Whipsaw 2010

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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by samurais_eat_jeeps »

I have downloaded the trail onto my GPS from here: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=192621" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just purchased Topo North America and it looks like there are many roads that turn off the Whipsaw trail. Thankfully, there are over 3000 waypoints on the download above.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by stevec »

Well that settles it then... Brian is the leader!
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by DBM »

Too bad I just noticed this trip. I'd love to show up but my new SJ still has some issues to be ironed out still. :-(

I use to hunt up around Whipsaw fsr, lots of country to explore.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Rick Friesen »

Hey everyone, I'm going to be heading to Princeton as soon as I can tomorrow, which means I should be there by around two or three. If I get there early enough and the truck isn't giving me any trouble I'll try and head up the start of the Whipsaw road to look for a good camping spot. I'm going to be back in town between the Chevron and A&W at the bottom of the hill (in the long parking lot between them, it's obvious when you see it) by around six to pick up my passenger. I think it would work out great to meet everyone there that is coming by eight or so and then head up to hopefully already found camping spot.
Will most likely wait for Steve to show up so he can put up the LJ10 signs as we go (unless everyone's already there of course!).
Unfortunately I will not have a phone with me, or CB, or FRS. But I'm pretty sure it will be easy to spot my orange and gray truck.
I'll check this before I leave to see if there's anything else I should know.

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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by DBM »

Lots of spots to camp around Garrison Lakes.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by stevec »

Sounds Good Rick; we'll look for you there. I doubt we'll be there before 7:00; probably closer to 8:00, and my friends will probably be about an hour behind me, depending on where they need to stop. We may just blast on through and grab a burger at A&W; I haven't eaten there in years.
Ruby wrote:No real potluck dinner plans for Saturday night, but I'll bring a little extra smoked salmon.
I can't believe I missed this before! All of us U.S. citizens are bringing taco stuff for Saturday night. Seasoned ground beef, chicken, homemade guacamole... I might talk you out of a little smoked salmon though! :wink:
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Ruby »

See you guys there, likely meet Rick by A&W and go from there.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Rick Friesen »

Alright, I'm heading out finally! I'll see you all there.

Rick
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Rick Friesen »

Home safe! Had a great time!
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by stevec »

We are home safe. We stopped a couple of times to tighten the remaining exhaust bolts (they kept working loose, and the muffler rubbed on the rear driveshaft a bit), and had to stop at my office to get Linda's car, but we got home around 8:00 this evening. LJ is unpacked; I'm going to have a much needed shower. All things considered, we had a great time!Pictures to come, probably tommorow though!!!
The only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by nick »

We got home safe too. Good to see everyone. I had a blast.
Still waiting for the right zuk to come along.

1981 LJ80 - Sold :(
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Rick Friesen »

Alright, here's one picture of the fun had.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Ruby »

Yes, it was a blast. I'll post up a bunch of pics too.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Frankenstein »

Can't wait to see all the pics. Come on, make me jealous :wink:
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Ruby »

Few of my pics
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zuke lineup.jpg
steve under lj.jpg
sammy on falcon hill.JPG
winched.JPG
nice view.jpg
zuki camp.JPG
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Whipsaw 2010 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Post by stevec »

Here is my report: We had a total of seven rigs on the run, all Suzuki’s: two LJ81K pickups, one LJ80V (tintop), 3 Samurai’s (two tintops and one LWB), and one 4-dr. Sidekick.

I had been very busy organizing and preparing for the LJ meet in South Dakota the week before, and had only four days to prepare my LJ81K for this run. The canopy was painted and installed, but I still needed to redo the exhaust, install a CB, run a 12V power outlet to the canopy for the ARB fridge, as well as some general maintenance items (i.e. change oil), and pack.

Well, I got everything done except the exhaust, my wife Linda met me at my office so she could leave her car in the garage, and we headed out of Seattle at about 2:00pm Friday afternoon. The border crossing was very quick and uneventful, and we were making very good time as we pulled into Hope, BC. Mapquest had quoted five hours and 15 minutes for the trip to Princeton; I had estimated closer to six hours with the border crossing, so I told my friends I would be there near 8:00pm, but at the rate we were going, we would be there before 7:00. But upon leaving Hope, hwy 3 climbs 4000’ over the next 20 miles, and my fully loaded, 41hp pickup could only manage 40mph in 3rd gear on some of the hills. Thankfully the road is excellent, four lanes for most of the climb, so we weren’t holding up traffic. The air cooled as we climbed, and the scenery was beautiful, so we stopped a couple of times to stretch our legs, and really enjoyed the drive.

