Fool's Trip, 1997

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This photo of my Jeep looks a lot like the IRC's club sticker I'm just starting the descent from Eye in the Sky. As always, the photo doesn't convey how scary it was	Here I am on a sunny Sunday morning on the ferry heading back to Vancouver. Wil is next to me, hunched over the video camera, chuckling at the footage of this weekend's offroading. We should still be out on the trails but this year's April Fool's Trip on Vancouver Island was cut tragically short when my YJ suffered a groin injury while climbing up Pigpen's Revenge yesterday afternoon. This year's trip was planned as a smaller event which would pre-run the trails for the Island Rockcrawler's (IRC) Trail Run in May. Five of us from the mainland came over: Me and Jonathan Yim YJ w/rear locker & springover with 31" tires Jim Mijali and Roger YJ w/2.5" lift and 32" tires Wil Girindra Toyota shortbox pickup with f/r ARBs, 6" lift and 33" tires We met up on the 9am ferry on Friday. It was the start of the Easter long weekend and we were anxious to try the trails which had been made tougher over the winter. Rob also promised to show us some new trails they had recently opened for the May trail run. Once on the island, Rob met us and led us to the trail head where we were joined by some other IRC members. From the island were: Rob Bryce and his passengers, Glen and Jane Comanche w/rear locker, springover & 6" custom lift and 33" tires Brad Peden, his sister and a friend BJ70 w/rear locker and 33" tires Ian Archibald FJ40 w/rear locker, 2.5" lift and 32" tires We started at the Harbourview Road trailhead and made our way towards a new trailed named, Eye in the Sky. This was a typical island trail: narrow and winding with a loose surface. We passed by a small group of stock vehicles parked at the foot of a particularly difficult section. A couple of their buddies had made the section but everone else was having problems. They let us pass. A few of us required a couple of tries but we made it up under our own power. Near the summit of the trail, an event of unimaginable embarassment occurred. I had to winch myself past a seemingly simple section. It was a muddy, uphill right-hand corner. I was worried about running my front diff into a stump so I either couldn't take the best line or else took the best line but without enough momentum. Wil convinced me to winch rather than chew up the trail for everyone else. It made perfect sense but it's tough to follow that advice when your pride is on the line. Everyone else made it up with far fewer problems. While trying to reach the summit, the clear weather had been displaced by wet, grey clouds. My nipples balled themselves into fists (boy, I'll bet you didn't need to know that, did you?) as the temperature dropped and the first drops of rain fell. We followed the trail as it made its way to the side of the mountain and began its frightening descent along a series of wet, sloping sidehills. Any embarassment I felt about having to winch myself up the last hill was quickly displaced by an overwhelming sense of fear. My low gear was way too fast for the slope so I had to rely on my brakes. And each time I used my brakes, the Jeep would go into a slow, sickening sideways slide towards the downward edge of the muddy track. My brakes howled as I tried to keep the Jeep at a snail's pace, desperating hoping that I wasn't going to cause it to slide into a possibly fatal roll down the hill. With three guys hanging on the uphill side of my Jeep, I finally made it to a relatively level area. That was the first time I wished I didn't have that springover lift and it's 5.5" of added height. Rob Bryce came down next with fewer problems. After him was Jim Mijali who was just as terrified as I was. The rest of our group declined the descent and went back the way we came. I think it was a good decision on their part. This section had the possibility of physical danger, not just vehicle damage. On a dry day, I would rate that section a 6 on the IRC scale but when wet, it's an 8 due to the danger. Rob said they drove that section one time when it was icy. I think his brain is broken. Rob adds: Really, the spot isn't that bad! We've driven up this spot when it was muddy, without any grief! It's just these mainlanders... Based on the conditions we found at Eye in the Sky, we skipped our planned run through Mossy Hill because the mud would make it nearly impassable. Instead, we went for a short run around Crabapple Lake before heading down to Shields Lake where we setup camp for the evening. Later that night, Vern (IRC) came out with some Dutch girls from the university outdoor club (Sonna and Monan). Shortly after that, two other IRC members, Wayne and Rick, showed up with the heavenly gift of DRY firewood and an air compressor to get the fire burning strongly. Nothing says you care like bringing dry firewood on a wet night...I wonder if that would make a good Hallmark card? Or maybe a long distance commercial: Picture an elderly couple. The woman has tears in her eyes after hanging up the phone. The husband asks why she's crying. She replies, "That was our boy, Bobby." "Bobby? Is he alright?" asks the father, a concerned look on his face.. "Yes, he just called to see if we needed firewood." Fade into the logo of the long distance carrier. Hmm...maybe that wouldn't be such a great commercial after all. The fire and Rob's mickey of Weiser's rye whiskey kept the cold at bay. I slept like a log.
