Wenas Wildlife Area 4x4 Snow Run - Dec 30 2010 [Archive]

BlindPilot

12-31-2010, 08:41 PM

On Thursday, Dec. 30th, Havo, Havo Jr. and myself, met up for some wheelin off Sheep Company Rd. at 10:00am. I was expecting basically a dirt/mud road run, but I ended up pleasantly surprised to find quite a bit of snow and drifts. There were only 3 rigs on this trip, and we had a great time. I felt a bit lonely, as I usually have my kids along but they ended up staying at Grandmas for a few days. Probably was a good thing since I ended up with a bit of a cold ride, as I ended up breaking one of my side window sliders about 1 mile from my home. It must have been a bit frozen as I tried to open it to adjust my mirror and it broke on me when I applied a bit of pressure on it. :banghead:

I didn't take a whole lot of pics but here they are.

Just getting started we saw 3 or 4 herds of elk across the hills, and later saw a coyote as well.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3047.jpg

Our trail boss Havo busting through a snow drift.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3049.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3052.jpg

Ceg in his CJ5
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3058.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3055.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3056.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3057.jpg

My ride.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3053.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3051.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3060.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3061.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3050.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3059.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3062.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3063.jpg

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e289/BlindPilot78/DSCN3064.jpg

On the way down, we stopped for a bit and shot a few rounds with some guns, doing a bit of target practice. I think that pallet was pretty dead when we left. :)

This was a great day, weather was great, and I had an awesome time! Thanks for the good run guys! :thumbright:

Ceg

01-03-2011, 09:43 AM

Wenas Wildlife Area 4x4 Snow Run
Report by Clay Graham (http://easternwashingtonadventures.com)

On Thursday December 30th, 2010 we met up with three rigs at the Sheep Company Road entrance of the Wenas Wildlife Area for an All Wheelers Off Road Club snow run. The drivers on this day were Havo in his Toyota, BlindPilot in his TJ and myself "Ceg" in my CJ5. Havo was our trail boss on the run. We made it up to the towers and back down through some deep snow drifts and icy roads. A long the way we saw a few herds of elk and some of the guys saw a coyote. The skies were blue so we had a great view of the valleys and the mountains. Both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams could be seen. Two of the three rigs had some mechanical failure but were able to drive back home on their own. I would say this was the best wheelin' I ever done at the Wenas Wildlife Area. The snow was great, my kids had fun and some good friends were there to share the adventure. Here are some pictures of our day.

Airing down at the Sheep Company Road entrance of the Wenas Wildlife Area
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_01.jpg

BlindPilot ready to hit the trail.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_02.jpg

Heading up Durr Road. The road was iced over and very slick
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_03.jpg

Turning onto Bull Pasture Road
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_04.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_05.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_06.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_07.jpg

My Co-pilot Bubz.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_08.jpg

Doc and Odo
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_09.jpg

Nice view of Cleman Mountain
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_10.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_11.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_12.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_13.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_14.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_15.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_16.jpg

Here we stop to see a few herds of elk
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_17.jpg

Here are a few of the elk
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_18.jpg

Moving on through a fun section of trail
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_19.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_20.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_21.jpg

We lucked out that this section was not iced over or we could have been stuck at the bottom. No Trees to winch from.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_22.jpg

My view from the CJ5
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_23.jpg

Here is where some saw the coyote. The kids and I never could see the coyote since it was the color of it's surroundings.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_24.jpg

Some people need to grow up.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_25.jpg

Somewhere along this section of trail my tranny started a loud noise as i was in third gear low range.
I pushed in the clutch and the noise was gone. I started back off in first gear and found it was loud too.
I hit second and all was good. I tried to go into third and could not get it into gear. It would just grind.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_26.jpg

The snow was getting deeper
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_27.jpg

We took a short break before dropping down this next section. You can see the towers where we were headed.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_28.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_29.jpg

And we are off again.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_30.jpg

Walking back to the CJ
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_31.jpg

A little deeper snow
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_32.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_33.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_34.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_35.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_36.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_37.jpg

I stopped here to wait since the other two rigs were having a hard time breaking trail.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_38.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_39.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_40.jpg

Mt. Adams.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_41.jpg

Mt. Rainier.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_42.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_43.jpg

Moving on up so I don't get left I find Havo having a hard time.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_44.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_45.jpg

Havo finally made it and then I had the hard time because of Havo's tracks.
I found that reverse was making a bad noise too. I was able to use reverse enough to rock the rig back and forth.
With rocking it between second and reverse with some high RPMs I made it through.

Havo letting more air out. I took this time to drop my rear tires down to 5 PSI from 9. They aired up 1 PSI since the parking area.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_46.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_47.jpg

We moved on and I had a hard time getting through another section.
The tires threw snow on the windshield. The snow melted fast and then froze as you can see in this picture.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_48.jpg

The snow drifts were deep up by the towers. BlindPilot giving Havo a pull.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_49.jpg

Looking back.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_50.jpg

Both Mt. Adams and Mt Rainier are in this picture.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_51.jpg

Havo stuck again.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_52.jpg

Havo doing a great job breaking trail through the deep snow and BlindPilot finding a better route.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3cy8mpa_g

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_53.jpg

Here we are at the top!
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_54.jpg

The kids ran and played.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_55.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_56.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_57.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_58.jpg

Moving on to go back down Havo gets stuck again. BlindPilot giving him a pull.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_59.jpg

Havo gets on it to break though another deep area.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_60.jpg

Well that did not work so well.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_61.jpg

BlindPilot pulled Havo out again and then we were on our way.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_62.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_63.jpg

These guys were way ahead of me since I only had second gear.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_64.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65YzTkfoIqw

I caught up to the other rigs since Havo had to stop because he lost an u-joint cap. Havo had to run 2 wheel drive on out.

On down Durr Road we drove on ice for miles.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_65.jpg

We stopped for a break and to do a little target practice.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_66.jpg

Doc and Bubz swapped seats.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_67.jpg

http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_68.jpg

Getting up the next hill was not to bad if you had 4 wheel drive.
Havo was running in 2 wheel but had to go into 4 and limp with a bad u-joint.
This picture was right after he unlocked his hubs to prevent any more damage.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_69.jpg

Here back where we started, the Sheep Company Road entrance of the Wenas Wildlife Area.
http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/reports/2010/12/30/Wenas_70.jpg

We aired up and headed out. Lucky my CJ5 is high geared and I only live a few miles away since I had to drive home in second gear.

Later that night we met at Brats N' Brews in West Valley to talk about our day over food and a few brews. Link (http://www.easternwashingtonoffroad.com/showthread.php/8810-Thursday-Night-Get-Together-Brats-N-Brews-Dec-30-2010)

What a great day!!