Shotgun Creek

OBH 3rd Anniversary Run

Feb 7-8, 1998

Well after trying to follow Jim, Eric, Larry, and ?? and losing them our group of five ended up playing in an old quarry for a while. James (a Strawbery Hiller) overheated and bent a tie rod about 4 inches doing this.

After a while Rick/Kathy/SA and Greg/passenger took off while Jeff, james and myself went looking for trails to run.

Well we found a doozy! - More later but let me mention that I at one time removed my kids from the Jeep while James hooked up my winch as a saftey line.

After an 1.5hrs of that trail we headed down to the staging area and lo-behold all the BushHackers had left! Wimps. It was only 2:30 So we proceeded to try a few hill climbs there that had very knarly trails but the soil texture was fantastic!

About 4:30 Jeff and I headed home while James and a newly found friend Keith and passenger continued to wheel.

Can't wait to go tommorrow!!!!!

Continued

PreTrip 38b (Bill's Group as opposed to Jims Group)

Eric Bewley, Jeff Holland, James ?, and a Z71 and I can't recall the names of those guys - sorry anyhoo we met at the BP in Corvallis and cruised over to the Brownsville exit and We met up with Jim as scheduled on Saturday AM at Shotgun.

Onward to shot gun we aired down (but not me) when we got there, had a briefing from Jim and promptly watched the Z71 get gootenstuck in the big mud hole in the staging area. After watching them ruin two good two straps for lack of tow hooks and one of them land flat on his a** while hooking up I started to pull into position to winch them out by the reciever. However, Rick Lewin in his TLC got there first and did a fine job of winching them out.

By this time lots of folks were getting ansi and started dissapearing. I tried to follow Jim who was leading a group to check trails over the power line hill and realized I had left Jeff and Rick behind so I turned around to get them. James came back too saying he lost the group and so the 5 of us, (rick, james, bill, jeff, and Z71) went off on our own to find a trail or two.

The second turn to the left (a gravel road) then a right at the fork led us to an easy trail with a nice suprise ending. After cruising through a rather pretty but young forest there is sharp decline into the ditch of the paved road. That was a nice warm up and everyone made it through so off we go to find another trail.

We then drove up to the meadow, never finding anything interesting so we turn around and go the the quarry. The quarry had some fun things to do and everyone tried the mud, clay rocks, and hills but most of the time we watch crazy young James beat the hell out of his Winnebago.

Oops, did I say RV? Well as it turns out his Toyota pickup is a Winnebago conversion. It was pre-fourrunner and was probably a proto type for Toyota, or something.

James managed to...

overheat, lose power steering, lose brakes except for the right front, bend the tie rod 4 inches. Some peoples kids :-) :-) Well he had a blast doing it and kept on going the rest of the day.

After the quarry Rick and Kathy left and so did the Z71.

So Jeff led us to the next trail which was really the adventure for the day. At the end of road 15-25-2 there is a trail that is very easy except for two things. The first is about a quarter way in and it is a sharp left turn through a large hole on the right side and over a sizable stump, fallen tree, brush, log, gooey mud mess. Jeff made too efforts and got through, I made 3 and got through, James just blasted that sucker.

After a nice cruise up a clay slick hill and around more falls there is the next obstacle. An off camber on a narrow trail with a 100ft drop off the side. I pick my line and start out. I quickly realize that this is a bad idea because the front starts to slide off. I can't back up because the rear will slide off. Jeff and James come running up and unload the kids. James runs my tree saver and winch cable up the hill to a large tree. Then Jeff spots me and I turn hard right with winch cable taught and mostly thinking about how to navigate a crash. My wheels are spinning too much and the rear end slides off the trail. The winch is holding well and Jeff yells at me to stop power to the wheels. I do and after the Jeep pendulums slightly I get pulled back up on the trail. After a few more feet I am clear of danger and stop. Whew! Haaiii! Hoo-Boy!

That's when we realize we forgot to get the camera out. Damn! Now I know how those UFO sighters feel! I get the camera out and Jeff and James make the same thing look like cake. But that doesn't mean they felt good about it.

The rest of the trail was easy and we cruised back to the staging area. Everyone else had left but we met Keith in his Ranger and he showed a fun hill to climb in the staging area. It is a long climb with awesome articulation opportunity. Jeff works at for a while with no spotter. After really twisting things up, getting sideways and romping it he makes it up. Then James tries with Jeff spotting. He makes after a few tries and going up the right side. Next I try and follow James line. I have a lot of trouble and James hops on my bumper to get the front end down. That's the trick and I power up while James leaps to saftey. Next the Ranger tries but can't doit so he goes around. Next we played on the backside of the hill until Jeff and I had to go home (4:30) and James and Keith stayed on after we left.

