Attendees
Name	Rig	Roll
Eric Deslauriers	88 K-5 Blazer	Driver, Report Writer
Guy Hammer	87 Samurai "Babe - The Blue Ox"	Driver, Trail Boss
Matt Bateman	78 CJ-5 "Popper"	Driver, Assistant Report Writer
Matt O'Brien	79 CJ-5	Driver
Trevor Limbocker	96 Hummer	Driver
Meghan Limbocker		Passenger
Jim Williams	80 CJ-5	Driver
Jason Henshaw	73 CJ-5	Driver
Doug Carman	89 "Killer" 'Burb	Driver

Please note that I write this with nary a clue of what pictures will end up being in here. I didn't have a camera & only took about three of the shots anyways.

After this writer woke late due to hitting the wrong gizmo on the alarm clock, he just squeaked into the Log Cabin Restaurant by 9:00. Doug showed up minutes later as everyone was getting ready to leave. Jason commented that his ride to the restaurant had also required remarkable quickness. I believe the mantra for the day was "no cops, no cops, no cops." :-)

Matt B., after meeting me for the first time, asked if this was my second trip. I said yes, all excited and flushed. That's when it hit. I was to be the trip reporter. I strung them out for most of the rest of the day, hemming and hawing, but relented at the end of the day.

It was raining, so the day was going to be interesting. The temperature was only in the high 40s-50s, however, so it was a nice day to go wheeling. We eased out of the parking lot and out to the trailhead. At the trailhead, it was a stoogefest as we almost missed the turnoff. The 'zuki went left, the Killer 'Burb went right, I chose the middle and Matt O' went down my left side with me. No danger beyond possibly sharing paint, but funny as all get-out. I know everyone could have stopped faster, but it was safer to just drive by the other people & turn around.

After that, things settled down. We hit the trail and climbed up into the trees.Guy's Sammy led followed by Jim's CJ-5, the Hummer, my Blazer, Jason's CJ-5, Matt O's Jeep, Matt B's Jeep and trailing the pack looking for stragglers was Doug's Burb. That thing looks mean. I love it! I was following the Hummer, so I got to see some real interesting action as the trees started to close in. Trevor's comment was along the lines of "Jeez, guys, what are you doing to me?!" I appreciated being behind the Hummer since, coming from Arizona, I didn't usually have to worry about the top half of my truck. I have a new perspective now!

The trail was fairly smooth with a little bit of muck in some corners. It had one hairpin in it that required the Hummer and my Blazer to do a 2-point turn. I'm assuming it was a 2 or 3-pointer for the Suburban as well, but I couldn't see the turn by the time he came around it.

One section was a lot of fun. The Hummer got caught in the ruts ahead and was pointed at a 45 degree angle while motoring on. Laughing, I did the same thing, only I fell into the deeper rut at the end and got stuck, even with the rear locker. I managed to back out (and listened to an automatic hub go grrrrr-bang!) and then power through it. I've never had to apply so much power to get through stuff as I did on this trip. I attribute most of this to my 32" BFG ATs. They're an awesome tire for everything but mud and worked exceedingly well for me in Arizona. But we were in mud - not deep, but deep enough to pack my tires with stuff that wouldn't unpack at full rev, and quite slick. I see a set of MTs coming my way in the near future!

We continued onward until the trail brought us back to pavement. After the downhill, my right front caliper had decided not to let go of the rotor, so it was smoking heavily. I have a lifetime warranty on the pads and 90,000+ miles on the rotor, so I decided not to worry about it. :-) The problem apparently cured itself, but I see new calipers in my future.

We got back onto the pavement and drove to the next trailhead. No stoogeness this time. We even stopped in a "slower vehicle pullout" to let some tourists by. And then promptly blocked the next set that came down the road as we worked our way back up to speed. I question these pullouts' value for big vehicles - until one of the big trucks scoots over and lets me by, that is! :-)

This trail was very roadlike in the beginning, but we soom came to a "Y" in the trail with a steep section going up to the right. Guy tried it in his BFG MT shod 'Zuki, but after three-wheeling ~3/4 of the way up, he worked out that caution/valor equation and backed down. Matt O', who's Jeep is locked fore and aft and wears BFG MTs, went up next and popped right up on three wheels. A few more go's at it and he too decided to return to terra-flat. Jim was not daunted and, hopping into his locked CJ-5 wearing some todious Swampers (what are those? 35x15.5?), and proceeded to rev her a couple of times. He popped her into gear and let out the clutch. Revving mightily, the Jeep drove away at a potent one mph. The crowd was quite impressed. Alas, even low gears, lots of muscle, and gnarly tires couldn't get him up the hill. He made it quite a bit further, but still not to the top. We all laughed when he came back down with his Swampers completely packed with mud.

We got back underway, taking the more accessible left branch

We kept climbing and came to a section where the trees were quite close together. At this point, Trevor was unfortunate enough to break the passenger mirror on his Hummer while trying to squeeze between two trees. It kinda flopped around and tried hard to look loose. I banged both mirrors on the trees at the same time & had to readjust my mirrors after going between the trees - part of watching out for the topside. After that, the trail widened - until it was the lefthander where the edge just kept going down, down, down. But it would have been a great view if it hadn't been foggy. Again, I was glad that Trevor was ahead of me. This time because the dirt didn't shift when he drove over it. It was narrow, but he had room to spare.

