Solv clean up, saddle up check & day trip

AwesomeXJ

AwesomeXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Vancouver WA.
Josh and I met up with kenny at McDonald's in northplains at 7 and stopped at shell for some ohv permits then rolled out to the sand shed. We got there pretty early but better early than late. There was a pretty large amount of folks. After mingling with the other participants for an hr or so. Stephanie beal from ODF got us broken into 3 groups. We decided to go with Jahmaal Rebb (who we are working on saddle up with) to go plant some trees.
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Afterward we went and planted trees at another location next to the begining of cedar tree. But I git no pics of that. Then, we went to a shooting area and picked up targets and garbage.
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It was at this point the clean up was over. We headed up to saddle up to check on its condition to find it was free of snow and ready to begin working on. (sorry didn't get pics) we hiked the center line of the new route and got great input from torx, Jeremy & kenny. Afterwards it was time to air down and hit some trails. We ran hogs back hill which was interesting in my 5spd 3.07s but performed well. Then hogsback trail and rocky uphill bypass. It was a lot of fun with the sway bar connected. From here we hard packed it over to waterfall. For an eventful ending.

Thx to all who showed up, this is now an annual event for me.
 
Aaron pretty much summed up the day's events well enough, but I'll throw a few more pics in here as well.....
(I had forgot my camera at home, so all I had to document this trip was my cell phone - sorry in advance for the crappy pics)
Approx Zero-dark-thirty Aaron and I were on the Road from his place to meet those who decided to show up at the McDonalds in North Plains


We grabbed some grub, and met Kenny there, BS'd for a bit, then hit the road.
Aaron needed to stop for an OHV permit at the Shell, and seeing as this was the first and only permit that the New Awesome XJ has seen.....
"Mr. Barnes" was taking extra special precautions to ensure proper placement......


We made it to the sand shed just below Roger's staging area fairly early....there were only 2 other rigs there, so we hung out and shot the breeze for a while until all the others filtered in......
The turnout was larger than expected, and it was nice to see that many people coming out to lend a hand with this.
Just as Aaron said, after mulling around, & socializing for a while, Stephanie Beal took control, and had everyone split up into groups.


Since I had spent most of the morning to this point talking to Jahmaal Rebb about Saddle Up and various other ODF Projects,
I figured that we (those of us from NAXJA -Myslef, Aaron, Kenny, Jeremy, and Dustin) should stick with him for the day.
Just as Aaron stated our goal for the day was a fairly extensive tree planting project.
I'm not sure how Aaron felt about all the hiking and stooping we had to do....but in this pic, he does not appear to be too happy about it all......
(either that, or that's his "I'm hungry boy...why dont you come hither" look.....


Ryan from Bri & Bub Offroad showed up as well, and hung out with us from the majority of the work day..... (Aaron's "come-hither" look worked well)
...meanwhile, Jeremy and Kenny were bringing up the rear flank....


As Aaron was explaing to Ryan "While you're down there"
Dustin was in a fantastic mood throughout the day, and was more than willing to share his enthusiasm.....


Jeremy was a pro with a shovel, spotting proper locations for diggin holes in the dirt for the fledgling trees to be placed.


After the two locations of tree planting, and a slight pause while Jahmaal & I helped decipher some blueprints for a Trailsman Worker who was building a new quad bridge...we headed out to an area where some people decided to use as a clay pigeon shooting range, and we picked up a TON of trash.....
This is about 2/3 of just what OUR group had picked up.
There was a whole nother F250 that was brimming with garbage as well.


After the litter pickup, the work day was done, and it was time for the NAXJA crew to head out to Saddle Up so Aaron and I could asses the condition of the area, re-examine the flagging/markings from last summer (many had disappeared or had moved form the weather/melt off)....and to re-walk the center-line to show the others how the new trail was going to be laid out.


Reforestation crews had already come in, and although were instructed not to plant within the boundaries of our markings, had done so in many areas regardless.
Here you can see a new planting (center) just in front of one of our center-line flags (top)


Kenny, Jeremy, and Dustin were all very receptive to the layout of the new trail design. They all asked a lot of questions along the way, and had a lot of good feedback.
I'm confident that we're all on the same page now, and that they have a good understanding of the goal, concept, and what it's going to take to complete the project.
 
