Triangulation Peak Area

Diamond Mill

Apr 5, 1997

Attendees
Name	Rig	Roll
Guy Hammer	87 Suzuki Samurai	Driver, Report Writer
Doug Carman		Passenger
Kevin Beck	79 Jeep CJ-5	Driver
Randy ?		Passenger
Ujahn Davisson	81 Toyota Hi-boy PU	Driver

Deftly forgetting that it only takes about half an hour to get to the Log Cabin from Scappoose, yours truly arrived about 7:35. I sat down, ordered coffee and breakfast. Presently Doug shows up and does the same. Soon Kevin and Randy show up as does Gordon, who dropped by to give Kevin some money he owed, and to offer advice on some skidder trails to check out. Got up at 9:00am sharp, paid our bills, (Thanks for breakfast Doug!) and met John in the parking lot. We spent a bit of time checking out each others rigs, moving some of Doug's stuff to Babe, etc. Matt was supposed to be there by 8:30 and was given up for lost. I forgot about Daniel, (my deepest, humble apologies Daniel) so we headed out.

We hit the day-use area at Jones Creek camp about 20 minutes later, stopped to air down, engage hubs, remove doors, you name it. Took off up Cedar Creek road and took the first right turn. I had run this trail from the top last September, and knew it had a showstopper slide near the bottom, but thought I'd show it to Doug. We immediately found a small creek had cut across the trail, but that was no big deal. The washout about 50 feet later was. About 7/8ths of the trail was gone. We all got out and walked the washout and determined that we could drive down into the washout and up the other side, straddle a nasty rutted section up the hill, turn left out of the rut onto an off-camber section leading to a fairly level stretch. Walking back through the washout the bottom seemed hard. No one happened to notice the strip of bottomless goo running diagonally across the bottom of the washout.

I drove Babe into the washout without incident other than someone exclaimed "Whoa, I didn't see that mud - did you?" Babe's axles got crossed a bit, but the wheelbase was too short to get both ends in trouble. I rocked it back and forth a few times, and determined that I wasn't getting out of this hole by being nice to it, stuck it in second gear and resorted to the old momentum approach. Babe clambered up out of the washout and through the ruts to the level spot several hundred yards beyond. Piece o' cake, I thought ...

Kevin dives in next, and finds to his chagrin that the strip of mud is a CJ5 trap! He's found the bicycle - left rear and right front at full stuff, the other tires just spinning in the goo. We spent a lot of time stacking rocks, logs, etc. in the goo, (they just sunk out of sight!) trying to strap him back with John's Toyota, (left rear wanted to follow a gully that would have flipped the CJ). Spent a lot of more time messing about with John's chain, strap, and (better than average) come- along. That finally worked. John and Kevin were able to pull the rear of the CJ sideways back up onto the trail, and yank him out of the washout.

John took the Toyota through the washout and up the ruts like they weren't there! Gotta love those 35" meats and lockers!

John and I drove on up to the site of the slide and find that (good news) a bypass has been built, and (bad news) it's only about 4' wide! We turn around and drive back down to and through the washout without incident. Kevin takes an explore up the right fork of the road we came in on - dead end.

We then headed up Wolf Point road to check out the skidder trails. Turns out they've been planted and bermed. No wheeling likely there! Since we were in the neighborhood I took the group up to a potential camping spot I found last Summer. There was another creek cutting across the trail here. The near bank slopes gently into the stream, but the far bank is about 20" high and vertical. I ease Babe into the creek, but find myself stymied at the far bank as I just crash my shackles and brush guard mounts into it. I back off and Kevin goes next. He redeems himself by crawling right out of the creek. John crosses the creek and then it's my turn again. This time the bank is broken down enough that I can get bite with the front tires and I'm across. We drive to the camp site, a grassy clearing, and look around a bit. I finally spotted a motorcycle trail that was on the map, but I could never find before.

Noon was fast approaching, so I suggested we head up to Triangulation Point and break for lunch. We noticed a lot of thinning activity and skidder trails off of upper Cedar Creek road that weren't there last summer. These need to be checked out sometime. High up on Triangulation Point we started running into patches of snow in the shady places. Not deep enough to give anyone any trouble.

At the top, we run into a small crowd. A couple of quads had pulled around to the South side of the peak to have lunch, and as we arrived, a group of Hams were pulling their new F-150 extended cab PU around the South side. The driver of the F-150 then proceeded to _BACK_ the big Ford up to the top of the peak! I tried to drive Babe up the North side of the peak, but spun out in 6" of snow at a steep spot. John drove the Toyota up without issue.

Had an enjoyable lunch under a cloudless sky, enjoying the BushHacker's trademark wonderful view. There was a bit of cold wind out of the South, but not bad.

After lunch I asked the group if they wanted to go back down Cedar Butte road and explore skidder trails, or head down W Fork N Fork road and tackle a tank trap and maybe find the camera I lost up there last September. The vote was unanimous for the tank trap. Someone commented "No point in going back the way we came."

The tank trap in question consists of a ditch across the road followed by two large berms. I had expected them to be worn down some since we had crossed them last Sept. and I figured some hunters would have gone that way. But, no, they were exactly as we left them. Everyone bails out to look the situation over. I note the position of the rock I must avoid with my left shackle. I ease Babe up the obstacle in granny low, steering right down into the ditch, then left as I start up the first berm. A short, slow, rollercoaster-like bit later I'm over. Boy, that GRS-II low range sure made that a lot easier than last time! Kevin goes next, and other than killing his engine once or twice, and dragging his 20 gallon fuel tank on the approach and exit, makes it without issue. A quick inspection proves that the aftermarket fuel tank is made of stern stuff, and not damaged by a minor banging on the rocks.

John bring up the Toyota. This is what I've been wondering about. The Toyota's rear bumper hits me just North of my navel when I'm standing behind it on level ground, but it's a long way behind the axle. Will he make it? Will he hang up between the berms? Will we be able to strap him off if he does hang up? Are we trapped here forever?! John grades the berms with his twin tube bumper, but doesn't get hung up.

We messed around at the bottom of the trail for a while. I didn't find my camera, but did find a full 5 gallon can of kerosene! It's still there if someone has a use for it. Doug found the proposed trail that will run along the W fork N fork Wilson river. Turns out at one time there was a road there, not just a skidder trail, a rocked road! It's got a _lot_ of junk down across it but could be turned into a trail with some work.

I didn't see Kevin and John cross the berms. When I came across the second berm I forgot about (you guessed it) the Rock. Just like last time I planted my brush guard mount into it stopping all forward motion. But hey, at least I didn't tear the guard off this time! The stainless steel bolts did their job.

By this time we decided to head out. It had been, all in all, a good day wheeling. Kevin wants a lower crawl ratio, John wants a Marlin crawler t-case, (and maybe a wee bit less rear overhang :) and I want a real lift (so I can install my 32's) and lockers.