We arrived in Princeton right at 7:15, so Mapquest had us pegged. My friends were at least an hour behind me, as they could not leave work as early, but our Canadian friends were all there waiting already. They headed up to the Whipsaw road turnoff while we got a bite to eat and topped off the gas tank, and then we headed up to meet them and wait for my friends to arrive. We got there a little after 8:00, and someone asked “lose your gas cap?” After a couple of choice four-letter words, I drove back down to Princeton to look for it. Nothing at the gas station, so we drove back up slowly, looking for it on the side of the road, but never found it. We arrived back at the turnoff, me in a bad mood now, and I covered the filler with shop towels and duct tape as my friends arrived. They needed to fill their gas tanks in Princeton as well, so we headed off to the campsite.

We found a wonderful site off the road and next to the creek, and set up our tents while listening for my friends. They arrived a bit later than expected – my friend Brian had (gently) hit a deer on the highway. With camp set up, no one felt like making a fire, so we just talked under lantern light awhile, and then went to sleep. I purposely pitched our tent close to the bubbling creek, and the result was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time.

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I was up at 5:45, feeling well rested and ready to go. There were very few mosquitoes, but lots of little no-see-ums that were biting my legs. Everyone was packed up and ready to go by around 8:00, so we headed up the FS road, stopping at the mill site and cabins along the way, and taking lots of pictures. The trail got steadily tougher as it climbed, and by Dick’s cabin most, if not all of us, were in low range. After Dick’s cabin the mosquitoes really got bad, and the trail also got rockier, and my exhaust separated on the first rock it hit. So we stop, I put it back together as best I can, and we continue, until it hits a second rock, and separates again. After the third time it separated, we broke out Brian’s welding rod, hooked a couple of batteries together, welded the front section back on, and threw the tailpipe in the back. By now, four rigs have gone ahead, wanting to get to Lodestone Lake before the good campsites were all taken. I did the best trail weld I could, while lying in the dirt being attacked by mosquitoes. I was in a bad mood again, and felt bad about holding up the group. We got going for about 100 yards, and the front section fell off again, this time into about a foot deep, 50 foot long mud hole. Well, at least it would be cool enough to pick up without gloves! I waded into the hole, and used my pickaxe to dredge the mud hole for my exhaust. After a couple of minutes I came out victorious, and threw the piece in the back of the LJ81. The (very ugly!) trail weld had held fine; but the exhaust had separated in a different spot. By now I was getting tired, and decided that making good time was better than having a muffler.

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We caught the rest of the group at Wells Lake:

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They had been waiting for us there for about an hour, so we took a quick look, watched a couple of fish jump, snapped a couple of pictures, and pressed on. We knew the tougher sections (i.e. Falcon Hill and the Hole) were still to come, and it was past 4:00 now. Turns out Falcon Hill looks a lot worse than it is – my bone stock LJ81 walked up it without so much as a slip of a tire. The Hole was tougher; not as much water as I expected, but the exit is steep, and my spring hangers were digging into the dirt. By now I was getting very tired, my ears were ringing, and I didn’t know exactly what was dragging. I had already held up the group a lot today, and I didn’t want to damage the body panels, so although I could probably have made it out with a little extra momentum, I quickly asked for a tug. The tug was quick, and the others did make it through with the extra momentum.

That was supposed to be the last tough obstacle, but it was not. I watched the rigs in front of me go through the next nasty, off-camber section, and a couple of them dragged their sides along the exposed tree roots, denting doors and side panels. Again, I did not want to damage the body on my rig, so I said “No matter what, I’m staying left!” It took a couple of tries, and a little extra momentum, but I got through unscathed.

There were a few sections like this, then the trail gradually became easier as we approached Lodestone Lake. We arrived around 7:00 I believe, set up camp right on the lake, and we feasted on tacos and ribs while the mosquitoes feasted on us. After dinner we hooked up the battery cables again, and I did a somewhat better job welding the exhaust pieces together and bolting it back up. As it got dark, the campfire grew larger, the mosquitoes went to bed, and after a couple of beers, I was in a good mood again, though still tired.

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Sunday was a slower morning. I slept in later (‘till almost 7:00), and we didn’t get going until nearly 10:00. I had read that the trail was more of just a FS road after Lodestone Lake, so I shifted back into 2WD before leaving camp. I was right – we just cruised down the road, arriving in Coalmont around 11:00 or so, aired up the tires, and headed to Princeton to find a car wash. Luckily there was one right on the road as we entered town, so we washed the truck, got lunch, topped up the tank (between driving back and forth to Princeton looking for my gas cap and driving the trail, I had used almost five gallons (20L) of gas!) and we headed for home about 1:30. The exhaust was rattling a bit – the two bolts holding the downpipe in place were coming loose, so I stopped to tighten them a couple of times – but the border crossing was again quick (no more than 10 minutes either way) and we got back to my office in Seattle around 7:15, where Linda’s car was waiting. We actually arrived home about 8:00, and quickly unpacked.