This winter had definitely taken its toll on the area.
There was a ton of blow down and broken trees all through out the still-forested areas.


It was so severe that at one point, the winds had broken a tree.....
(top center is the base - top-left is the lower portion of the break)


....the other half.....stuck into the ground like a spear.....
(Here you'll see that Kenny was "using the force" like a Jedi to attempt a relocation of the downed tree.... the force is not strong in this one)
 
We re-grouped back at the Cherokees, and with the help of Jeremy, we re-marked the location for the new entrance to the new Saddle Up. It most likely will be a few weeks until we can get our own work crew up there, but will try to have ODF start in on the cut in and construction of the entrance, staging area and filter in the mean time.


After that we headed up to hogs back, and Aarons new late model, did as well as expected with the 31" A/T's in the muck. Every one else made it up with ease, and Kenny made it look real easy with his new Long Arm Kit.


Making our way over to waterfall, Dustin gave it the first shot, and with a minor amount of difficulty, eventually made it up without too many issues. (minus a near flop, which resulted in a desperate call for Aaron as counter balance on the high side, and me jumping in as support on the opposite side to aid in the prevention of a roll over. - Kenny has the pics of this epic moment.)


Some careful tire placement, and diligence proved to be the key to the eventual success.


Caleb gave it a go, and with some volunteering of the large stump to aid in some self clearing of the hoods protrusion....




Once the hood and fender were sufficiently clearanced, the subsequent roll-back resulted in the partial removal of the grill and headlight bezel.....


Since partial removal is not how we do things here in the NWC.....
Aaron stepped in to show Caleb how to properly take care of things....


SUCCESS!!!!!
(thats more like it!)


It appeared as if Caleb needed a bit more traction, so I threw him my quick deflator, and we got him aired down a bot more.


Unfortunately, the 33x9.50's just would not hook up right on the slick rock, but with a little finesse, we finally got him in a position to where he could winch up.


NWC members coming together like Voltron to aid in the cable pull.....


Kenny and Aaron decided to bypass, but we stuck around for quite a while and watched a three way gang-bang of rigs attacking Waterfall.


At the end of the day, we hard-packed it back down to the sand-pit for some airing up, and saying our goodbyes...


All-in-all it was a great day. And along with Aaron, I will be making this an annual event also.

As for Saddle-Up, we will keep you guys up to date on work parties, scheduling and progress, as it develops.
Thanks again to all who came out and helped, and I hope to see you again soon.
 
Last edited:
Re: Solv clean up, saddle up check & day trip

Nice write up.

For the record.. in that pic referenced as my hungry look I was looking for another place to put a tree...:thumbup:
 
Solv clean up, saddle up check & day trip

I wish I could have gone. Maybe one day I won't have to work weekends.
 
As Ice Cube once said, "It was a good day."

This was my forth year attending the SOLV Clean-Up, and I was blown away by the turnout of volunteers we had on Saturday. Not only did we have a great turn out from NAXJA, but Cascade Cruisers, GitOut, Bri & Bub, and many individual volunteers also were in attendance.

Much to our surprise we were told garbage really wasn't a huge issue this year. So with the large turnout we all broke into groups to tackle other projects needing some hours. For team NAXJA, that meant working on a forest rehabilitation project, and planting some trees.





After planting some trees in two locations, and helping pick up a shooting site, we ventured up to our adopted trail Saddle Up. Josh and Aaron did a great job explaining their visions for the trail, and I will say I'm stoked for the project. Between NAXJA and ODF, TSF has a kick ass trail in the works.

Then it was time to let the air out of the tires and wheel. Aaron in the new AwesomeXJ2.0 on it's maiden voyage up Hogsback. It'll grow on you, Aaron. ;)


Eventually we arrived at Waterfall. The right side line kept giving me some unexpected trouble. Everything felt right, but I couldn't get it to connect. So upon trying to maneuver the rear end further to the bank, the Nail Salon got a bit tipsy. (Picture cred to Kenny)


I had been in that spot a million times before, and it always felt bad, but I never had the Jeep actually start to go over. Luckily it stopped enroute to a flop, that's when Josh and Aaron were quick to get a hand on the Jeep to anchor it. Thanks, guys! After that I grabbed reverse and goosed it out of it. NBD.

