Day 2 - Morningside

Morningside is well-known among Vancouver Island fourwheelers. Almost every year Paul Cooper organizes the Morningside Tough Truck Challenge that pits competitors against some of the steepest, nasties hill climbs, drop-offs and sidehills that you can imagine. All of this takes place on Morningside Mtn which means you often have a long ways to rollover before coming to a stop. Morningside is on First Nations land so it is off-limits to the public aside from the Morningside event competitors or, as in this case, when it was open to RC participants for Saturday only. I jumped at the chance to help guide the trail with Wyatt Sabourin and Ron White. Because Morningside was near Sooke, we were in for another long drive before being able to lock in our hubs. This time we drove on pavement through some interesting side roads including a crazy single-lane path that darted left and right beside a fenced-off reservoir.

The entrance to Morningside was through Byron and Mary's property which they graciously allowed us to pass through. I've talked with Byron and Mary several times in my past visits to Morningside and as always, they were very friendly and helpful. We quickly aired down and then hit the trails. Unlike the other RC trails, Morningside isn't a single trail. It is basically a network of trails and obstacles that take you up and down the mountain. We immediately split into three groups and began our day of play. I was at the back of the pack and by the time I caught up, we were half-way up the mountain and everyone was watching Mike Petterson attempting a climb up an intimidating rock perched above a very long hill. Mike was the first in our group to attempt it and as he climbed, his short wheelbase CJ5 got very light in the front, making it a very scary prospect. He eventually backed down to let someone else try. Next up was Pat Stewart in his 4-cyl YJ. Pat tried a line similar to Mike's but couldn't quite make it. Then, one of the locals who had ridden up on his ATV to watch us, gave some excellent suggestions regarding which line to use and Pat crawled up easily. Jon Bruce tried next and he took a more direct approach which seemed like it would be even harder but, in fact, turned out to be easier. That became the line that the rest of us chose. All of us who tried this obstacle were locked front and back with low first gear ratios. It was therefore surprising to me that Dale Tiessen decided to give it a try in his Ford Explorer. Dale's truck has a solid front axle, good ground clearance and large tires but no lockers...just a limited slip in the back. I didn't think he would make it and got kind of worried when his front tires started slipping even before he got to the worst part. It would be a very costly accident if he rolled here. But once again the local guy on the ATV acted as a spotter and Dale was able to make it up with surprisingly little effort.

Following in Pat and Jon's footsteps.

Dale made it up without a front or rear locker.

The next big obstacle we encountered was the main hillclimb about half way up Morningside. It's about 100 yards in length. Half way up, it is bisected by a large step formed by a huge stump root and some rocks. Any speed you might have to get you up the hill is immediately lost upon hitting that step. Pat Stewart made the first attempt and succeeded before I even had a chance to watch. He would be the only one to make it up. The rest of us would give it our best but end up winching. Dan Brama made a very entertaining attempt in his Cherokee but after caving in his door on the stump, he admitted defeat as well. Mike Petterson blew a bead but thanks to his PowerTank, it was a simple matter to reseat it without even removing the wheel from the vehicle.

While we were taking our turns on the hillclimb, other trucks arrived as each of them completed other obstacles further down the mountain. Morningside was a great 4x4 playground with new challenges around every corner and atop every hill.

Thanks to his PowerTank, Mike's tire problem was quick and easy to fix.

Dan dented his driver's side door when his Cherokee went sideways at the big step half way up the main hillclimb.

"Rollover Richard" lives up to his nickname.

After the hillclimb there were a few other interesting sections and then we found ourselves at the very top where we stopped for lunch. The sun was out, we had food, and things were good. Other trucks found their way to the top and joined us. And just like in the past, the locals also walked up for the day to watch the fun. There was a nearby gulley loop that we played in that included a downhill section that required you to make a 90 deg left turn to climb out. I don't know why but I felt very scared making that turn, the Jeep seemed to lean a lot! Mike Petterson who was right in front of me, and John in the Unimog behind me didn't think anything of it and had no problems at all. Weird. Maybe I just picked a really dumb line. Or maybe I was remembering how Al Berikoff rolled his Zuk in that same spot two years ago. Despite my worries, I eventually did complete the turn and began crawling up the steep series of steps that would bring me back to the top of the mountain. Each step gave you the opportunity to rollover several times before hitting a tree so I was very careful with my ascent and paid lots of attention to my spotter.

Basking in the sun atop Morningside Mtn.

John from Washington owned this very cool Mercedes Unimog, equipped with beadlock rims and King Koil coil-over shocks.

Paul Cooper, hill climber extraordinaire, tries his luck on this section near the summit.

After lunch, Wyatt surveyed the entire group to see which trails we wanted to take to get back down the mountain. He offered the choice of going down Hell's Gate which is infamous among past Morningside participants due to its severe angle and the hard left at the bottom; or going back down the same way we had come up. Only 3 or 4 chose Hell's Gate and I certainly wasn't in that group! Even though I have 4:1 transfer case gears, super steep downhills are scary with an automatic transmission. Ron Low, another IRC member, was surprised at how few wanted to try Hell's Gate so he sweetened the pot by saying that there were some interesting rock obstacles we could play on not far from Hell's Gate. From there, we could walk over and have a look and then decide. Well, that seemed fair enough to me and I cajoled Mike Petterson into coming along as well. So we had a group of two very built-up Samurais from Washington, me in my YJ, Mike Petterson in his CJ5, Pat Stewart in his YJ, and John in his Unimog. The rest of the group went back down the "safe" way. Greg Wcislo was keen to try Hell's Gate but he was having issues with his transfer case again. He and Mac decided to walk down to have a look anyway.

