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NWF11: The TORXreport

TORX

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
NWC
Bear with me I'm winging it. :D

Wednesday morning I finished loading the last few items into the Jeep. I had all my usual wheeling gear, camping gear, and then the additional half ton of raffle prizes and event supplies. The plan was to ideally meet up with PDX1 convoy leaving at 11am with the three ZJ's, John, and Nick.

While waiting at the rendevous point, Nick updated me that Scott was having some trailer issues, and would be a few hours. So John, Nick, and I hit the road around noon up I5.
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The first leg of I5 went by in a flash, from there we got onto HWY12 which puts the US97 route of years past to shame. We made good time, and started up White Pass. Part of it was shut down to one lane, and we luckily got there toward the end of the wait.
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Final leg.
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After pulling into Long Meadow I went to shift into first, and the clutch pedal dropped to the floor. A quick assessment determined the reservoir ran dry, and the their was a leak likely off the internal slave. I added some fluid, pumped the pedal, and had pressure again.

We scouted the area and began setting up our home away from home. Rory had pulled in just before us, and Steve had arrived the previous day. The ZJ crew, and PDX2 convoys arrived later that night. Where were the north enders? :D

Thursday morning we got a slow start, but finally decided to go pre run the route to the rocks. Due to the flooding over spring, our only direct route to the rocks was off 1702 twelve miles down 410. Once we got to the trails, Kris lead the way to the rocks.
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The rocks were mostly clear of all snow except for the patch in the trees below. Katrina was determined to push through a small drift.
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While some were breaking a trail in the snow, others were on the rocks.
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I explored a bit up top, and had Nick spot me up the crack with no problem. Kris blew a driver 760, so while he changed that out a few headed over to Moon Rocks. I started to get the itch to try something new, and began eying the "Snag Line." Shortly after I found myself idling up the base of it. The front end grabbed and started to climb much to my amazement. It felt like it was going to walk right up, but the last little break over proved to be a challenge. I tried a few different lines, and decided to cut hard passenger to get some grip on the rock up top.. bad idea. Front end got really light, and suddenly I was staring at the sky. You know your not in a good spot when you can feel the wind teetering the entire Jeep. Warn came through once again, and helped bring me back down from two tires on the ground to four.

On the way out we got word on the radio Aaron had ripped an LCA apart. The bushing cradle had pulled apart. Ratchet straps were Mcgyvered into place to try and hold the axle in place.
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At one of the turn offs on the 1701 I second guessed myself, and wanted to confirm with Kris who was behind me I went the right way. With all the dust I radioed that the front was stopping. As I look out my window behind me I see Streetpirate come in, and veer off the road. Unfortunately, he found the only drainage hole on the road, and launched his "Sex Palace" four feet in the air. He came down hard, and the WTF look on his face was priceless. It was like it was straight out of the Dukes of Hazzard. After a quick look it was very apparent his Jeep was smiling at us, and the front axle was bent, but still drivable.

Friday morning seemed to come sooner than expected. The "Epic Run" was scheduled to leave at 0800. Since I didn't trust my slave cylinder leak, I rode passenger in Simple Green with Darren.

Kaner Flats was surprisingly in decent shape, and somewhat dry. Rich was elected to lead, and tested the waters. On the first obstacle he sunk it to the axles in the mud. With some creative winch work we got him free, and the group through. Hans, continuing on up 676.
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Rory was just thrilled about the mud. ;)
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At the 676/617 junction we had a group meeting where we decided to stick to the route and try and make it over the ridge. Rory went out ahead while we were talking, and returned a few minutes later. He said there was a decent amount of snow in the trees just around the corner. With several hundred more feet in elevation to climb, and trails going through the trees, we decided it would be best for our group to abort the ridge and take 617 around.
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Water levels were up.
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According to Eric there's two things he hates, "Bridges and bridges."
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The master at work.
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Darren and I passing time on the trail. :laugh:


We cleared a lot of downed trees out of the way, blocked one illegal bypass, and did some channel work on one of the holes. I have a volunteer hour report I'll be looking to send in. Thank you to everyone who gave a hand!
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Boo!
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Eventually we made our way to Upper Wood Pecker. More trees got cleared, and then the the fun in the snow drifts started. We made decent progress at first, but after Rich got twisted up in the lead we made the call to abort the trail and take the road.
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After Simple Green took the checkered flag in the race up the Five Fingers we lead the way over to the rocks. We stopped and played around a bit on the Crack, and Ledge. From there it was an easy drive out 694 and the 1701.

