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AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Discussion in '1st Gen. Builds (1995-2004)' started by turbodb, Apr 4, 2017.

  1. Sep 30, 2019 at 9:55 AM
    #2381
    Zac of all trades

    Zac of all trades FWP Fabrication Vendor

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    Sweet photos!! Looks like a fun trip!
     
    turbodb[QUOTED][OP] likes this.
  2. Sep 30, 2019 at 10:44 AM
    #2382
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    AdventureTaco
    Definitely. Though I think you had a couple hour snooze right before picking up the CO2, ehh? :p. Regardless, I was thinking of you on what turned out to be my 23 hour drive home from Buena Vista, and 39 hour day :).

    Thanks man, really appreciate it! :thumbsup:

    Thanks! It's a nice place to live ... in the summer. Get's a little dreary for me in the winter, and is far from everything else - but those are just excuses to travel I guess :D.

    Thanks man. Was a fun one for sure - got better (mostly) as the trip went on!
     
  3. Sep 30, 2019 at 10:55 AM
    #2383
    Blackdawg

    Blackdawg Dr. Frankenstein

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    ALL OF THEM!...Then some more.
    yeah was maybe an hour of sitting and much less of that of sleeping haha

    Nice! new record to beat :p haha
     
  4. Oct 1, 2019 at 10:00 AM
    #2384
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    Whipsaw Trail 2 - Some Winching Necessary
    August 28, 2019.

    The day had been hot, but it cooled right down overnight - much nicer for sleeping, we all agreed. And sleep we did - it was 8:30am before the last of us finally climbed down from our tents, having missed the sunrise entirely - a cloudless sky transitioning from deep blue to orange, then to pink and finally blue again.

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    We all set about making our breakfast - coffee for Mike @Digiratus, cereal for me, an amazing looking breakfast burrito for Dan @drr, and - of course - Donettes for Monte @Blackdawg - as the sun beamed down on us from the east. It was looking to be another beautiful day in British Columbia. :canada:

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    Still moving a bit slowly, it wasn't until 10:00am that we had everything cleaned up and stowed away in the trucks, ready to go on our first real day of running the Whipsaw Trail. Somehow I found myself in the front of the pack, a position I've rarely been in with this group as we lined up at the edge of camp. It was time for our morning radio check.

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    Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch.

    Mike's radio was clearly not working. It'd been acting up the previous day at various times, but leaving it alone for a few minutes always seemed to fix it. Today, that was not the case. Unsure of the problem, our first attempt to remedy the issue was an antenna trade - Dan trading with Mike to see if it made a difference.

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    It didn't. Neither did disconnecting and reconnecting the microphone - something that had sometimes resolved the problem for me when I was having an issue with my CB. Turns out, Mike's been having an issue with his radio for a while, so he's already got a spare one - at home! Something to fix up before the next trip. For now, he decided that the Ham radio would suffice for outbound communication, and he'd listen to the rest of our chatter on the CB. So, we were back into our trucks and on our way, dust kicking up behind us, me happy to be up front and dust free.

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    But not for long. It soon became clear that Mike's radio problems weren't over for the day - every time he keyed his Ham radio to speak, Monte and I could hear the keying of the microphone and see the busy signal on our radios, but we couldn't hear him talk at all! We pulled over to evaluate the situation again.

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    More fiddling ensued - to no avail. Luckily however, Mike and I both have Kenwood radios - me a Kenwood D710G dual-band ham radio and Mike a Kenwood V71A dual-band ham radio. The base units of these are the same, so hoping that perhaps the problem was in Mike's microphone, we swapped mic's and gave it a try again. It worked great! And we were back underway.

    In camp that evening, Mike would disassemble his mic to see if he could fix the issue - and everything looked just fine inside (of course). Putting it all back together and trying it out, it worked! Likely just a loose connection that he reseated somewhere.

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    Our first stop along the trail was at an old mill. Marked as a sawmill on our route, closer inspection seemed to suggest that it was actually some sort of mine mill. Water appeared to be funneled downhill - perhaps to power a stamp mill - through a set of chutes, and a nearby structure quite clearly contained thousands of drilled core samples - perhaps to measure the concentration of certain material in the ground.