I've said this before and I hope to not say it again, but it's situations like those where I wish I had a cage. The completely unexpected "oh sh!t" situations. Granted that would have been a gentle flop, but still.

After getting back on all fours, I gave it another shot, and this time connected. (Picture cred to Kenny)


Caleb gave it a hell of an effort after me. Performed the headlight/head panel delete mod. Ended up pulling cable. A built TJ after him mangled his fender and hood trying to get up, and ended up pulling cable. Overall Waterfall definitely had some attitude on Saturday.

All in all, I had a great time, and encourage everyone to try and make it out next year. Clean-up events may sound lame, but they are always a great time. Thanks to everyone who made it out.
 
Solv clean up, saddle up check & day trip

TORX said:
As Ice Cube once said, "It was a good day."

This was my forth year attending the SOLV Clean-Up, and I was blown away by the turnout of volunteers we had on Saturday. Not only did we have a great turn out from NAXJA, but Cascade Cruisers, GitOut, Bri & Bub, and many individual volunteers also were in attendance.

Much to our surprise we were told garbage really wasn't a huge issue this year. So with the large turnout we all broke into groups to tackle other projects needing some hours. For team NAXJA, that meant working on a forest rehabilitation project, and planting some trees.





After planting some trees in two locations, and helping pick up a shooting site, we ventured up to our adopted trail Saddle Up. Josh and Aaron did a great job explaining their visions for the trail, and I will say I'm stoked for the project. Between NAXJA and ODF, TSF has a kick ass trail in the works.

Then it was time to let the air out of the tires and wheel. Aaron in the new AwesomeXJ2.0 on it's maiden voyage up Hogsback. It'll grow on you, Aaron. ;)


Eventually we arrived at Waterfall. The right side line kept giving me some unexpected trouble. Everything felt right, but I couldn't get it to connect. So upon trying to maneuver the rear end further to the bank, the Nail Salon got a bit tipsy. (Picture cred to Kenny)


I had been in that spot a million times before, and it always felt bad, but I never had the Jeep actually start to go over. Luckily it stopped enroute to a flop, that's when Josh and Aaron were quick to get a hand on the Jeep to anchor it. Thanks, guys! After that I grabbed reverse and goosed it out of it. NBD.

I've said this before and I hope to not say it again, but it's situations like those where I wish I had a cage. The completely unexpected "oh sh!t" situations. Granted that would have been a gentle flop, but still.

After getting back on all fours, I gave it another shot, and this time connected. (Picture cred to Kenny)


Caleb gave it a hell of an effort after me. Performed the headlight/head panel delete mod. Ended up pulling cable. A built TJ after him mangled his fender and hood trying to get up, and ended up pulling cable. Overall Waterfall definitely had some attitude on Saturday.

All in all, I had a great time, and encourage everyone to try and make it out next year. Clean-up events may sound lame, but they are always a great time. Thanks to everyone who made it out.
Click to expand...

Is this hogs back trail?
 
Re: Solv clean up, saddle up check & day trip

bmikes said:
Oh! I want to try that soon! Is it possible without being locked?
Click to expand...

Even highly built rigs were winching up, it has gotten a lot worse and dug out. So I would say not a chance without lockers now. It use to be fairly easy on 33's and a front locker. Rigs with 35's geared and locked were winching. never seen it that bad
 
Re: Solv clean up, saddle up check & day trip

chero-car said:
Even highly built rigs were winching up, it has gotten a lot worse and dug out. So I would say not a chance without lockers now. It use to be fairly easy on 33's and a front locker. Rigs with 35's geared and locked were winching. never seen it that bad
Click to expand...
I used to be able to make it up on 31s Open/open

It's one of the trails that is heavily used and constantly evolving :wierd:
 
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