The Herd of Turtles' 4x4/GPS event was kind of like a digital scavenger hunt. We started at a location (Wendy's parking lot in Chilliwack) where we were given the GPS coordinates for the first waypoint. Using our GPS, we had to figure out which roads to take in order to get to that waypoint. Once we reached that waypoint, we searched for a little Tupperware container that contained the coordinates for our next waypoint. We repeated this process over the next few hours until the last waypoint instruction directed us to go back to the Wendy's parking lot where we began our day. By the end of the event, we had covered 70 kilometres over a period of almost 7.5 hours.

The waypoints were all located on Vedder Mountain in the Fraser Valley, and it proved to be an excellent way for Vedder Mtn newbies like me to be introduced to the trail system. The roads were quite narrow and featured several off-camber sections that were similar to what I've seen on Vancouver Island. There were also some large mud holes but they had firm bottoms so I didn't have to exercise my winch. Besides the dense network of interesting trails, what impressed me about Vedder Mtn. was the signage that indicated that motorcyclists, ATV'ers, hikers and equestrians were working together to manage the trails.

Mark (my co-driver) and I were entered in to the Hard+ class, along with the other half of our team, Dave, Chris and Michael Lippmann in Dave's big yellow Bronco. We ended up spending the entire day with Phil and Rich in Phil's bobbed CJ5, and Gord and his passenger in Gord's TJ. All of us were in the Hard+ class so it was natural that we would end up bunching up together since we were searching for the same waypoints.

Wes (HOT4x4 member) hinted that there would be at least one difficult mud section so I had serious doubts about whether I should be in the Hard+ class. A bad experience in an extremely deep mudhole was the reason for the costly demise of my TF999 transmission a few years ago. Since then, I've avoided deep water or mud whenever possible. But as I already mentioned, the mudholes turned out to be pretty manageable. No one in our group needed a tug or the services of a winch, so we made very good time. But even so, we were among the latest groups to return to Chilliwack. Part of the problem was that we a longish route to one of the later waypoints but the chosen route turned out to be a private road which meant that we had to turn around and drive right around the other side of a peak to reach the waypoint.

Back in Chilliwack, we caught up with everyone at Boston Pizza where they went for dinner and to hand out the draw prizes. Carnage included a hydrolocked engine, a dinged windshield, torn sidewall, and various tree rashes. Prize donors included NSOR, Dale McGregor, BC4x4.COM (you might've heard of it), and the Herd of Turtles 4WD Society (HOT4x4).

We had a great time and met some great fourwheelers, some of whom I had only known via their online personas on the BB.BC4x4.COM message board. I'd like to thank HOT4x4 for putting on this event. It must've taken them many, many hours of planning and trail clearing, plus the fact that some of them still had to go back after the end of the event to collect all the Tupperware containers. They're truly a fun bunch of people to 'wheel with.

Here are some photos from the event. I apologize for the fact that virtually of them are from our little Hard+ group. What can I say? There was no one else around to photograph but us.

Climbing a log obstacle.	Here's Phil's CJ5 on the same obstacle. Notice that he extended the wheelbase on both ends of the CJ. Pretty cool. This is a late '80's model which he also retrofitted with a tailgate (from a '70's CJ). Phil was running the smallest and least aggressive tires in our group but he made short work of all the obstacles.	My Garmin 60CSx worked beautifully. The Mapsource Topo Canada mapset had almost all of the trails we drove on in its database.
There were quite a few sections with big boulders in the trail which made for a fun day of 'wheeling.	Phil.	We were treated to several nice views of the valley.
The height and width of the Bronco sometimes required Dave to "drive out of the box."	Sidehills!	We crossed a lot of puddles. All the driver's had mud on their left arms and shoulders.
Gord's TJ going in and out of some puddles.	More mud.
Getting OUT of the mud hole was the tricky part.		The wider vehicles were the ones that defined how wide the tracks were. Check out the sharp edges of the mud wall.
Dave's full-size axles and big Boggers were wedged pretty tight when he tried to climb out of this trench using the straight-ahead approach, so he ended up having to high-side his way out.	Once he got his front end out, a little go-pedal allowed him to clamber out.	More nice views.
	Punching in the waypoint data from a sheet pulled from one of the Tupperware containers.	Yet another mud hole.
	Danny demonstrates what happens when you pay more attention to the GPS than the road.	And here's the view from inside the Toyota.
The advantage of having three heads working on the problem is that you arrive at three different answers. Say, who's that handsome fellow in the BC4x4 hoodie?	Danny's Japanese Domestic Market Toyota back on the road.
Derek's Explorer blew apart it's Lockrite near the start of the trails so he ended up completing the event in 2wd. A worthy accomplishment considering that he was in the Hard class.	Andrea's S-10 climbing over this rock without the benefit of a locker.	FJota's FJ Cruiser. With careful spotting, he and his friend in his Suburban made it through the event without a scratch.

...lars