Whipsaw May Long weekend write-up

[Bill E.]

As it turns out this trip really developed into two separate adventures. The first adventure involved a group of stalwart trucks assaulting the road to Lodestone through the snow starting with nine vehicles on Saturday the 20th of May. Retreating to a lower elevation camp for the night, they were joined the next day on the slope they abandoned the day before by two more trucks. They final successful assault on Lodestone was made by Kris's 90 Andrew's 90 and Mark's 110. While they trudged on by winch and shovel a few feet at a time, the rest of the group less Ryan in his 110, decided to go exploring side roads below the active mine site. A pleasant afternoon of poking around the old Blakeburn ruins was followed by a fateful 5:00 pm decision to do some more exploring rather than head back to camp for dinner. A marathon winching session, eight hours and two very stuck trucks later we emerged onto a logging road with everyone covered in the most tenacious "mog bog". The Unimog had lost its power steering, Shawn's 109 was in tow and Bill's 90 was now stretched to a 100 inch wheelbase. By now, Kris, Mark and Andrew had broken camp after their day in the snow and were looking for us to offer assistance. We on the other hand sheepishly exited our black hole by slipping out through the active mining operation with the permission of one of their staff. Another hour or so waiting for our erstwhile rescuers to extract themselves from the opposite end of the trail that we had become buried in, and we were all out on the road to Coalmont. Sometime just before three in the morning we limped into Granite City to lick our wounds. The ladies in the group required restitution by having their mates take them to a motel for a good nights sleep. The rest of us set up camp and slept away what was left of the morning. Monday saw Shawn's truck loaded onto a flatbed and sent off to UK Trek and Traction in Langley for repair, followed by the rest of us slowly filtering out of camp. It turns out that the Samurai that was with our group also ended up hooked to the same flatbed after breaking down just outside Manning East Gate. All's well that ends well, Shawn was happy to hear that his truck was only suffering from a broken distributor rotor that was shorting to ground (we knew that, sure we did?)
Bill :roll:

[ANDYD]

Hey Bill, nice write up. It was a great weekend, I've hung my carpets up in the garage, hopefully they will be dry by Friday!!

Wes, next trip to Whipsaw is penciled in for Mid August (bug fest!)
How far did the Herd get on your run?

Andy :D

[nick]

Hello All,

My name is nick and I am a 4x4 and outdoor enthusiast. Last weekend on the way to Vancouver I pass all of you (going the other way) into Vancouver. I was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser. I will I could of going with you guys. Looked like you had a lot of fun. Seeing a group of trail ready 4x4 make anyone want to come along. If you guys ever come out to the Kootenay's let me know. I would love to go wheeling with you guys.

And the Mog that was leading you all was just plain cool.
I love Mog's and want to get one someday.

Right now I have a 1996 Disco which is for sale.
Here is a pic:
http://www.nickway.com/ih8mud/land_rover_and_me.jpg

And my new HDJ81 Japanese import Land Cruiser.
http://www.nickway.com/ih8mud/wheeling_ ... 006/18.jpg

Cheers,
Nick

[nick]

No I wasn't.
But some of my fellow Cruiser club member might of been.
A couple of us have trucks that are similarly outfitted.

Cheers,
Nick

[ANDYD]

Hi Nick,
Welcome to the Forum,

This may be a crazy question.......but......

why sell the Rover & keep the Toyota?

Its not that Toyotas aren't up to "rough stuff", I was just curious?

cheers,
Andy :D

[nick]

Hello Andy,

For me the cruiser fits better.

Both trucks were good,
But for me the cruiser fits better.
I love 4x4ing and the outdoors.
So I went with the truck that fits me better at this time.
Here is my quick list:

Cruiser is Diesel (with my dicso bieng gas)
26mpg!!!
- Diesel is 97.9 in my town. Premim is 123.x something
-Can run upto a 35" tire with no lift - currently 285-75-16 with a 2inch lift.
-Stock electric lockers front and back.
-Big enough to sleep two people in. (this was a big one for me)
-Bigger inside
-Stronger driveline (both are strong enough for me)
-Cruiser handles and rides better allthough both are good for me.
-More clearance
-No electrical issues thus far (rover seem bad for this :( )

For me the cruiser was a better fit.
But truth be told, I have had the cruiser for 4 months and I am considering selling it.
Not because I don't love it. It is my favorite vehicle I have ever owned.
I just want to buy a house, and the bank won't give me a load with my truck. :(

At the end of the day, its just a truck. Trucks loose money, houses make money. Kinda wierd for me to be talking like this. Normally I keep a vehicle for the long haul. But right now I am trying to think about my future. I am in my mid 20's.

I like rovers, and would like to get a 110 diesel defender someday.
I really like those trucks.

Cheers,
Nick :)