Bill Lewey

Anyhow, here is who was with us:

Willy's Jeep driven by Dennis of Strawberry Hill Toyota Landcruiser FJ40 driven by Fred of Strawberry Hill Vega/Jeep "Veganator" driven by Dean of Strawberry Hill Jeep Cherokee driven by ??? (sorry!) of OBH Jeep TJ driven by Jenifer of OBH Toyota Landcruiser FJ40 driven by Rick (me) of Strawberry Hill & OBH

Arrived at the staging area to find all kinds of vehicles there! Wow, what a turn out. Well, as usual, some people were talking, others airing down, others still not there. We hadn't planned to make this our group, just turned out that way. A number of us (everyone in our group except Jenifer) went to take a trail to the top of the powerlines over on the left.

First went the Veganator. Plenty of pressure on the gas pedal and up he went out of sight. Next came the Cherokee. He was having some difficulty getting traction. Gave it several really good efforts, but just couldn't get it to connect so he pulled over on and let the next guy try. Next came Dennis in his "new" (new to him) Willy's. He gave it at least three tries, attempting all kinds of different lines. However, he too was not able to make it up this section. So over he pulled too. Next up was Fred. Fred just went right up, no problem. I came up next and I too went up without any problem (my first trip with my new ARB. How did I ever live without one before?).

Anyhow, when Fred and I got further up the trail, Dean (in the Veganator) was already turned around saying that the road ahead was blocked with windfalls. So the 3 of us turned around and went back down to join the WIlly's and Cherokee. We all went back out to the staging area and no one was there! We had no maps or idea where all those cars went. Jenifer was there and so she joined our group with her new, beautiful TJ Jeep. So the six of us went up to the gravel pit to play around there.

Went up there and played around in the mud and hill climbs. We still couldn't get the OBHs on the CB. After playing around a while, we decided to take a short trail run out of the quarry up to a small meadow. You have to turn around up there and come back down, so if you couldn't make it, no problem.

Wasn't really watching, but the Willy's, FJ40, and Veganator all went up. Next up to bat was Jenifer. Man, she gave it a hell of a try. I think if she could just have gotten a couple feet further she would have been there. She gave it 2 or 3 good tries but it just wasn't to be. My hats off to her though. I don't think I would try the stuff she did in a brand new vehicle! Anyhow, I went up next. At the top, we got out, had a cup of coffee, and raise the OBHs on the CB. They told us where they were at and so we headed down to go there.

Found the trail they were on and the six vehicles in our group soon caught up with them. When we arrived, the "killer" burb was killer stuck. We hung out for about 1/2 hour while techincal difficulties with the winch were fixed and out came the burb. We were still 4 cars back. The next person to try the obsticle blew a tire. After that, our group decided we didn't want to wait any longer and turned around (I really wanted to try going through that too. Oh well, next time).

On the way back, the Veganator amused us with his attempt to go up this short, but steep bank. He would go up part way and slip back down. But it was so steep that he would plant his tailpipes in the mud and fill them up. Unplugged them and he tried again with the same results. It was quite amusing. Fred with his FJ40 showed him how it was done.

We drove around looking for more trails, but never found anything and ended up back at the staging area. There are a number of fun trails right there. One is this short trial about 2/3 the way up to the top of the powerlines. Just cuts off the gravel road and comes out on top. Fred in his FJ40 tried this. Man, did he have to work for this one. Forwards 1 foot, back 11 inches. But persistence paid off and he made it. Veganator couldn't get much more than the rear wheels off the gravel road. I went right up 1/2 way and stopped. Took me 5-6 tries before I was going again and through. The Willy's tired all kinds of lines and just didn't quite make it.

By this time, almost everyone was back so we went down to the staging area to air up and talk about the day.

- Rick Lewin

Since there were far too many rigs there for any one poor soul to have to keep track of, we thought it'd be better for everyone to write bout what they did and what they thought about the trip.

I went down Sat evening and stayed over at the future in-laws. I arrived at the staging area about 8:40 to find Jen and friend in her new TJ and one of the Junction City Jeepers in his chrome-moly tubed, fiberglass bodied CJ. We talked for a bit while others rolled in over the next hour or so. Pretty soon there were probably 2 dozen or so rigs, but our fearless trip corrdinator, Jim W., still was missing.

There were lots of BushHackers, some Strawberry Hill 4 Wheelers, Junction City Jeepers, and a couple of Brush Busters (Mike M and myself). Periodically someone would head off onto a powerline trail to break the monotony. Just as we decided Bill Lewey and Ujahn should lead some groups (having been here the previous day), Jim rolled in in his camper with his CJ in tow. He passed out some map copies he'd made and then led the group over eastern powerline for some short, muddy, challenging hill climbs. Some tried, some didn't. Most who tried succeeded, but 'slick' was the word of the day. When lockers failed to help, RPM's usually did the trick.

Of those who slid there way up some of these hills, there was a nearly stock Sammy which did some amazing things, mostly due to the expertise of it's driver. Jim can tell you his name. Also, an early Bronco managed to get himself sideways in a small dip at the top of one of the hills. After some nice negotiations, he got imself pointed back downhill and could have easily gone back down. But, giving in to the howl to 'back it the rest of the way up', he tried and manged to start sliding sideways again. So, he was given a tug to the top.