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    The mill thoroughly explored, we were back on the trail - travelling the Whipsaw in a clockwise direction - all of us happy to be off the main logging road at this point and onto something a bit more bumpy, and starting to get a little flexy in places.

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    Soon, we came on a second set of structures - these in a bit better condition than the mill. One looked like a log cabin, but on inspection was actually a set of stables (that looked to still be in use); the other was a snow mobile warming hut that had seen much better days, courtesy of local 4x4 clubs who'd left their "mark."

    Tread Lightly, Canada.

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    A little disappointed, we didn't spend long at these cabins, opting instead to continue on to the third - and I believe last - cabin we had marked on the route.

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    This one too was a warming hut, and was in better - but not good - condition. It's always interesting to me how - as a structure gets more worn down, it seems to attract even more destruction - as though earlier visitors digressions are somehow interpreted as permission to continue the defacement.

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    We looked around a bit, also checking out a nearby grave - the final resting place of Richard Holding (1901-1976) and a few other folks (and pets) who'd been laid to rest in the years since. It was definitely a beautiful place, though probably even more-so when it was less trafficked, so many years ago.

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    Picking our way through a maze of trails - something we would find to be a hallmark of the Whipsaw - we continued along the trail, trying to stay on what looked to be the "most official" branch of the road. Winding our way through the trees, we broke out onto a high-mountain meadow as we crested Skaist Mountain, affording us the best long distance views of the entire trail.

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    As one does, I slowed to wait for everyone else to catch up - the dust on the trail keeping the space between each truck longer than it would have otherwise been. And then, we photographed.

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    And then we photographed some more. This is the reason we can only travel 60 dirt miles a day or so. And it's fine by us.

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    By now it was early afternoon and time for lunch. We found ourselves a nice little place on the side of the trail where we could all park in the shade - and still have enough left to sit in - and made our respective meals. Sandwiches all around if I recall, and generally some sort of chip as well. Pickles, snap peas, and nectarines seemed to round out our meals and then a good 15-20 minutes of chit-chat as Echo (Dan's pup) entertained us with her antics.

    Eventually - as tends to happen - we decided we might as well continue on, and we climbed back into our trucks - our order shuffling due to how we'd parked. Now, as usual, I found myself in the tailgunner position. Nice for photos, but - on this trip especially - dusty!

    Not a problem, really - I just left a bit of space between Monte and myself.

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    We continued to tick away the miles - more slowly than we had in the morning due to the terrain, but with much better views - now that we'd reached the ridge lines as opposed to lower elevation forests. We took our time, stopping whenever the urge struck - to enjoy and absorb our surroundings.

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    Eventually, we came to a short-but-steep obstacle. Mike - in the lead at this point - took the still-technical bypass, but Dan came over the CB to let us know that he was going to give the rocky climb a try. He was after all, the only one of us on 35's with dual lockers.

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    All lined up, he took it slow - careful to pick the correct line to keep his truck out of the hole that'd been dug at the bottom of the ledge. Gravity unfortunately was having none of it and as he inched his way up, it sucked him down. Still, looked pretty bad-ass if you ask me!

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    After hipping out to check lines, and giving it a few really good tries, he ultimately admitted semi-defeat and asked Mike to get his truck lined up to use as a winch anchor. Then, from within the cab, Dan controlled both his winch and skinny pedal to pull himself up and over the most difficult obstacle we'd encounter on the trail.

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    The rest of us - on 33" tires - took the same bypass that Mike had, each of us stepping up the smaller ledges with little fanfare - well, except me - I got a little cocky and backed down for a second run, since Mike wanted a few photos... and then stalled on my way back up. :rofl:

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    It was of course great fun - and with everyone through, we continued to the next obstacle. Just south of Memorial Rock, the trail got soft, sandy, and steep. In other words - more fun! We each got our turn, and with only a bit of fanfare, were through.

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    With that, we were at Memorial Rock - where Jeff Janzen once climbed the 60% grade in his Isuzu Samurai before succumbing to cancer in 2005. A plaque now attached to the rock face encourages four-wheelers to climb the rock in his memory, and Dan was quick to oblige - at least for a pose. :D

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    Now about halfway around the Whipsaw Trail loop, it was becoming clear that we'd be shooting for Well's Lake as our camp location for the night. That meant another several miles of fun trail, which we tackled quickly and efficiently - including a several-hundred foot long puddle, the longest we'd see all trip.

