August 19/2007 @ Norrish Creek
In Attendance:
Chris & Morgan - Ford Bronco (blue)
James & ? - Jeep Cherokee (green)
Ryan, Alex & ? - Toyota 4-Runner (silver)
Jaurey & Teressa - Toyota p/u (black)
Scott & Robb - Jeep CJ8 Scrambler (white)
I hadn't been wheeling in over a month, so I was anxious to get out somewhere. My regular wheeling gang were all busy with
other things, then James posted up on BC4x4 that he was looking for somebody to show him and a few others some of the
good trails up Norrish Creek. Of course I jumped at the opportunity.
We met up at the Pinetree A&W at 8:45am, did the usuall "wheelers chit-chatting" for a bit, then hit the road.
We fueled up in Mission, then continued on the the trailhead. After airing down, the first stop was BJ's Loop. Due to the rain,
I didn't play around there. We continued on to 6' Under, where a few hiked a short ways up the trail, while others couldn't get
over the nasty-ness of the entrance to the trail. Because of the rain and lack of lockers in a few of the trucks, we decided to
continue on and tackle Can-Opener.
Instead of the main road, I went up and followed the power lines (after taking a wrong turn). Everything was going just fine,
until Scott noticed his brake pedal was a little spongy, so he bled the brakes. It was then that he noticed a leak at the rear
junction going to the left brakes. I thought I had a cap for it, but I only had a larger one, so he decided to use it to cap off the
rear brakes at the master cylinder. Good to go!
We didn't make it very far when Scott again had a problem. Now the bolts that hold the front u-joint to the yoke (at the
transfercase) sheared off. After some talking, we convinced him to pull the shaftt and fix it; James had a spare u-joint,
straps and bolts. After about an hour, we were again good to go.
Once at Can-Opener, we walked the "Can-Opener" part and all decided to take the bypass. The bypass has been eroding
over the years, and there is a small tree on the other side, so the Bronco just squeaked by, I kept off the skinny pedal as
much as possible to try and not churn up the eroded area and make it even narrower. Further along, the rocks have grown
a bit since I was last on this trail, so we had fun climbing our way up.
Once at the top, we stopped for a quick snack and chit-chat session, but due to the rain and low cloud, we decided
to head back down the mountain. As much as a few wanted to go down Can-Opener, my plan was to take the main
road and check on a wash-out that had previously blocked the road. Some of the Land Cruiser guys said they had made
it through the week befrore, so I was confident that we could make it.
To my surprise, just before the wash-out, was another rocky wash-out. It left most of the road intact, but left a pretty
sweet little rocky area to drive through.
When we got to the next wash-out, I was amazed as to how much debrit there was. I had seen it from the other side
back in May, but seeing it from this side made me appreciate the power of mother nature just that much more.
Anyways, we made it through with no issues, and continued back to the trailhead.
After airing up, we chit-chatted for a bit, then went on our own ways. I must admit that it was fun to wheel with
some different rigs, and this was a good bunch to hang with. I was an excellent day!
For once, I didn't take any pictures, so what I have below are all from my "camera bitch" Morgan. Thanks Morgan!
Airing down.
The start of 6' Under.
Heading up to follow the power lines.
At the start of Can-Opener.
The top of Margret Creek Pass.
The first wash-out on the way back down the main road.
Jauery's pictures, posted on BC4x4