Just after the ledge, we came to a couple of berms and a large (very large!) log laying on the ground. Jim made us jealous when his Jeep just crawled right up the log. I believe that Matt O' also drove up it. If so, his picture will be here. While we were stopped, I noticed that, somewhere, I had dragged a tree across my shell. No harm, but I didn't remember it and that was bothersome. After that, I kept having visions of broken quarter-glass and hoping someone had brought a sheet of plastic so I could at least keep some of the water out should I screw up. Read on to see if I did!

We drove further up the trail and stopped near a power line for lunch. Trever had just had some expanded steel weled to his brushguard. Beyond being functional and looking good, it made a very handy table as you can see. Since it was raining, this was far better than putting my tailgate down. The Lunchable was mine - that's how late I was.

Just as we got done, the wind started to blow a bit and we all decided it was a good time to keep moving.

I kinda space out here, so someone fill this part in.

The next section started out looking quite a bit like the middle of FireBreak 5, but then the rock on the right and the mud bank on the left changed your mind. It looked worse than it was and everyone motored up it quite nicely.

You then go through a cool little section where you drive down into the road bisecting the trail and then back up the other side. Then the trail turned rocky. The Hummer and I took the left fork - the easier one - while everyone else drove up the harder section.

Jason went up where the 2 trails converged and flipped out a large rock in front of the Hummer. Even with 16" of ground clearance, this one was not going to fit under. Trevor and I tried to move it, but it was quite heavy and we couldn't lift it the 2 feet over the edge of the trail. What do you put in these rocks in Oregon, anyways? Next, Trevor tried to drive around the rock, but the banking on the trail was steeper than he could manage (especially after you factor in the up-angle of the trail). He managed to drive around the left side & flip it down the side of the Hummer scratching the body skid. Matt B. and I then pushed it the rest of the way down the Hummer, keeping it off of the body, but adding a long scratch down the body-skid. While Trevor drove up the rest of the trail, Matt and I pushed the rock off the trail. Good thing, too, because I was next and I was never going to make it over or around that rock without some serious body damage. Trevor got hung up at the top of the trail where his A-arm was contacting a rock. He couldn't scoot over much without backing down the whole thing, so we threw down a couple of small rocks and he just drove up it.

My turn came and I did quite well until I got to the rocked section. My right rear dropped into a hole and I couldn't go any further. I tried rocking. I tried backing up and powering over it, but my BFG ATs were just packed with mud and very slick. I gave up before I broke something (I tried real hard and even started smoking a tire on a rock) and hooked up to the Hummer and winched myself up. Now I remember why I bought that winch!

Jim, Matt and Matt just drove up it like it was a bumpy highway. Kinda humbling, really. Then Doug brought up his Suburban. He got stuck in the exact same place I had, even with 36" Swampers, 4.56s all around, a Detroit in the back and an Auburn unit in the front. He actually only had 3 wheels spinning, while the right front really looked like it wanted to. It would even start and then stop again. He backed up and moved over, then drove through the stuff that would have caused me some body damage. The rocks fumed and watch him go by, safely out of reach. He then took one of the hard ways up and got hung up on his rear diff. By backing up and turning to the right, he was able to clear the rock with his axle tube and pull right on up. Very impressive. I am heartened that I could do that with my Blazer if I too added all the hardware.
 
The next section was down some hill. We watched the Hummer go down and saw some air between the ground and a rear tire. It looked fairly safe, but like you could roll onto your side if you weren't careful. As I went over, someone admired the rear axle articulation on my Blazer. I decided to stay at the bottom of the rut rather than risk sliding down the side and crunching body parts. I always say that a gentle scuffing beats a beating. I'd already been sliding so much in the mud that I thought it prudent. I reached out the window at one point and pretended to hold my truck up. I was actually bracing myself since it leans quite a bit over that way. No sweat.

The Jeeps actually had more of a time with it since they have such a short wheelbase. Pictures do not do this section justice. In fact, the picture make you want to go "so what?" Bring your truck out - we'll talk after you try it. ;-) The Suburban also exhibited awesome rear articulation as it started down the hill and then drove down it no problemo.

I think Jim went up, but I was at the bottom of the hill at the time.

Matt O' turned around and came up the hill as you see here. He popped up really well in one section, but we missed the 2' of air under his tires. I need to bring my video camera & find someone who can take snapshots and AVIs for the web.

Matt B. came up next and did it great. I was the photographer for this, so blame me. There was one shot I wanted, but all I could see was headlights. That's my excuse & I'm sticking to it. Sorry Matt, hope they turned out OK.

By now, I'd decided that it didn't look so bad and I'd give it a go. I didn't make it very far, using my Arizona method of climbing hills. This involved a slow approach and then getting on it as you got more vertical. With the mud and lack of mud tires, this approach failed miserably. Trevor was yelling that his Hummer had made it further. I didn't make it very far, even after another failed attempt with more gas, where I started on the hill. Probably a good thing!

After the helicopter pad, the trail became whooped out and I almost started regretting that I'd brought my toolbox as I hammered down it. I was now trailing the pack with the Hummer directly ahead of me.

To be continued ...