Jim jockeys his YJ through the V	The next morning, we hit the trails around 10am. The plan was to head to Leechtown and then Pigpen's Revenge. I've done the trail to Leechtown many times but it never fails to be interesting. Since Jonathan left his Jeep TJ at home, I decided to let him drive my YJ for a while. I figured that he'd enjoy the trail much more than I would, anyways. This also gave him an opportunity to evaluate the performance of a locker-equipped rear end. The first obstacle was the right turn through a V-shaped trench. This is quite easy for locked vehicles but always poses a challenge for the open diff guys. The proper line and a constant speed is important or else you end up getting crossed-up or you slide one side into the v-trench that you're supposed straddle. Jim, having an open-diff Jeep, had problems but he eventually found the correct line and made it through. Ian got through the first part easily but had problems immediately afterwards. I'm sure his manual steering contributed to his difficulty. He eventually got through after a series of manouevres designed to pull the back end of his FJ from the jaws of the trench.
Once again, Rob shows off the articulation of his Comanche on Tire Change Rock Meanwhile, Wil shows off the lack of articulation on his Toyota. That probably explains why he just bought a new set of springs	Next up was that photo opportunity of photo opportunities: Tire Change Rock. There are two lines through this exposed rock face at the top of a descent. The first cuts diagonally across the trail in order to keep the wheels as level as possible. The second cuts across a little less diagonally to get the wheels extremely crossed up for a fine photo. Needless to say, we chose the latter. The difference in suspension articulation due to my Jeep's recent springover conversion was startling. Previously, the photo op line would have resulted in my Jeep doing a "tripod" (teetering on three wheels). In fact, the hanging wheel was about one foot off the ground the last time I was here. This time, ALL four tires remained on the ground. Rob Bryce's Comanche did the same thing. His combination of rear springover and soft coil springs in the front provides a nicely compliant suspension. The other rigs did tripods but none surpassed the tripod executed in fine form by Wil and his Toyota. His truck's relatively firm suspension provided all sorts of amusement that weekend but clearly, his performance at Tire Change Rock was the acme of tripods.
Here I demonstrate the wrong line to take when climbing U-Joint Hill in the rain Rob hurried over to help me back out without causing additional damage to my running board Ian demonstrates the proper line through U-Joint Hill	Finally, we arrived at U-Joint Hill. A relatively easy section when dry, we knew the recent rain would make it a tricky climb if you didn't choose your path carefully. At Rob's suggestion, I decided to relieve Jonathan and drive my Jeep myself. I was first up. Getting up the first large rock step was easy. Then I decided to be a hotdog and take a line to the left which required straddling a wet, slippery trench in an uphill rock face. I started the line. Traction seemed ok, even when the Jeep tilted hard to the right and briefly lifted the front driver's side tire as it started to straddle the debris-filled gash in the rock. That's when the passenger side slipped into the trench. This event was signalled by a sickening crunch. I stopped the Jeep immediately. Rob quickly evaluated the situation and was able to spot me out backwards without causing any further damage. Once out, I tried it again but with more effort to keep the driver's tires as close as possible to the edge. Riding the brakes and feathering the gas to crawl as slowly as possible, I was able to clean the section. A quick damage check revealed minor damage to the passenger-side step. No big deal. Wishing to avoid similar damage (or worse), the others took the more sane line to the right. Once again, it was Jim's open diff YJ which had the most problems but once he found the right line, he scooted through easily. Although he had the toughest time getting through the various sections because of his open diffs, I think he did amazingly well given the quality of the trails. Others thought so, too. U-Joint Hill was the last hard section on this particular run and the rest of the route into Leechtown was uneventful except for the sleeper off-camber around a large rock obstacle at the bottom of the Chute. (A sleeper obstacle is one that looks easy but proves to be much worse than anticipated once you're in the middle of it.) We stopped for lunch by the river at Leechtown (a ghost town). While we were doing the usual snacking and BS'ing, we heard the