The first casualty of the day was actually one of the Strawberry Hill gang's CJ which arrived on it's trailer with a flat tire (figure that one out). When he drove it off the trailer, the wheel tore up the sidewall. He used the spare and as far as I know was fine the rest of the day. The first trail casualty that I know of was Jim. He'd somehow lost a transfer case gear shaft cap (for lack of the proper term). This enable his transfer case to leak gear oil which he quickly decided was not a good thing. He brought it back to the staging area and trailered it for the day. Then he hopped in with Ujahn to lead the rest of us into the forest.

From here we broke into two groups. Some followed Bill Lewey and the rest Ujahn and Jim. I went with the latter party. We followed the main road up to some higher elevation and cut off onto a trail on the right. Not far up the trail, (?) in the fiberglass CJ had a problem with his electric fan. We all got out to help him fix it (I should note that he is disabled and carries his chair with him). While we were making the repair (wire short) it started to rain/snow mix. Pretty cool (literally). Further up the trail it got nice and rocky. I believe they called this trail U-Joint. Near the top was a nice outcropping which forced most of us to wheelstand as we popped over it. Before it was my turn, I watched the stock Sammy power his way up. Way cool! This guy can drive. Fibre-CJ popped a tire off his rim so we pulled it, wrapped a winch cable around it (cinch strap style) and popped it back on with Ujahns on-board air. Back on the move in a matter of minutes.

We made our way back to the road and headed for Bill's group. On the way down, we ran into a friend of some of the Junction City guys and watched as he and his wife played with a home built go-cart. this thig was nice. Very well built.

Finally we took the trail that the rest had taken. They were still there. Very muddy and rutted. They were sorking on getting people around a sharp, deeply rutted section. A few stock sized, unlocked rigs were having problems. With some encouragement for some and straps for others, everyone made it through. Further up the trail was a clearing where most decided to head back due to Bill's description of the trail from Saturday's pre-run. A few of us proceeded on.

Ujahn and Jim led the way, folowed by Roo-boy, me, Mike Millen and Jim's friend and wife in his Toyota (go cart in the bed). Pretty tame trail, some mud holes and one short rutted climb. then the nasty part. It was a short of-camber slope which caused your rig to lean quite far. And, if it were to go over, you'd roll a few times to the bottom of the gully. It wouldn't be pretty. Ujahn crept his way through while I hung off uphill side of the back of his truck, windjammer style to add weight to the high side. Next, Jason started through. He was (understandably) tentative. Finally he decided to hook his winch up for safety. Once done, he made it through ok. Mike and I decided to decline since we've both got stock spring springover's which make our center of gravity higher than most and the stock springs make for a very soft suspension. I decided that I needn't jeopardize my ride home today. Jim's friend moved and Mike and I backed up to turn around. The Toyota went through ok - he's low and wide.

Mike and I cought up with the other group just getting past the 'big-ugly' corner. Mike made the turn 'interesting' and after a brief winch on my part he was moving again with a slightly altered new soft top. I promised Mike I wouldn't say what happened, so you can prod him for details.

We all headed back to the staging area where we discussed the day's events and headed back home.

What a great place to wheel!

Matt O.

Well it rained a bit last night and this morning. Things were a little slicker. The clay had a nice quarter to half inch of slime on top. Just enough to cause trouble at the start but if you spun it out you could hit hard stuff and power through.

I caravaned with the Strawberry Hill folks from Corvallis and got there to see many truck from OBH and Junction City Jeepers.

I gabbed until Jim showed but buy then 3/4 of the folks were off playing around. There must have been 30 trucks there!

Well after talking to Jim and making general trailboss arrangements I tooled around the hill for a while, getting stuck, taking video and such then just before lunch led a group to the trail we took yesterday (15-25-2). I thought only 6 Jeeps were following me but it turned into my CJ, Erics Sammy, Toms Jimmy, Dougs Burb, Daves S10, Phils YJ, Jeffs CJ, ?ToyotaPU, Keiths Ranger, Steves Huge Chevy PU, then while we were stuck at the first obstacle (see pretrip 38b) The Strawberry Hill group showed up, waited turned around then Jims group showed up, waited, went through (see Trip 38B). After realizing the vehicles with us and the trouble had at the first obstacle I volunteered to let Jeff lead the group to the second obstacle and I would turn tail down hill with the folks who had enough fun. The killer burb got stuck as you heard and the S10 had to be pulled through and part way up the hill. The Toyota popped a bead and Tom rolled a tire off his Jimmy all the back only to find out the hub would fit through. At that point it was time to turn around. After letting Jims group through we were headed down hill and met the JCJs at the first obstacle. Their Purple Sammy had blown a bead. They turned around and Phil and I went through without a hitch. The S10 got pulled, and stuck. Doug pulled up in the burb and we ran a cable to a tree that was to the left of the S10 and then to the S10 receiver. Then Doug pulled the S10 over so it would line up with the hole. Then Phil yanked him through. By the time this was over Doug and I were covered head to toe in red clay.

We proceeded to the staging area without anymore problems, loaded up, talked and headed home. What a day! What a weekend!!!

Bill Lewey