Tillamook State Forest

Roger's Road & Archer's Firebreak

Mar 15, 1998

Attendees
Name	Rig	Roll
Group 1 - Archer's Firebreak
Jim Williams	80 Jeep CJ-5	Driver, Trail Boss
Tigan & Bailey		Passengers
Jason Henshaw	73 Jeep CJ-5	Driver, Report Writer
Clark Mason	81 Jeep CJ-8	Driver
Mike Millen	78 Jeep CJ-7	Driver
Matt Bateman	78 Jeep CJ-5	Driver
Group 2 - Roger's Road
Doug Carman	89 Burb	Driver, Trail Boss
Harry		Passenger
Richard		Passenger
Tom Vaeretti	70 GMC Jimmy	Driver, Report Writer
Greg		Passenger
Jennifer Baker	98 Jeep TJ	Driver
Chris		Passenger
Matt P.	71 Toyota Land Cruiser	Driver
Dan		Passenger

Group 1

Our adventure really began when we arrived at the base of Chainbreaker. It's a steep rutted trail that curves near the top and has a nice little rocky shelf near the top. Jim (as usual) crept right up with his low geared & locked-on-both-ends blue-beauty, making it look so easy. Nice precedent:) Matt eagerly followed in his ARB equipped purple machine. Mike was next up to bat with his... you guessed it, locked (cosmetically challenged due to a few rolls) maroon machine. However, he experienced a fuel flow problem with his new carb and stalled about halfway up. (This was the begining of fuel flow problems that plague a few of us.) He quickly adjusted the flow and was up easily on the second attempt. Clark was next. He powered his awesome CJ-8 a little over halfway up where he lost traction (understandable with open diffs) and came to a halt. No problem though, after a little expert jockying, he had traction and was on his way. I followed noticing a little lurhing on my carbs part through the steepest section.

Next we were on to Archers Firebreak, which we followed for the rest of the day. On one of the first really steep sections, Jim's fuel injection decided to quit. He came rolling down. Jim quickly went to work on the problem, while Tigan and Bailey (Jims adorable daughters) kept the rest of us entertained. He had the problem under control in no time and we were on the trail again. We wound our way through several steep and fun pucker factor sections without further incident. On one descent, we all marveled at how Jim's jeep suffered no damage as it hugged the wall in an off camber section. He could stick his hand out the window a few inches and be touching the bank. His windshield frame actually scraped a tree as it passed. The rest of us decided to bypass this section after spotting Jim through. (What a bunch of wimps we are!) We stopped for lunch at the top of a very knarly section known as the "Boulder Field". It was truly impressive, as hopefully the pictures and video will show.

Editor's note: At this point, Jim noticed that Matt's new shock mounts did not hold up to the abuse of the trails we had just completed. They were bent over and rubbing the tires. With a little help from a Hi-Lift, a piece of 4x4 lumber and a BFH, they were bent back into position and the shocks reattached to the original mounts. It's always good to have at least one field-repair. ;-)

After stuffing ourselves, it was time to descend the rather intimidating and awesome section. Jim led the way. He picked a great line and crept down without any major scraping. He then decided he would have to at least give an ascent of the awesome section an attempt or two... or three... a little more throttle... four...more determined after each try but to no avail. Matt headed down next (accompanied by a few nice auditory scraping sounds), he too made it look easy as butter. Matt valiantly gave the old college try at an ascent, but the Boulder Field was not to be conquered by machine on March 15th. "Sure you guy's don't wanna go first?" (to Clark & Mike) I found myself uttering as it was my turn next. With much admitted apprehension, I veeerrry slooowly made my way down. Mike followed without any trouble. Clark wasn't too sure that his longer wheelbase would make it without damage. However, with a little help from the masses, he was able to convince himself that he "really wanted a new rear bumper anyway, so if it tore off all the better right?" (You gotta love wheeling's effect on rationalization!) Funny thing is he made it without a scratch too. Sorry no new bumper Clark. :)