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    The puddle was shallow at 8" or so, and before we knew it, we'd arrived at Well's Lake. If there'd been a lot of forks in the trail before this point, they were dwarfed by the labyrinth of little alleyways that wove around the lake. I'm sure we'd have made our way through the correct series of turns eventually, but it was nice to have a GPS track at this point so we could mostly stay the correct course - ultimately ending up at the main camp site on the far end of the lake.

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    Clearly a spot used by many wheelers and clubs, there was a great spot to setup our tents, as well as a shelter - complete with a well-stocked bush kitchen - that would have been perfect if it'd been raining. For us though, relaxing lakeside was our preferred location, and though it was only 4:30pm, our chairs and campfire were quickly deployed, the white clouds dancing both above and below as they were reflected off the lake surface.

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    This is perhaps the best time of any trip - the time spent around the camp fire, chatting about everything from events of the day, to what's going on in our day-to-day lives. Strengthening memories and building friendships. And of course, eating Mike's guacamole... or avocado dip, depending on who you talk to :wink:.

    There's nothing better, really, as the sun's rays get long - eventually illuminating only the clouds in a pink hurrah of sunset.

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    Except maybe the campfire that continues into the night - the conversation just as vibrant, the laughter across the lake loud and echoing. The puppy, Echo, curled up in her owner's lap, snoring.

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    After several more hours around the campfire as we'd had on the trail, we finally called it a night - all glad that the temperatures were dropping from the 90°F+ temps we'd had during the day. We all climbed up into our tents, eager to see what the rest of the Whipsaw would throw at us the next day - hoping it'd be just as fun as the one that was drawing to an end.

    ...we had no idea at the time that it'd be even funner!
     
  5. Oct 1, 2019 at 1:53 PM
    #2385
    RHB

    RHB Well-Known Member

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    Thanks, I forgot I was at work for at least 20 minutes. Just starring at the pics.
     
    Trucko, Castle 4, RobZ9132 and 2 others like this.
  6. Oct 1, 2019 at 5:48 PM
    #2386
    drr

    drr Primary Prognosticator

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    Great photos Dan!

    :rofl:
     
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  7. Oct 2, 2019 at 2:04 AM
    #2387
    DetroitDarin

    DetroitDarin Specified

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    Scratches and Whatnot
    Thank you!
     
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  8. Oct 2, 2019 at 2:28 PM
    #2388
    Jast86

    Jast86 Member

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    cool read
     
    turbodb[OP] likes this.
  9. Oct 2, 2019 at 3:32 PM
    #2389
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    Cheers guys, glad you're enjoying. More coming tomorrow I hope.

    Thanks man. Was wondering if anyone would catch that. ;)
     
  10. Oct 3, 2019 at 10:04 AM
    #2390
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    Whipsaw Trail 3 - Four, Three Wheeling Tacomas
    August 29, 2019.

    It was 5:00am or so when I awoke after a shockingly chilly - yet pleasant - night’s sleep. I could see Monte @Blackdawg hanging out behind his truck, waiting for the sunrise from my tent door. Figuring I'd let him enjoy the peaceful solitude, I donned my clothes and made my way to a spot 50' or so away to capture the morning, the colors joyfully doubled by the surface of Wells Lake.

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    I'd later hear from Monte that I'd been ninja-like in my approach. As he told the story to Dan @drr and Mike @Digiratus, he described completely silent tent zippers, a soundless descent down my ladder, and stealthy steps to my chosen photo location. A few shutter clicks all that betrayed my presence. And then more ninjabilities back into the tent.

    I just smiled - no ninja here, but I'm fine with an air of mysteriousness around my movements!

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    After the colors of the morning, it was a few more hours before the sun was up and we all climbed out of our tents to greet the day. Even the light breeze of the previous evening was gone - Wells Lake now a glassy surface to be enjoyed in the warming air.

