Where:  Trask River Basin
Date:   Saturday, February 8th
Time:   8:30 am
CB:     28
Topos:	Turner Creek

Meeting Place:  The small convenience store at the corner of
Oregon Highway 47 and Pike Road in Yamhill.

Aside from Joe Lukas not showing due to a broken starter and Laura
opting to complete her pilot's license requirements, everyone who said
they were coming showed. Here's the list:

Rick "Shoeless Joe" Anderson - 77 Blazer - Trail Boss
Paul Szabo - Rick's passenger
Gil Meacham - 93 Jeep Wrangler (plus one dog)
Matt O'Brien - 79 Jeep CJ5
Kevin Beck - 79 Jeep CJ5
  Pete Castro - Kevin's passenger
Matt Bateman - 91 Jeep Cherokee
Mike "Cap'n Crunch" Ames - 71 Chevy PU
Brent Buntyn - 88 Suzuki Samauri
  Trevor Whitney - Brent's passenger
Guy "Pinball" Hammer - 87 Suzuki "Babe the Blu Zuke" Samauri
George "Wrong Way" Reiswig - 90 Isuzu Amigo
Doug "Tipsy" Carmen - 89 Chevy "Killer 'Burb" Suburban
  xxxxxx - Doug's passenger
  xxxxxx - Doug's other passenger
  (sorry, but I didn't get their names)
Bill Berendes - 80 International Scout (plus 2 dogs)

Quite a turnout!

After some hello's and comparing rigs, we headed down Pike Road toward
Menefee Park and Section 29 Road. Before we even got off the paved
road, Gil had to turn back due to locker problems. The rest of us
headed into the forest and stopped to air down once we reached Section
29 Road.

After a few minor mud holes, none more than 12"-18" in depth, and a
jaunt through some small pines to wipe off any mud the holes left, we
came upon our first "play area". The road turned left toward what will
be referred to as the "4-way intersection", but directly ahead loomed
a nice long (about 100') hill climb. It appeared to be about a 40
degree angle and consisted of a reddish/orange mud/clay mixture. It
was nicely rutted and due to the dampness of the forest, was nice and
slick.

Being first on the scene, our fearless leader decided to make a run at
it while we all jumped out to take pictures and videotape it. Rick's
first few attempts failed after getting about 1/3 of the way up. He
finally relented, giving way to George in his Amigo. As if to say
"nya-nya", George made it to the top on his first try, only to let us
know that there was a tree at the top blocking him from turning
around. George backed back down and Brent tried next in his Sami.
Again, not a problem. Brent crawled right up and managed to get turned
around before coming back down. Rick's attempts were looking worse
with each run. Since nobody else seemed interested, I decide to have a
go at it. I shifted into 4wheel-low (or so I thought) and headed up. I
didn't even get as far as Rick before I was spinning. I guess my Sears
Trailhandler tires just weren't up to anything this tough. Afterward,
I was told my front wheels weren't even spinning. I think it slipped
into neutral on me. Mike had a go in his Chevy PU and on his second
attempt made it up. Rick had had enough, and tried again, this time
fighting his way to the top. Finally, Guy and his Sami crawled right
up.

Everyone headed up the road to the 'intersection' and the Boss took us
to the right, toward higher elevation. A couple of downed trees about
6" in diameter lay across the trail in sort of a "V" shape with the
point of the "V" away from us so we were entering from the open side.
Mike had a bit of trouble at first. Instead of hopping the barkless
trunk, his tires kept sliding down it's slick surface. Finally he
changed his approach angle to cross it perpendicularly and went on,
with each of us following suit.