revving of a motor. We looked up just in time to see a white Toyota pickup come charging through one of the feeder streams. The truck bounded into the deepest part of the stream and was immediately enveloped in a hissing cloud of steam and water spray. The motor tried to rev harder but we could hear it struggling against the water coming at it from all directions. It finally crawled onto the rocky beach and parked beside Wil's white Toyota pickup. We were all surprised that these dopes didn't stall in the river but we were even more surprised that these two dopes in the Toyota were women! To be more precise, they were biker chicks, as evidenced by their distressed leather jackets, Harley Davidson logos, and fake snake skin boots. The driver struck up a conversation with Wil and proudly revealed to him the cracks in both frame rails of her Toyota which w ere crudely patched with some plate steel. After some spirited discussion, the biker chicks disappeared the same way they had appeared, by crashing with break neck speed through the stream. You can laugh all you want but I think it was a divine act of fate. Those biker chick fourwheelers were supposed to drop into some biker guy fourwheelers' lives and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, the biker guys were probably hanging out 2Km upstream and the biker chicks made the wrong turn. I can only hope that they find each other. Gosh, life sure is funny, isn't it? At this point, Jim and Roger headed out to catch the next ferry back to the mainland. Brad and crew went home the night before and didn't come back. That left Jonathan and me in my YJ, Rob, Glen and Jane in the Comanche, Wil in his Toyota 4x4, and Ian in his FJ40. That's when we headed towards Pigpen's Revenge.
Ian ponders the best way out of this off-camber ditch on Pigpen's Revenge Lying under my Jeep, in cold water, trying to remove my driveshaft... ...meanwhile, Ian decided to help me out by helping himself to my bag of Cheetohs	The trailhead for Pigpen's Revenge (PR) was the typical tiny turn off from the main road. It immediately began climbing and twisting and doing the things typical of Vancouver Island trails. Rob put me in the lead since Jonathan was doing some videotaping plus he wanted a winch-equipped vehicle in front. He said it was very likely that we'd need to winch in one or two areas. I tend to believe Rob when he says stuff like that, and sure enough, the trail started getting ugly fast. The first hint of the true nature of PR came when the trail started a long, undulating climb up a narrow, rocky track. When the rocks got larger and water was running down the middle, I knew we were getting close to the juicy bits. The Jeep started to bounce as it slipped off the loose rocks and gained sudden purchase on others. I went from bank to bank as I tried to pick the best line to maintain momentum and avoid damage from the bigger rocks. Our progress was violently slow. All the while, I was mut tering to Jonathan that the IRC had found a hell of a great trail. My drivetrain interrupted my one-sided conversation by yelling, "BANG!" I retorted by shutting off the motor and saying, "...shit." My first guess (and hope) was that I had grenaded a u-joint. No such luck. The mainshaft (an MIT tailshaft eliminator product) had sheared just past the bearings. My driveshaft hung limply from the rear diff, looking entirely suitable for my suddenly impotent Jeep. I don't feel like discussing the ugly details of the extraction process but I will mention these points: I'm damn glad my 8274 winch had 150 ft of cable. It made it so much easier to winch my Jeep down the trail. I'm really getting tired of having to perform emergency work under my Jeep while lying in cold, running water. Ian somehow perceives that he provided invaluable assistance to me by chowing down on my Cheetohs while I was lying under my Jeep...in a stream of cold, running water. Oh well, at least Jonathan got it on videotape. ...lars
	PS: It is now Friday afternoon and I'm on a ferry again, headed back to the mainland after coming back to the island last night. It's another sunny day (spring has definitely arrived) and I'm in great spirits. Thanks to the Island Rockcrawlers, and Rob, Vern, Wayne and Nadine in particular, my Jeep is fully operational and stronger than before. While I was back on the mainland, Vern and Wayne removed my transfer case, cleaned it up and inspected it. Wayne determined that it needed a new shift fork and inserts and obtained the parts for me. Last night, they all helped to reassemble the case and install it in the Jeep. It was 3am when we finished the job (we started late). I also owe a big thanks to Wil and Jonathan who helped with transportation and parts acquisition on the mainland.