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    Having gotten plenty of the lake the night before, you might expect that we were ready to get moving towards the remainder of the Whipsaw Trail - but, you'd be wrong! Rather, we'd decided that this morning - being Dan's last of the trip - was the perfect morning for us to do a group breakfast. We'd each brought something to contribute, and various folks got to cooking up the bacon, potatoes and eggs that we'd enjoy in our own little paradise, happy for the rare solitude that we'd found here.

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    It was after 11:00am when we finally pulled out of camp - me somehow in the lead again, and happy to be doing it since it got me out of the dust!

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    Near the lake, we found ourselves once again navigating the crossword-puzzle trail system, trying to stay on the main line. At any given time, I'd say we stood about a 50% chance of picking the right trail, what with the 3-5 options that were presented to us. Having come down from the high mountain ridges the previous afternoon, we once again found ourselves in a Lodgepole Pine forest, the midday sunlight filtering through the evergreen canopy.

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    Soon enough, we found ourselves stacked up in the road at TODO(name) Lake, where we also found the remains of an old pickup. Naturally, we had no idea what tragedy had befallen it so many years before, but we took solace in the fact that perhaps the owner - and definitely many compassionate offroaders since - had taken it out of its misery by shooting it in the head (engine block) as well as just about everywhere else.

    We humans are nothing if not destructive.

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    From there, we carried on in our righty-tighty loop of the Whipsaw, the rough - but not all that difficult - trail mostly dusty except for a few small puddles of water. Unfortunately, the tight corners meant that as we came upon these little gems, our enjoyment of them was limited. And by enjoyment, I mean both speed and splash size.

    It was as though our secret had gotten out - we've all become responsible, old, drivers... not wanting to get our trucks muddy. :mudding:

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    A little over 30 minutes into the morning, we started to climb back up out of the valley in which we'd camped the night before. Here, the trail got steep - a combination of dirt, sand, and rocks - in spots, interesting to navigate. With inclines close to 35 degrees in some places, we picked our way up - careful to take lines that would afford us the most traction. It was great fun and we all enjoyed it immensely - if the grins on our faces were any indication. ::D:

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    Another half hour or so and we found ourselves at the site of a second pickup! Like the first, this one was trashed - both the the engine block and frame in multiple pieces - as though after flipping it over on it's roof, someone had decided - I think I'll just give this battery powered reciprocating saw a try, in about a dozen places. Classy.

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    We'd nearly reached the top of the next ridge by this point, and as we did the landscape changed once again. It's not what I would call the breathtaking glory of the high mountains of the Cascade Range, nor is it the spectacular red rock of Utah - but with the bright blue sky and white clouds, the greens and yellows of the hillsides around us really did seem to sing with joy.

    We were lucky to be in such a beautiful place.

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    It was here that we stopped for a bit of an extended rest stop - having been notified that the red truck to the rear was going to hold back for a moment and take care of some things that needed taking care of. Just fine with us

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    Back on the road, it was now nearly 1:00pm and none of us were all that hungry - for obvious reasons given our earlier (or really, later) breakfast - so we pushed on. It seems we can never really make quick progress however - because even when we weren't stopping for photos, we were stopping...for what should be dinner, in the road. A standoff as it were.

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    Dinner eventually moved to the side and we continued on - crossing a newly constructed, highway-like logging road that had been plowed through the middle of our trail. It was surreal, really, to go from a road where sustaining 5mph would be out of the question to one where 50mph would be the norm - and back again some 50' later. But hey, progress, right?

    The trail at this point was a bit of a sloppy mess, and was in fact a place that Monte and Mike remembered being one of the more difficult the last time they were here (several years prior). A big muddy drop into a hole, it was one of the few - ney, perhaps only - place I saw Dan get out of his truck to take a photo.

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    Nice to know that even Dan can succumb to "the 'gram" every now and then.

    Through that section of trail, I I rounded a corner and knew it was time to play a bit of a joke on the rest of the guys. In front of me, a narrow, 40"-wide bridge stretched across a creek - clearly much too narrow for us to cross. As I called it out on the CB, I strategically parked my truck in the trail, obscuring the view of the water crossing just to the right of the bridge.

    It only worked for about 15 seconds, but they were a fun 15 seconds... for me.

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    I proceeded slowly through the opaque, muddy water - sure that with such an elaborate structure, it must be reasonably deep. Yeah, nope. Here you can see Mike - the last one through - has managed to cross the creek without getting is front tires wet at all. At least, not beyond the depth of the tread.