We came to a "Y" where we split into two groups. Rick led his group to
the left and Doug led the rest of us to the right. Rick's group
consisted of Mike, Matt Bateman and Kevin. Doug's group was Guy,
Brent, Bill, George and myself. I'm not sure where Rick took his gang,
so he'll have to fill us in on that part. We followed our trail toward
a hill Rick told us about, but it was too tight and too steep for any
of us to attempt. We continued on down a section of trail that was
really well rutted. This was a good thing, as just to the right was
some hairy drop-offs, so the ruts sort of ensured your vehicle would
stay on the trail. The trail ended abruptly due to a mudslide that
took out half of the road. There were also quite a few trees that
would have needed removing. We all managed to get turned around,
albeit a tight fit for the 'Burb. There was a large drop-off on one
side and steep walls on the other. It took each of us a few
back-and-forth movements getting our front tires dangerously close to
the edge and our rears dug into the dirt, to get redirected back up
the trail.

After following a few more trails, we came upon a small section that
had a mud hole on the left and a go-around through the trees on the
right. Doug took the 'Burb to the right, and I, being second decided
to try the mud. I got about halfway through and dropped into a nice
deep spot. It sure didn't look that deep from solid ground. It stopped
me cold, and before my engine died, I managed to throw it in reverse
and back my way out. I followed Doug, and watching my rearview, it
appeared that nobody else wanted to try it. George was too far back,
so I'm not sure if he did or not.

Coming upon another "Y" in the road, Doug decided to take the left
route and the rest of us followed George to the right. This was the
last we heared of Doug for a while. 

We came upon a logging camp and stopped to check the map. It was about
noon and Bill decided to back-track and head home. The rest of us
followed  what we believe to be Koennecke Road through the logging
camp and took a small side trail that just went up over a hill and
back to the same road. A bit further down the road we stopped to eat
lunch.

We contacted Rick and told him where we were, and after 10 minutes or
so, he and the others roared down the hill to join us. Before we could
finish eating, we got an SOS from Bill. While heading back out, he
managed to get himself stuck, so we all headed back up the road toward
the logging camp to find him. Doug also called in saying he was stuck
to, only in a different place. Doug had topos, so he was able to give
Rick directions to his location. Bill didn't, so rick told him to
listen for our engines, and radio to us when he heard us.

Rick and Mike were the first two in line as we mad our way back
through the logging area. Somehow, they managed to get through before
our new *friend*, "Dennis Walker of the Precision Logging Company"
pulled two large trees across the road with his loader. We all stopped
and approached him to see if he planned on moving them. "Nope. This is
private property and you bypassed a locked gate to get in here." Wrong
answer! After a few minutes of unsuccessful litigation, and a few
choice words from some of the gang, we turned around to find a way to
get around the logging area and go help Rick and Mike extricate Bill
and Doug. Traveling down Koennecke Road, we came upon the "locked
gate" to which our *friend* "Dennis Walker of the Precision Logging
Company" referred. It was indeed locked, but not for long. George
produced his "Acme Locked Gate Opener" and cut the lock right off.
This allowed us to take some gravel and paved roads back to the
entrance by Menefee Park.

Soap Box mode on...

Although we were peeved about our *friend*, "Dennis Walker of the
Precision Logging Company" blocking our path, we should have refrained
from using some of the words we said to him. He could have easily let
us pass, but his boss instructed him not to let anyone through and his
boss is the one who signs his paycheck. Yes, it would have made our
lives a bit easier this day, but it was his decision to make and he
made it. All the cussing and yelling in the world wouldn't have
changed anything. it only makes things worse for the next group of
4byers to cross his path. And, although none of us intentionally
deface or destroy public or private property, we were left with no
choice but to free ourselves of the bond of the "Precision Logging
Company" property by cutting that lock. We all agreed that this
wouldn't ever be done to gain access to land we shouldn't be on, only
to get off land we were told to get off.

Soap Box mode off...

We made our way back to the "4-way intersection" where we waited for
Rick and the others (Rick informed us he had gotten everyone unstuck
already). While we waited, Guy and George locked horns and had a low
gear/see who goes slowest race. I'm not sure who won, but they both
walked outside their trucks and steered through open windows.

