We drove up Friday evening, where we met of with Chrispy's parents , who left early to get a camp spot.
The snow park was barely even half-ful, unlike many other Memorail Day weekends of the past. The weather had just rained a bit the day prior, but we had great weather and sunshine all weekend. Could not have asked for better weather or trail conditions.
My uncles met us at camp on Saturday morning, where we plotted our route. We drove about 8 miles back down North Fork Rd, where we took a left and headed toward Nasty Creek.
After following the main road for several more miles, we took a left at Strobach Mt Jeep Trial (613). From the North-East end, this trail is very rocky and bumpy, with some beautiful views.
We hit one short section with a very slimy hill, which my uncle in front of me took like a walk in the park. I got stuck, and did the others behind me a favor by making several attempts and making the trail even worse.
Now this, my friends, is a rare sight. He got stuck. I may have the only photographic evidence out there...
Third time is a charm:
After the slime hill, there was a 100 yard run of real tight trees, rocks, and roots. Not long after that, disaster happened. The Grand Cherokee decided to break a mount tab on the steering gearbox, and subsequently broke the other two mount bolts. Looooooong story short, we hid the Grand in the trees, headed back to camp, and Chrispy/Steve ran back to the Tri-Cities to snag a spare gearbox.
The following day, we headed out for the Rescue Run. We decided to go the reverse of the intended route, as it appeared a shorter distance to the broken down vehicle. We headed up the North Fork to Blue Lake, which I have never seen without snow/ice.
Over 5 decades of wheeling standing next to me:
From there, we headed up the North side of Blue Lake, to the "warming hut" lookout. Un-be-lievable view:
From there, we headed North-East and took a left at the Strobach Mt Jeep Trail (613). Oh, my, what a fantastic technical trail! Lots of trees, hairpin switchbacks, fresh deadfall, very steep grades, and leftover snow in the mix. It was real tight in the YJ. We made it to the broken Grand, though, and got her repaired. From there, we split in two groups. My uncle and I headed back the way we came, and Chrispy and his dad headed the direction they had taken the Grand up the day prior. We took it easy going back to camp, and everyone made it back safe.
Overall, we had a fantastic weekend, hitting some fantastic trails. Good food, good peeps, good wheelin', good time.