The next section worth mentioning gave a few of us a little more than simple pucker! It was a very steep, extremely rutted hill that put you very off camber near the top as you exited the ruts. Jim and Matt made it up with no problem. I however, wasn't so lucky. The off camber section near the top proved to be too much for my motorcraft carb. Roo-Boy was dead in the water, and despite numerous attempts, the jeep was not going to start. Having power steering and brakes, a manual trans. and no e-brake. I decided that backing down in this pecarious a situation would be a little more dangerous than I wanted. So out came the winch. We hooked it up to a tree, and my 10,000lb monster pulled me about 2ft and quit. Not Good! Jim tuned around and tried to winch me up, but it was too hard a pull. In the midst of one attempt I heard a big bang, and then my steering seemed to be binding. Really, not good! Then we figured out that it wasn't my winch that was having trouble, but my control cable. Thankfully, Jim had a spare cable with him. I was able to winch myself to saftey, get the truck running, and dicover that while the steering was messed up, the damage wasn't too critical for me to continue on. Furthermore, the fun had just begun.

It's truly amazing how video camera batteries seem to go dead at the most opportune moments. Mike was moving right along as he ascended the hill, then just when he reached the section where my truck died, up went the wheels and Jim Matt and I held our breaths as we thought we were going to bear witness to Mike's fourth roll! Only this time it would have been a ugly serious tumbler, not a little layover like last time. I caught a glimpse of Mike's face as the swampers left the ground and could tell he wasn't too enthused about doing number four either ;-) Miraculously, the tires settled back down to earth and he continued his ascent. (Don't worry Mike we won't tell them about the wet pant's ;-) Just kidding everyone, no wet pants. However, Mike did symbolically wiped his brow, as he passed us by. And if I recall correctly the first thing out of his mouth was something like "Holy *&%$"

But the fun doesn't stop there! Just when you think things can't get any better. Clark still had to get up the hill. He made a few attempts but with open diffs wasn't getting very far. He was doing this while the four of us were just gabbing away, reflecting on Mikes near disaster. As we talked, I noticed that Clark had abandoned the hill and had made a move for the bypass. Suddenly, our riveting discussion and ribbing session was permeated by a cry for "Help!" We ran down the bypass route only to find Clark now in a seriously off-camber and precarious situation. (What is it with bypasses being as difficult, if not more difficult than the actual route?) After some very careful, and seriously skilled manuvering and spotting, Clark was able to get back into a level position. (He almost lost his windshield in the process, #2 for the day.) Clark made a few attempts to get up under his own power, but eventually the hill won. Mike winched Clark up the rest of the way.

We ventured through a few more sections of trails without incident. At about 3:00, we decided to call it a day early. Who can blame us after all that excitement? Matt, Mike and I headed over to Jim's house to play on the RTI ramp he recently built. I had a strong feeling I would have the worst score and boy was I right. Oh well, it was alot of fun, and I even got an IPA (beer) just for trying. Can't argue with that;-)

See ya all on the trail,
Jason "Roo-Boy" Henshaw

Group 2

We aired down at the base of Jordan Creek Rd. It was here that the group assignments were decided. Jim would lead the better equipped Jeeps through Archer's Firebreak and Chainbreaker (not sure about the frequent use of the word 'break' around here) and Doug would take the others on some (hopefully) easier routes. This report is for this second group.

We started up Roger's Road. It was steep, curvy, rutted, narrow, slick... everything you could ever ask for in a trail. Ok, could'a used more rocks. It didn't take very long to find the TJ's one, and probably only, weakness; ground clearance. As the ruts got deeper, Jennifer began to need the towstrap more. The first deep spot, Doug backed down and yanked her through. The next time however, Chris and Greg got creative with some downed trees. With the ruts not so deep she was able to walk it right through the tough spot. They tossed the trees back out of the rut so the Jimmy could play a little.