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    We had a good laugh at the entire situation and then continued on to the second place on the trail that those who had come before recalled a bit of trouble. Wet, muddy, too-slippery-for-traction trouble. Yep, more fun!

    It turns out, we were at a spot in the trail where a spring kept the trail wet, and spinning tires on a clay-rich wet road kept the trail dug out and flexy. A spot where every last one of us would three-wheel it as we attempted to make it through.

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    Dan and I got through just fine - our lockers and flexy suspension making this section much less difficult than it was for Monte, who's completely unlocked and who's rear suspension has the flexibility of a stale saltine cracker. In the end, it was just too much to ask of his truck and after several attempts - and frankly, near success - he went ahead and accepted a small tug from Dan.


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    Then it was Mike's turn. And it was as though he'd personally designed the trail - picking a line that resulted in the shortest three-wheeling of us all. Kudos bud.


    The rest of the trail was reasonably straight forward at this point, and as we arrived at Lodestone Lake - the only spot on the entire trail that we'd see any other vehicles - we figured this was a great time to eat lunch and let Echo (Dan's new puppy) stretch her legs a bit. So we parked in the shade and plonked down our chairs to take a load off - you know, because we hadn't been sitting much in the last few days! :rofl:

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    Eventually, it was time to go - the trail from here becoming a series of logging/whatever Canadian Forest Service roads are called, taking us down through a series of clear cuts towards Coalmont, BC.

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    We played musical trucks through this section - swapping positions as the lead truck would take a wrong turn when trying to decipher the correct trail on the GPS - our speed now much quicker than it'd been the previous couple of days. We probably even averaged low double-digits, once you take into account photography! :wink:

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    At Coalmont, the trail transitioned once again - our destination now Princeton, the town from which we'd departed some 48 hours before (or 2.5 days, according to Monte). We were on an old railroad bed, where we continued to make good time. Not only that, but we encountered a couple of old trestles and tunnels, each of them bringing out the kids in us. Because, boys and trains.

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    After the second tunnel, we were spit out just on the outskirts of Princeton and knew we were getting close to done. What we didn't know was that the remainder of the track we had was washed out by a landslide - approximately 2 years ago by the looks of it - and we'd be forced to turn around, Mike perched precariously on a berm overlooking the slide.

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    A quick look at our maps and it was clear that if we backtracked a little way, we'd find ourselves with easy access to town - so that's what we did. It turns out, our adventure wasn't over - a few locals asking us if we'd seen the car stuck in the river.

    We hadn't, and as such, we couldn't help but slow down as we saw quite the sight. Silly Ford Escape. Fake it till you make it; or not.

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    And with that, we were done with the Whipsaw. Pulling over on the side of the road as it turned to pavement, we all aired up - Monte, Mike and I planning to head north east, Dan turning his truck towards home in the south west. All of us happy to have spent the last few days together, wishing that Dan could stick around for a couple more.

    I took a moment to capture our wheels - everyone sporting their own color and style.

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    :anonymous:

    With our final good-byes and safe-travels, we headed north. First on a bit of pavement, it wasn't long before we found ourselves on dirt again, our destination an east-to-west track that had been put together that we would join near Whitehead Reservoir, and which would terminate in Boston Bar, BC.

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    As it was already getting late - after 7:00pm by the time we were on dirt - we decided to start looking for a camp site prior to arriving at Whitehead Lake, where we'd transition from moving north to a westerly route. This turned out to be a bit of an adventure, the trail we were on becoming narrower and narrower - the track clearly only traveled by ATVs, and even at that, very lightly traveled.

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    Luckily for us, a 1st gen Tacoma isn't all that much wider than an ATV, and after skirting a few very tight spots, we found the road beginning to widen again - apparently the middle section seeing less travel than the two ends. Amazingly, we hadn't really found a single good camping spot on over 10 miles of trails, and just as the sun was setting - at 7:42pm - we pulled into what turned out to be a great camp spot on Whitehead Lake.

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    The site was sheltered, had nice views of the lake, and had a pile of firewood that only the largest of fires would even make a dent in. So we set about setting about, taking plenty of breaks to capture the colors playing across the sky as the sun kissed the day goodbye.