The good: The scenery was beautiful, the trail was awesome, the weather was perfect, and we really had a great group of people. There were patches of snow above 6000’, but no measurable snow on the trail itself at all (I saw one little patch, but it was probably melted by the end of the day.) No traffic at all on the trail – The whole day we saw only one side-by-side. This trail should definitely be on everyone’s “to-do” list.

The bad: Losing my gas cap, the muffler issues, and all those damn mosquitoes!!!

The ugly: Trail welds (have you ever seen a nice looking one?), and the trail condition – lots of trash, especially at the lakes and at Dick’s cabin, including a couple of abandoned, overturned vehicles near Lodestone Lake, and a few places where irresponsible wheelers had driven off-trail, and into the meadows.

None of us had run this trail before, so we were relying on the advice of others. The trail can be run in a stock rig, as long as said rig has decent ground clearance, and the owner doesn’t mind a few scratches and/or dents. My LJ81 has P215/75R15 tires, and (after the exhaust was removed!) only bottomed out once on the frame rail. I came out with no scratches or dents in the body, but my stock rig is smaller than most, and other stock rigs did get some body damage.

Someone said the only difference between an ordeal and an adventure is your attitude. My attitude for much of Saturday was more "ordeal" than "adventure", but looking back, it was a great adventure!

More pics at photobucket:

http://s296.photobucket.com/albums/mm16 ... aw%202010/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by stevec on Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added pics!!!
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Pidder »

Great write up Steve! Alana and I had a great time on the trip, although I differ with regards to falcon hill. I'm not used to that kind of a climb and it had me a little scared. LOL but halfway up I wasn't going to stop. I have some nice pics which I will forward to Aaron to post as he's better at it than I. Hope everyone had a great time , and great to meet all of you. Hope to do it again. Norm
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Swill4wd »

Gee Norm, a quick stop on Falcon Hill and you could have had a free jack, glad you left it for me!!!!!!

Thanks for letting us tag along in my (GASP) GEO (it seemed to do ok, might have to start clearanceing for the 31s)........Cindi & I made it home this afternoon after a night in Winthrop & a trip over US Hwy 20 (where I remembered to unlock the hubs...).

Maybe we`ll come back again sometime....are the mosquitoes any better in August???
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by stevec »

Swill4wd wrote:...over US Hwy 20 (where I remembered to unlock the hubs...)
DOH! Glad I don't have to worry about that... Gas caps, on the other hand... :roll:

I downloaded the pics and video off Linda's camera this morning, but the videos were taking a long time at "house internet speed".
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Ruby »

stevec wrote:
Gas caps, on the other hand... :roll:
I'll check, I know I have a couple.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by stevec »

Ruby wrote:I'll check, I know I have a couple.
:worship:

BTW, did you check the mounts on that LJ80V? Let me know if you need them - we can "swap".
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Rick Friesen »

After washing my truck when I got home I found only scuffing of paint, no (new) dents to be had thankfully.
I was really impressed with how well all the stock rigs did going through this trail, however, if I do this trail again, which I'm sure I will, I'll bring the modified LJ80 instead.

I agree with Steve, it was a shame to see how much people have wheeled through the meadows. Other then that, great views and a great time!
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Geo.jpg
Steve LJ81.jpg
Norm and Jake.jpg
Steve's Geo came really close to making it up, a rear locker or a little more momentum and I think it'd have no trouble making it. Very capable rig for how close to stock it is!
Steve's Geo came really close to making it up, a rear locker or a little more momentum and I think it'd have no trouble making it. Very capable rig for how close to stock it is!
Jake climbing Janzen rock and making it look easy.
Jake climbing Janzen rock and making it look easy.
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Rick Friesen »

A few more pictures. Lots of your LJ81 Steve!
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Steve Ditch 2.jpg
Steve Avoiding Roots.jpg
Firewood Duty.jpg
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by Ruby »

Some of Norm's (Pidder) pics
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whipsaw 2010 196.jpg
whipsaw 2010 152.jpg
whipsaw 2010 120.jpg
whipsaw 2010 097.jpg
whipsaw 2010 020.jpg
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Re: Whipsaw 2010

Post by stevec »

Great pics guys! Here's the Falcon Hill video that Linda took:

Image
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