This Washington Suzuki was the first vehicle to play on the "Funny Rocks." His air bag suspension allowed him to adjust the lean of the vehicle while taking a very off-camber line.	Me and Project YJ entering the "Funny Rocks."	John's 'Mog is getting a lot of use out of those long travel coil-overs.
Pat opted to try a different line.	Straddling didn't work so he high-sided it.	Now he has to make a hard left.
Hmm...now what?	Mike followed Pat's line.	He couldn't cut left hard enough and ended up high centered for a while.

The rocks Ron was talking about weren't like the "Funny Rocks / Moon Rocks" area near the Naches Trail in Washington. These ones were covered with moss and grass so at first glance, you didn't even realize they were rocks. They were kinda large and arranged so that there was a mini canyon of sorts zig-zagging between them. Ron started describing the "course" which consisted of driving through some ridiculous lines that were sure to collapse gas tanks when you drove off of the rocks. Only one of the Zuks tried it and he went first. He did exactly what Ron told him and his short wheelbase and very cool adjustable air suspension helped him get through even though he was leaning at some pretty crazy angles. He did a great job. I was up next and decided on a slightly easier line simply because I didn't think I could fit my entire Jeep into the spot the Sam was at. I ended up getting high centered before even reaching the obstacle but once that was cleared up, I made it through without much fuss. But like I said, I didn't take the absolute hardest line. John followed me in the 'Mog and then it was Pat's turn. He chose a cool entrance that had him riding over two large rocks and then he had to do a lot of cutting and filling to line up with the rest of the obstacle. At one point he was balancing on three wheels while arranging his line. It made for some great photo opportunities and we all rushed around with our flashes popping. Once he was through, Mike Petterson took a near identical line but not quite identical enough, ending up high centered for a while. But once he freed himself, he was also able to walk through the section. A lot of people doubt the ability of the Bogger tread pattern on loose sidehills but Mike never had a problem with his.

By the time we were done there, we had all decided to try Hell's Gate. Only one person had ever rolled his truck there and that wasn't during a competition so perhaps the driver wasn't an experienced fourwheeler. That's what I was hoping, anyway. The two Suzukis went first and before I knew it, they were down. I didn't see them because I had to stop at the top of the hill. Going any further meant that you were committed with no way to back up so the only time I saw Hell's Gate was when it was too late to change my mind. Next to my Jeep, pinned to a tree, was a paper plate with the following hand-written advice: "Hell's Gate. When in doubt, off the brakes. Now!!"

Ron yelled that it was clear for me to come down next and so set my parking brake to tighten up the rear brakes and began the descent. Greg Wcislo came along for the ride. It was kind of like going down a rocky bob sled track. The trail was narrow, it had high banks, and it twisted around so you couldn't see very far ahead of you until you reached the very steepest part. You knew it was the steepest because that's where the spectators were. You could also tell because when you looked up, over your windshielf frame, you were looking at the sides of trees, not the tops. And that's where I came to an abrupt stop. My front diff had hit a rock and stopped us cold. I was going to give some throttle to push over it but I could feel the back end starting to lift as I brought the rpms up. I didn't want to bring up too much pressure in the torque converter because it might launch us forward once we broke free of the rock and I might not be able to get our descent speed back under control. Up to this point, I had to ride the brakes hard to keep the speed nice and slow so a launch over this rock would be very scary.

Okay, so maybe I could try reverse and perhaps maneuver around the rock? Great idea except that my motor started sputtering just as I shifted into reverse. I knew immediately what was happening: the fuel had sloshed toward the front of the tank and the pickup tube couldn't reach it. I was effectively out of gas! No motor means no vacuum boost which basically means no brakes once I used up my vacuum reservoir. Wayne Foster walked down and called for the Unimog to come down and try to pull me up to a point where my Jeep would re-start but his winch wasn't working correctly. It couldn't pull the dead weight of my Jeep up the hill. However, he did have spare fuel with him some Wayne poured about four gallons into my tank and I was able to re-start. With my Jeep now helping in reverse, we were able to winch me off the rock and Greg and I began our descent again. The tires didn't slide too much and we were able to make our way down and through the left hand turn with only minor bouncing and sliding. Woohoo! John came next and got some good air time under a rear wheel of his 'Mog. Mike also got some air under his CJ5 but we all made it down unharmed. I was elated because I had heard a lot of horror stories about Hell's Gate. It's bad, but not as bad as I had imagined it.

Excellent advice!	Can't go forward, can't go back, can't run the engine. Doh!	Mike in the middle of Hell's Gate.
It doesn't look steep in the photo but notice how the 'Mog is lifting a back tire. Mike's CJ5 did the same thing.	On the way back down the mountain, this optional drop-off caught all of us by surprise. There was a hole on the passenger's side that suddenly leaned the Jeep right into this tree.	Mike's bikini top got peeled by the tree. I wonder how many hard-tops that tree has eaten?

During our time on Hell's Gate, we could hear the other group reporting minor difficulties on the way down. We reached the bottom at about the same time and aired up. Thanks to Byron for lending us the use of his shop's air compressor! After that it was a nice relaxing drive back to camp where dinner was waiting for us, as well as the prize draws.

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