December 15/2002 @ Chipmunk Creek
In Attendance:
Chris - Ford Bronco (blue)
Ed - Jeep YJ (black)
Doug - Jeep Comanche (red)
Dave - Jeep XJ (black)
Joe & daughter - Ford F350 (silver)
Phillip & 2 children - Jeep CJ-5 (black)
We recently had a week of rain, which at this time of the year means, "Snow in them there hills!" This was just going to be a day of exploring
some old trails and to see how much snow was in the mountains.
After airing down we climbed up to 4000' pretty quickly, which got us to the gravel pit. It is almost a ritual that we take a few minutes to play
around here, and there is one path up (or down) that really tests the pucker factor. After more than a few minutes in the pit, we continued on.
The snow got deep, fast. Before we new it we were in 6"-8" of wet slippery snow. We had to go around a sharp corner that was slick, so I
ventured on to check out the road. The snow just got deeper and slicker and the trail was getting narrower. We opted to turn around and head
up Spoon Creek to see how far we could get there. We stopped at the lookout for a spectacular view of the Lower Mainland as the cloud
seemed to clear just for us. I again ventured further up the trail to see if it was passable, and again the snow was deep and slick and the trail
got very narrow. We turned around and headed back to another trail that we all attempted one at a time. Again, the snow was to deep and
slick. Doug ended up sliding off the trail and it took him a while to get things back together.
From there we were heading back down the trail to try Thurston, when I had a mystery electrical problem that took me the whole drive
home to figure out. On the way down Phillip must have hit a cross ditch a bit too fast, as his fan blade contacted his new radiator, damaging
some of the fins and peeling back part of the tank from the core. Luckily we had lots of water and got him back to the trailhead.
From there Joe left as the rest of us aired up. Then Dave had to run, and Phillip got a head start as he would be stopping several times to
top up the radiator. Once back in Chilliwack we stopped at the Lordco where Phillip picked up a new radiator. Once he had thing under
control, the rest of us hit the highway.
All in all, another good day of wheeling!
Airing down at Foley FSR.
Joe decided to remove a bit more air.
Looking down from the top of the gravel pit.
Ed getting ready.
Ed gracefully slides down.
Doug getting into position.
Doug getting into position.
Doug sliding down.
Doug at the bottom.
Ed slides down again.
Dave goes for a slide.
Dave goes for a slide.
Doug goes again.
Joe was going to try it, but his truck was just
a bit to long to make the turn.
So he tried going up. He did pretty well considering
his long wheelbase and not having the front hubs locked.
Figuring out where to go next.
Blah, blah, blah.
Ed showing us his snow dance.
This is typical of the scenery you get to see
in the winter.
Luckily we caught a break in the weather and
the view was beautiful. This shot is looking
South West.
Looking North East.