Up ahead was a sharp corner/mudhole. The 'Burb made easy work of it until the very end of the turn. There was a hole on the right side, and the long wheelbase meant Doug had to back up and jocky it around some to keep from slipping in. Jennifer's challenge was to keep out of the deep ruts. She was able to take the turn on the far left and avoid the mud almost completely. She did get the right front down into that hole a couple times, but it always backed right out.

Around the corner was another steep rutted hill climb. Again, the 'Burb had no trouble, but the TJ's clearance bit it once again. After a hard charge, Jennifer made it a little over half way up when the ruts got the best of her. At first, they tried the hand winch. Chris had a massive come-a-long with a ton of cable which they hooked up to the TJ. They were able to winch the front end out of the ruts, but traction was still scarce, and Chris was getting a bit winded (who wouldnt?!) so we called on the 'Burb once again. This was the last time the TJ needed a towstrap. The Jimmy then made it up behind the others with it's trademark banging and bouncing!

At this point we got a radio call from Matt who was trying to hook up with us. Doug gave him directions to our location, and we continued to the end of the trail where it intersects Fox Creek Ridge Road. This is where we stopped for lunch, stood in the drizzle, and talked. Soon Matt and Dan showed up. Matt was having trouble with the 'Cruiser's ignition switch, and was late because he needed to hot-wire it.

Our next goal was to find Fire Fox, and see what it was like. No one in the group had been on this trail, or had any good info on it. We drove and drove gravel roads, and the only Fire Fox we found was a motorcycle trail. At one point in our search we, well, fell off the map. The road we were on dwindled down to a narrow trail. At one point, we needed to remove some broken limbs to get through. Lots of good this did, as the trail 'ended' just a hundred yards away. The road had washed out, but there was a very narrow pass left over. The TJ was likely the only vehicle suited to the task (narrow, short wheelbase, low center of gravity) but considering angle and distance to the bottom... During the turning around, the left-front u-joint on the 'Burb decided to let go. He was now 2-wheel only.

We cruised along gravel roads once again, Matt's spare tire swinging wildly on the corners, finding more dead ends, until we ran across a section of Archer's Firebreak. Doug attempted this first. He crossed the water bar, then began to lose momentum. It was decided that he'd winch 'er up. Going was slow, but good. Harry took the wheel while Doug ran the winch. They had those big rear swampers smoking pretty good a couple of times! Good luck finally ran out when the winch cable got bound up inside the big Renuel bumper. Pulling the cable by hand wasn't working, so Chris ran the come-a-long and we tried to 'winch' the winch! Eventually, after getting the 'Cruiser to cool down, Matt had gone around and come up the trail the opposite direction. We hooked the cable onto the 'Cruiser to see if he could pull the knots out, but it was a no-go. Chris ended up sitting under the 'Burb pulling knots out by hand. We got the cable all straightned out, and resumed the winching, when it just stopped. At that point, the 'Burb was where it could crawl the rest of the way up by itself. Later on, the problem with the winch was discovered. The battery had a complete melt-down!

Jennifer tried the hill next, and with the right amount of speed, and a good line, she got the TJ up without any trouble. Sure, it was bouncing off rocks the whole way, but nothing was damaged. The Jimmy was next. Greg had been sleeping through the whole winch fiasco, and almost woke up by the crest of the hill! Matt took the 'Cruiser down and back up again. Just before the top the engine stalled. It took some work getting it going again, but after a couple tries, and one wheel in the air, he made it to the top. Doug turned around and went back down while the others finished the trail. From here we took Ben Smith Road down to Hwy. 6 where we aired back up.