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    Through the evening we did our best to burn the wood so graciously left by the sites previous occupants. We probably went through the equivalent of three - or even four - bundles of wood. But, by the time we were ready to call it a night, having exhausted the conversations of trucks, suspension, and future trips - the pile of wood seemed just as large as it had been before we started.

    The temperature cooling, and the stars covered by thin, high clouds, we called it a night - each of us retreating into our tents where we knew we'd get a good night rest - the chances of a sunrise in the morning as close to nil as possible, the mountain to our east blocking any need to get up early to see the horizon.

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    Looking forward to tomorrow, I had no idea what was in store. If I had, I'd have wished it would never come... but that's another story.
     
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  11. Oct 3, 2019 at 11:53 AM
    #2391
    JeffRoyJenkins

    JeffRoyJenkins Essentially Non-Essential

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    Lake Stevens, WA
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    Nothing too exciting... maybe a little rust
    All of your trip stories are great but I am taking a particular liking to this one. I have wanted to do the Whipsaw for a while and hopefully will be able to plan a trip next year to do it around the same time.
     
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  12. Oct 3, 2019 at 8:00 PM
    #2392
    drr

    drr Primary Prognosticator

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    Look at that power stance! :laugh:
     
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  13. Oct 3, 2019 at 8:08 PM
    #2393
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    AdventureTaco
    Glad you're enjoying. I think you'll have a great time! Would love to see a trip report, including anything else you do while you're up in Canada!

    Rocking it for sure. #PhotoLunge ;)
     
  14. Oct 7, 2019 at 1:52 AM
    #2394
    DetroitDarin

    DetroitDarin Specified

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    Scratches and Whatnot
    *cough* dude...all weekend and no part 4? TacomaWorld IS your life now. You created precedent. You don't get to just "not post online for the benefit of strangers who judge your life based on only the smallest of windows viewing said life? How dare you let me go a weekend without living vicariously through your posts."

    :D

    (of course i'm kidding)
     
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  15. Oct 7, 2019 at 9:04 AM
    #2395
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    LOL. Here I figured that a few minutes of reading during work on Monday would be more appreciated! ;)
     
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  16. Oct 7, 2019 at 9:13 AM
    #2396
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    AdventureTaco
    Whipsaw Trail 4 - My Trip-Ending Discovery
    August 30, 2019.

    As expected, there wasn't much sunrise to see and we all had a good sleep-in on the edge of Whitehead Reservoir. Turns out it wasn't just the fact that we had a hill to our east, but also the fact that it was reasonably overcast - a few minutes of light rain even falling on our tents about half an hour before 8:00am. Still, I could tell it was going to be a beautiful day.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    In no real rush, but also with no reason to hang around, we ate our breakfasts and packed up our stuff. Oh, and we had a discussion about huckleberries - and whether they were a hoax or not - since Mike @Digiratus and Monte @Blackdawg had never seen any! :rofl: We also grabbed a small portion of the cord of firewood that was still remaining and headed west on the trail.

    [​IMG]

    Our destination was Molybdenite Peak - a place I've been wanting to visit for more than two years at this point. With beautiful views and a scree field to traverse, it has all the makings of adventure and excitement that I look for in a trail. For now though, we made our way through more of Canada's evergreen farm, the Lodgepole Pines obviously harvested and re-grown over the years.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The roads here were reasonably well graded - except for a few sections with potholes - and we had a fun time cruising through the corners, dust trailing behind. It did mean a bit wider spacing, but with Ham radios all around, that was no problem at all.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Even at higher speeds, there were plenty of photo stops - Monte often ending up in his trademark pivot around some turn or at the end of some straightaway. I couldn't help but follow suit, which got the desired laughs from Mike as he pulled up on the two goobs.

    [​IMG]

    And then, a trip-changing discovery. As we were wrapping up photos in this exact location - and frankly, as Mike was likely wondering how he could get around us so that he didn't have to put up with our shenanigans - I happened to glance down between the spokes of my rear driver-side wheel... and what I saw took the air out of my sails.

    I saw fluid on my brake drums.

    [​IMG]

    Having just dealt with this on the 4Runner the day before leaving on this trip to Canada, I knew what it was immediately - my axle seal had failed, and I was leaking diff oil. It was a no bueno situation.

