Shayne's Big Adventure

It was day 2 of a little camping excursion on Liumchen Creek. We were going to need wood for the evening because these guys go big or go home. Only three 4x4's were present and since one was a stock F150 only the two modified trucks headed out. Dave S. (Swinger) in his heavily modified Cherokee and myself in the ol' Sam. I was sans doors and only running the bikini top. Robin jumped in the passenger seat and Tim hopped in back behind Robin. Dave H. (Licker) and Trina rode in the Cherokee with Swinger.

We continued South on the Liumchen Chilliwack FSR figuring we would hit a logged out area and cut up any dead stuff laying about and maybe try some mild 'wheeling if we saw any trails. Not 4 km out, a steep incline to the right caught Robin's eyes. "Let's try that." So we hollered to Swinger on the radio that we were going to try the trail but he didn't want to go first in case it dead-ended.

I locked in the hubs, put her in low range and headed up. This climb was FAR more steep than it looked but we were committed by the time I figured that out... I didn't want to try backing down. Backing down is very tricky with the front locked up. About 100 meters up the trail narrowed but a large rock protruded about 25 cm out of the ground on the left. As I was approaching it I knew it meant trouble. The trail was taxing traction to its limit at this point and any impedance would surely stop us. I moved right on the trail since the Sam is a lot narrower than most trucks so I could attempt passing it without being stopped. As we passed the rock with the left front tire traction was fading fast and ultimately I was spinning all 4 tires and sliding left. By the time I let off the go pedal and hit the brakes the right front tire had left the ground. Robin had time for an ominous "Oh, oh!" before all Hell broke loose.

I turned to Tim, who has never been off roading and is actually new to Canada from NZ, and hollered "HOLD ON!" Tim was already tucked in and assuming the crash position. We rolled left onto the driver's side into the bush on that side doing two complete 360's. The truck slowed and somehow turned around 180 degrees completing the subsequent 1 to 3 rolls on the right ending up on the 'roof' against a tree.

Robin adds:
At first I thought the rig was going to just lift the front wheel and then come back down but when I realized we were going right over I grabbed onto the holy-sh*t handle and ducked down. I remember doing one full roll and then back onto the wheels. Then we slid backwards with the brakes locked, somehow doing a 180 on the wheels so we were facing downhill, then rolling another 1 and a half times, ending upside down against the tree. The whole time I was so worried about Tim cause he was in the back with no protection at all.

Tim was bleeding very heavily from numerous cuts to his face and head. I had a pretty sore noggin where it contacted the targa bar and Robin got away pretty much unscathed. We immediately called for help from Swinger, Licker and Trina and started pulling Tim out through the driver's side. He was conscious and cognitive but bleeding pretty badly. I pulled out the first aid kit while Robin and Licker got him down the final 10 meters to the main FSR. Licker ripper off his shirt to try to stop the bleeding. Trina was pretty upset.

Robin adds:
When we stopped and were hanging upside down I asked everyone if they were ok. I couldn't see Tim but when I heard Shayne say "Tim's bleeding" that scared the hell out of me. Shayne turned the key off and climbed out while I undid my seatbelt and then helped Tim get his undone. By that time Dave was at the window and helped Tim get out. He was a bit dazed and was bleeding like crazy.

Tim's nose was looking pretty bad which we assumed meant it was broken and he was complaining of side pain so he was loaded in the Cherokee and rushed to camp where Trina and Licker took him to the Chilliwack Hospital in their MPV. Robin and I started surveying the damage and started an extraction plan while cleaning up the jetsam. It was very steep and recent logging meant the trees were rather small (under 25 cm around) so any plan was going to be dangerous.

Some guys on big dirt bikes showed up to survey the fun and one brave soul decided to try the climb to see where the trail went. Silence, a crash, and the rider came running down like a Banshee trying to keep his legs under him. He had lost it about 10 meters short of where we lost it making us the champions of sorts. Of course he didn't wind up in the hospital nursing head wounds :-( We helped him get his bike upright and they moved along.

Once Swinger had returned we decided that the winch/snatch block may not work so we tried pulling the truck over with the come-a-long first. I tied off the rear to a tree so that it couldn't run away once pulled off of the tree. We got it vertical on its side when the come-a-long failed. Using a Jack-All and some ingenuity (it wasn't equipped for this) we jury-rigged a puller and almost had it dented side up when we ran out of pull. Some careful manual manipulations had the ol' Samurai once again righted. I stood on the brakes (taking 5 minutes, one click at a time, to pull the activated seat belt out to wear) while Robin released the tie-off on the rear bumper. I rolled down to the road and we did a cursory physical and mechanical inspection. Not a pretty sight :-( She fired right up though and I pulled off of the FSR to let some trucks pass.

Robin adds:
I'm really surprised at how the stock rollbar and targa bar held up on Samurai. Other than the busted windshield and frame, the connector bar from the window to the targa, and a few dents on the passenger side the Samurai was in fairly decent shape considering what it went through.

We loaded up all the gear and broken parts and headed back to camp. I took-off immediately to get the poor truck home but couldn't get Tim's condition out of my head. Tim was being discharged from the hospital as I arrived. Only 3 stitches, a possible broken nose but no broken ribs and he's going to be OK! He is COVERED in blood and looks horrible with those puffy eyes though. My camping is officially over for this weekend and Tim was considering calling it a night as well. As the accident happened Swinger, Licker and Trina didn't have a visual so we have no official roll count. Things are pretty hairy as you tumble down a hill like a carnival ride. They heard the noise, Swinger thought I'd blown a driveshaft and thus the 'crashing' but Licker knew otherwise and came running. By the time they got to the trailhead we were stopped, inverted in the bush. Tim said the second roll into the brush is where he was injured by trees and possibly by a chainsaw we were packing.

Robin adds:
I've thought about what it must have been like for them to be witnesses to this rollover. For them it must have been pretty horrible to see us drive out of site up this trail only to hear the crashing/smashing sounds only seconds later. And to come running to see the Samurai upside down against a tree and not be able to see anyone moving. Even though I was in the rollover, I don't think I would have wanted to be them.

We were very lucky that there were no other or more serious injures but were equipped to handle this situation. The big lesson of the day is to strap EVERYTHING down. You'd be amazed at the stuff you can find on the trail after you do the 'rinse cycle'. Hopefully pictures will follow. Anyone have a Samurai body sitting around?

- Shayne

Robin adds:
We were lucky in more ways than we could even imagine. After- thoughts are always worse, with thinking of all the things that 'could' have happened. Consider the fact that we had a loose chainsaw on the seat and no top on the samurai. Now think what kind of damage that chainsaw would have done to us if we would have had the top on and it wouldn't have been able to fall out onto the ground during the first roll. Not cool at all. Also, on that side of the trail there were only 2 trees that could have stopped us from rolling the 100 feet further down to the road (and possibly down the other side) and we hit both of them. The first one we hit during the first roll, the second was the one that we came to rest against. I could go on about the things that 'could' have happened but they didn't and we were LUCKY.
 
It was a freak accident, it happened. The only thing that we could have done to avoid it was to not go up the trail. Shayne did everything he could to save it but there was nothing he could do.
 
From now on, everyone gets out of my vehicle before I try any obstacle that has even the slightest potential of danger. And, everything gets bolted/strapped/tied down before I leave the house.