Somewhere in the course of the trip, the Jimmy's radiator sprung a leak and the rear u-joint began to make terrible noises. Doug had a grease gun so that problem was handled (we thought). There wasn't much we could do about the radiator, except hope that BP had some Stop Leak! It took awhile to air up, and the 'Cruiser and 'Burb finally headed for home. Jennifer's air compressor finally gave up, so once the Jimmy was aired up, we started on the TJ. Then, her and Chris followed Greg and I and the crippled Jimmy to BP. While it was filling up, we dumped the Stop Leak in, and it actually worked. I'd never used it before. I was telling Chris about the bad driveline vibration and he crawled underneath to check things out. The rear u-joint was just about to go. I got under there and pulled it out really quick, but not having a spare u-joint (I know, I know) we just tossed it in the back, locked the hubs, and took off. Chris offered me the driveline from his Blazer which was in Beaverton, but due to modifications, it wouldn't have fit. It was good of him to offer.

All in all, it was a very good day. The weather turned out to be very nice by mid-afternoon. We got to see some new trails, and some spectacular scenery. There were casualties, but everyone worked as a team to get through it.

Matt P's Adventures

I'm drivin down the highway as jolly as can be, eager for some 4x4 action that awaited me.(no this isn't poem). It's almost 9am and I was almost there. I had enough time to stop for gas, so I stopped at the BP station a mile from the Log cabin. got filled up and went to turn the key and nothin. Welp, that ignition switch didnt work... but oh lucky for me, there were a bunch of greaseballs with missing teeth and chew in there mouth (and some men) from another 4x4 club who had used the station as a meeting place who offered their help. But they couldn't help...they didn't seem to have a clue...all the advice I got was a "hmgh" and a spit of their chew.

Well, then they left, drivin through the grass and peelin out. And i was left there alone.

Editor's Note: This is a good example of why our sport has such a bad image in the public eye and why we must work hard to always tread lightly and set a good example.

I decided to disconnect the hot wires, and the dist. wire and touched them together and-- wah-lah! I was back on the road. But it was about 9:45, so i missed the group. I stopped at the market to get a OHV pass and saw some of the members who tried to help there and waved to them.

Since i didn't know exactly where the jordan creek area was, I took the Brown's camp entrance into TSF. Again I passed the club who tried to help who were in the quarry airing down, and I smiled and waved. Well, I didn't know where I was, and i didn't know where Browns camp was so we just started driving in hopes of finding someone to ask for directions. And after going around a few corners--.....oh so many bikers......swarming around the roads and trails. We saw a biker stopped so we stopped next to him for directions, but all we got was a "Hrmfferr groffbfnr mffermerferff" mixed with his loud bike.(he was wearing a helmet). We stopped at a couple other bikers and got the same response....

Next thing we knew, we were at a powerline road. It was just a dead end trail, but we saw some trucks at the end of it. So we went over to them to ask them. There, we saw a bronco trying a big ol hole of clay, which got stuck(we gota shot of it too) and some girls running aroung wildley with beer in their hands, and jumping into mud..we tried unsuccessfully to get directions probably cause they were too drunk, so we turned around and at the entrance to the trail, sit a ranger in his pick-up. We said "hey maybe he'll give us directions!". So we stopped and got out. Then the big, tall and bold ranger Bill stepped out, tipped his ranger hat, and smiled with twinkle in his teeth, and boldly walked over to us. We asked "Oh ranger, we are lost and we need to get to the Jordan creek area! Can you help us?". He smiled and his teeth twinkled again, "Why, I have a spare map in my truck!" he said boldy. So he went and got it and showed us the way! "Oh thank you ranger Bill!"

"Oh, don't thank me, just doin' my job!" he said boldy.

We figured he was waitin for those drunks to come back so he could bust them, but we didn't stay to find out. With our new map we found our way to Browns Camp where we saw oh so many more motorbikes. And their trailers. And their trucks. And their families. And their families' trucks. And their grandmas trucks. We got a little assistance for the quickest way out, and after playing a little "slalom" on the roads with the dirtbikes, we finally made our way out to the highway. We then drove down to where the groups were and called them on the radio where we finally met them at lunch time.

Note: some peoples' descriptions and dialogues exaggerated

Matt P.