    I keyed up my CB radio and told everyone to hang on a minute while I confirmed what I already knew, and as I stood up from the rear of my truck I raised my hands victoriously above my head for Mike to see. Sarcastically, I boasted, "Guess who get's to install new axle seals again?" which of course he couldn't hear because he was inside his rig with the music pumping away.

    I let Monte know as well over the radio, and that was enough to both buds out of their trucks and poking around the rear of mine.

    OK - this is where the story morphs a bit, depending on who's telling it. As I recall, I was ready to keep going to Moly Peak - the excursion there adding some 80-100 miles to the length of our trip - with another 300 miles or so to get home. As far as I was concerned, that was probably few enough miles that I wouldn't totally hork the axle bearing, and I could just fix it when I got home. Mike and Monte on the other hand seemed reasonably concerned. Each of them have had axle seals go in the past, and each of them got only a few hundred miles before really starting to tear up their rear end; in Monte's case, requiring a tow by fellow TWers in order to get to a shop where the seals could be changed. Their strong recommendation was that I should head home as soon as possible.

    Now, I'm not sure Mike and Monte would say that they really told me that I should go home. To them, it was more like a, "Well, here's what happened to us in the past, you make your own decision."

    Whichever way it happened, and perhaps obviously apparent from the title of the post - I did ultimately decide to head home rather than continuing on to Molybdenite Peak. For me, the reasoning was threefold, which I'll capture here just for the sake of posterity:
    1. I'm lucky enough to be able to go on lots of trips - so while it's a bummer that this one is cut short, it's probably better for it to be shortened for me rather than someone else who doesn't get out as much
    2. I had two more trips coming up in less than 10 days after this trip. If I was going to get parts ordered and the seals replaced, I wanted to make sure I had time for everything to arrive from whatever distant Toyota dealership I ordered the parts from!
    3. I had two guys who know more than I do, regaling me with stories of disintegrating axle bearings. And I knew that if there was one thing I didn't want, it was that!
    So, we took a look at our maps and found the place where I'd head south - right where our road crossed BC-5 - some 25 miles or so further west. And then, we picked up right where we'd left off - zipping along and having fun in the dirt, stopping frequently for photos and - I'd like to think - to extend the time before we split ways.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    At one of our stops, a low-lying chopper flew almost directly overhead - our cameras clicking away like anti-aircraft artillery as we tried to capture it silhouetted against the bright blue sky.

    [​IMG]

    It was I think about six miles from BC-5 that we caught our first glimpse of big-rigs making their way up the grade on the paved surface. Still on dirt, we stopped for what I thought was going to be the last time - mostly to chat a bit, but also to decide that we'd stop once more for lunch before parting ways.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And so, with only a mile or two until the highway, we pulled over in a trailhead staging area where the pavement began and ate a meal that - just three hours before - none of us thought would be our last of the trip together. I offloaded the remainder of my chocolate chip cookies into Mike's cab - to keep them safe(r) - and aired up my tires.

    [​IMG]

    Safe travels, handshakes, and good lucks all around and we climbed into our trucks. As our road met up with BC-5, Monte and Mike turned north in my mirrors, as I headed south. It'd been a super-fun trip, even if it'd been cut short. And hey, it gave me an excuse to get back up in to Canada sooner rather than later!

    [​IMG]


    Epilogue

    About two minutes after splitting up, my Ham radio came to life!

    Mike: "And then there were two."
    Monte: "I don't think we've ever been this few before. We had two trucks in Moab, but Devin was with us. So three."​

    ...and to this of course, I couldn't resist.

    Dan: "Hey!"
    Monte: (laughing) "Guess we didn't wait long enough to get out of range!"​

    We all got a good laugh out of that - since it is always the way of a group splitting up - and I wished them a good trip and great photos. As the chatter picked back up I listened as long as I could - long enough to hear that there was a bobcat carrying a squirrel across the road - but not much longer than that.

    Now get out there and explore!


    [​IMG]


    .
     
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  17. Oct 7, 2019 at 9:25 AM
    #2397
    Blackdawg

    Blackdawg Dr. Frankenstein

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    ALL OF THEM!...Then some more.
    Good times man.