What we saw when we arrived back at camp. What better thing to do when your bored than stack rigs!
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Saturday I lead an easy run back up to the rocks. We left late morning with a group of four, Andy, Joe, Dave, and myself. We arrived at the Funny Rocks just as Scott's "Episode" was taking place. Lessons were learned, things could have gone smoother, but in the end the Jeep was extracted in one peice (minus a draglink, and drivers 760). View from my seat.
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After the trail plug was removed (kidding) we played around a bit. I decided to give the crack another run, and this time it bit back. Rear end fell in on the last climb. I could feel it wanting to drive out, and after a quick assessment I was able to drive it out. Still feeling good, I went back to the Snag Line for round two after watching Kris walk it the day before. Tried a few lines, but she just wouldn't pull up it. I forgot to turn on my e-fan and after working it hard I noticed my temp was pegged. Oops, so I admitted defeat and backed down.

We made our way back to camp, and began setting up for the dinner/prize give aways. Dave cooked a great dinner, and we had a ton of prizes to hand out. We capped off the night with another round of Team Challenge. This year we went with technical over timed, and I think everyone had a lot of fun with it. Congrats to Jesse and Steven for posting the best run.

Sunday was spent packing up, and hitting the road. I topped off the clutch, aired up and joined in on the convoy back. After having to stop for some bicyclists on Chinook, I lost clutch pressure again. I pulled over, and found the reservoir was dry. I dumped some DOT3 in, pumped the pedal and jumped back on the road. I didn't shift again until we reached Packwood where we pulled over for gas. I once again had no clutch, so I expected to top it off again. Unfortunately this time it just kept pumping it out the slave with each pump. It was dripping pretty substantially out of the bell. So I started it in first off the starter, and power shifted the rest of the the way home. I had six red lights I had to get through in Vancouver to get home. I got it down shifted into third off 205, and prayed I hit all greens. Of course with my luck I hit every red light. It was entertaining to pull up to a light down shift to first, shut it off, start it in gear when the light turned green, and then power shift to the next one. None the less I made it home under my own power.



I have to say this was probably the best Northwest Fest to date for me. Everything seemed to work out great considering the motto this years was, "We're winging it!"

My shout outs-
Dave: Awesome job on dinner, I couldn't have done it with out you. Thanks for all the help.
Darren: Thanks for putting up with me all day on Friday, and helping out with the raffle. Big help.
Tim: Thanks for helping out with set up on Saturday, and bringing the NE crew down. I hope I can make it up for a run this year.
Alyssa,Brenda,Katrina: You guys rocked on hanging banners, and assembling goodie bags. Huge weight off my shoulders. Task after task, it was always, "Okay, no problem." Thanks for the help!
Hans,Michael: From the pre event discussions on conditions, to the experience and knowledge of the area, you two played a big part in how smooth NWF went this year. Thanks for all the advice and help, much appreciated.
Rich: Excellent job on leading on Friday. You were the guinea pig for the group, and you and your passengers were champs all day.
Steve: Thanks for helping out with the group on Friday to the rocks, and staying behind with Aaron. I knew he was in good hands. Unsung hero!
Dan: Thanks for taking on the trophy nominations. I had no idea how I was going to take it on, and you stepped up.
Rory: Thanks for sponsoring the Epic Run this year. Awesome shirts, and it was fun having you on the trail. Thanks for all the support for the NWC.
Finally, THANK YOU to everyone who made it out this year. This whole event wouldn't be possible without your support. We put this on for you, and it's always rewarding to see the turnouts.

I know I'm forgetting a bunch of people, but as you can see this wasn't done single handily. Everyone pitched in this year, and I appreciate it.
 
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