Rick, Mike, Doug and Bill found their way to us. Bill continued his
departure and Mike left too. The rest of went on. Where we earlier had
gone 'right' at the intersection, this time we went 'straight'. We
followed the road up and around and down and through a few muddy ruts
and holes until we came upon a really interesting section of trail.
Let me see if I can do it justice with my description.

At the bottom of hill, there was what appeared to be a man-made berm,
built to divert a small stream, across the trail. The berm was about
4' tall and very steep on both sides. It was only about 4' wide as
well, sort of like a triangular shape if viewed from the end. It was
sort of pointed at the crest (at least before we got through with it).
On the side closest to us was a small mud puddle and the other side
had the stream. The stream actually entered the trail about 30' beyond
the berm and travelled down a deep rut in the trail and then turned
sharply downhill at the berm. Beyond the berm and the stream filled
rut was a not-to-steep hill that had various rutted paths up it. It
was about 25' wide at some points, but chock-full of beach ball sized
boulders. The right side looked fairly new and had less ruts. The left
side looked ugly. Near the top, it thinned out and contained a very
deep rut just before the trail became solid ground again.

Being first (again), Rick cleared the berm, mad his way past the
stream part and headed up the hill. Like the competitor he is, he
chose the left side and managed to get himself hung up in the
boulders. He bounced and slid around and slowly worked his way up the
hill. Before getting to the top, Guy and George followed suit. Guy got
high-centered in some deep ruts in the middle, so George got ahead of
him and yanked him up with a tow strap. Rick managed to move a bit
further up the hill, but got his right side into a rut and was chewing
up the dirt with his front differential. I should mention that Brent
crossed the berm and moved halfway up the hill on the right side and
parked while the rest of us left our rigs at the bottom and walked up
to help with Guy and Rick's rigs. After a bit of tugging with a tow
strap, George managed to help Rick out of the rut he was in and as his
rig jumped out of that rut it promptly dove into the deep rut at the
top of the hill. This is where the fun started.

Rick's two right side tires popped off the rims - hence the proposed
nickname "Shoeless Joe" (any comments??). It was decided to try to
winch him forward out of the hole onto firm ground, but after
strapping George's Amigo to a tree and cranking up the winch, a loud
*pop* was heard. Instead of pulling the Blazer out of the rut, it
snapped two welds on George's brush guard/winch mount. No more
winching for a while. Next we tried hooking tow straps to the rear of
the Blazer and letting Brent pull downhill with his Sami while the
rest of us pushed. This worked. The Blazer moved back far enough to
hi-lift it and replace the rear wheel with Rick's spare. Then it was
pulled back a bit more where it was again hi-lifted and George's
six-lug spare was installed. Thank goodness it fit. By this time it
was after 3:00 and it was time to head home. But wait, there's more.
Not only did Rick have trouble getting up the hill, he had trouble
getting back down. Rick just *had* to take the left side again and 
almost got hung up on some boulders. He couldn't get turned around, so
he had to back across the berm. By this time it had lost about 8" of
height, but it still required some shovel work to allow Rick's trailer
hitch to get over it without hangin him up. Then, once over the top,
more digging was done to keep it from digging in at the bottom of the
other side.

For what it's worth, while pulling Rick from the downhill side, I
crossed the berm with my CJ and pulled up behind Brent, just in case
they wanted to use my winch to help pull Rick. Turns out it wasn't
needed, so I turned around went back down.

Everyone headed back out and we stopped by Menefee Park to clean
windshields, air up (those that could), and take a few pictures. Then
we headed home, some of us after stopping at a gas station to air back
up.

For my second trip (first really since first one was just the Xmas
tree hunt), it was fantastic. I found out that I definetely need
better tires, but the CJ handled very well. I can also say that I've
gained new respect for those little Sami's. They can really go places.
I can't wait til trip #26.

Matt O'Brien