    You didn't miss much. Well.. a black bear..some good views..

    But Moly wasn't as special this go around. I know you'll make it there next year!
     
    DetroitDarin and turbodb[OP] like this.
  18. Oct 7, 2019 at 9:40 AM
    #2398
    DetroitDarin

    DetroitDarin Specified

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    I like the way you think - but my monday starts 9hrs before yours - please plan accordingly to satiate me.
     
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  19. Oct 8, 2019 at 9:28 AM
    #2399
    turbodb

    turbodb [OP] AdventureTaco

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    Rear Axle Seals - This Time on the Tacoma

    When it rains, it pours!

    It was only a few weeks ago that I replaced the rear axle seals on the 3rd gen 4Runner. No good deed goes unpunished however, and it was only a couple days after doing the job that the same failure happened on the Tacoma - only this time, I was in Canada.

    Luckily for me, I already had a well thought-through step-by-step list of exactly what to do, and the muscle memory of doing it once twice already.


    And of course, I already had the tools. The most important tool - the Rear Wheel Axle Bearing Puller & Tone Ring Tool/Installer - would once again be worth its weight in gold, helping to remove and install all of the bearings, retainers, and ABS tone rings. Note, this tool works on all types of Toyotas - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen 4Runners ('84-02), 1st gen Tacomas ('96-04), older Hilux, T100 ('92-97), and 1st gen Tundras ('00-06). It's also available with a late model adapter, adding 2nd & 3rd gen Tacomas ('05-present), 4th & 5th gen 4Runners ('03-present), 2nd gen Tundras ('07-present), all FJ Cruisers, and all Sequoias.

    Also this time, I had an OTC Slide Hammer Puller Set - a tool that I'd foregone when doing the job on the 4Runner, but really wished I'd had when I had to make my own lame stand-in. A little prodding from Jason @jubei was enough to push me over the edge to get my own.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    So, as I was on my way home from Canada, I found some free WiFi and ordered all of the parts. On a Friday afternoon at 4:45pm Pacific Time, just before the Labor Day weekend. :frusty:

    That meant that nothing was going out until Tuesday, but I hoped that shipping would be quick and everything would arrive by Friday so I could do the work on the weekend. So, imagine my surprise when a box with parts showed up on Thursday afternoon!
    Friday morning, I set to work. It all went pretty much the same way it had on the 4Runner, except several times faster. (So, if you want to see photos of the entire process, check them out here.) The first step - as always - getting the truck up on jack stands.

    [​IMG]

    The hardest part of this job it turned out was removing the brake drums - both sides requiring some M8-1.25 x 70mm bolts to pry the drums away from the shoes. And, inside the driver side was disgusting.

    [​IMG]

    From there, it was really a simple matter of following the step-by-step guide, using the Rear Wheel Axle Bearing Puller & Tone Ring Tool to pull everything off and press the new bits back on. Man, this is a great tool!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    With the axles rebuilt, it was time to pull out the old axle seals. This is where the OTC slide hammer really excelled. The three jaw attachment fits right into the seal, and the perfectly directional hammering pulls it right out. Easy peasy.

    [​IMG]

    All-in-all, doing both sides of the Tacoma - even though only one side was leaking - took me about 5 hours from pulling the truck out of the garage to getting all my tools cleaned up and put away.

    Quite reasonable if you ask me. Maybe I should start offering my services to others. (Kidding, though I'm happy to if folks are interested in helping or just watching.)

    And of course, fingers crossed that these seals last for a couple hundred thousand more miles. As straight forward as the job is, I'd still rather not do it. LOL.

    :fingerscrossed:
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2021
  20. Oct 8, 2019 at 10:09 AM
    #2400
    TenBeers

    TenBeers Well-Known Member

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    Rich
    Bentonville, AR
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    CBI bed rack and sliders, Backwoods Adventure Mods front and rear bumpers, etc. And some stickers.
    Great pics and narrative once again. You need to do a coffee table book, The Adventures of Turbo -- Douche Bag? OK, maybe that's not what the db in your name is for, and people might get the wrong idea. :p

    That driver's side was quite a mess!

    Looking forward to the next adventure.
     
    turbodb[OP] likes this.

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