The Rover-Landers of BC

I see this one coming up on the calendar. We'd love to join this trip, and happy to volunteer my house in Sunshine Valley as a meeting/staging area for anyone who wants it. (we are 10 mins past Hope in the direction of Princeton, on Hwy 3).

Is there a sign-up list for this trip somewhere?

Ray

On this trip you can just post your intensions here. Some us are going up Saturday morning some are going up after the ABFM (Saturday night) We can certainly meet you in Sunshine Valley as we are driving right past. Those that are leaving Saturday morning will probably meet at Tim Horton’s Whatcom road around 9:00 am.

I'll possibly be visiting my girlfriend that weekend who'll be planting out of Princeton. I haven't been on a club run in years! I can't quite remember the trail route...and last time I did it was in my IIA. Will my crummy old unlifted Discovery stand a chance on 31" ATs? The IIA is patiently waiting for a new engine:P

A stock Discovery will go through the Whipsaw with little difficulty, however at this early time of the year there could be a fair amount of snow as we are over 6,000 feet. We won’t know the conditions until we drive up there and have a look. You are most welcome to come along. Chains, shovels and most important recovery points are needed for this trip as well as camping gear and remember no one gets left behind.

I have been having trouble finding chains to fit my 35" tires. And the prices I have been quoted (even though they have none in stock) are outrageous.

Anyone have a line on a good cheap place to buy some 2nd-hand chains?

Alternatively, I am thinking of making a set myself, logger-style, with 1" chain links. I would only use them for deep snow or sticky gumbo, so I'm not worried about running the links on pavement.

Anyone have any experience making their own set of chains?

Ray

Ray we won't turn you away if you don't have chains, it just makes it harder for you to keep up, so if you have no luck getting some, come anyways.

I managed to get 2 pairs lined up today.

I was at Canadian Tire in Chilliwack for 2 hours getting one of my trucks inspected for Canadian registration, so the parts guy and I spent a couple of hours on the phone going from store to store.

Managed to get them for $300 per pair for heavy-duty U-bar chains (for off-road only apparently), vs the $460 per pair that Lordco quoted me.

I was on the FSR behind my house yesterday, up to about 2500 feet, still quite a bit of snow around.

Ray

OK, I tried the new chains in the snow and ice today, they are pretty awesome, but the way they are designed you dont want to really run them on rocky ground or shale or anything. Even a slow crawl on the bits of gravel that showed through the snow if spots was pretty uncomfortable. But on ice, holy smokes, they are awesome. I will mail in some pics if anyone wants to see them.

Anyone have any details on the Whipsaw overall plans? I want to prep the wife and kids so there are no surprises, so things like expected travel/camp timing, are we going to tent in the same spot both nights? Stuff like that.

Thanks

Ray

Hi Ray,

Details are still likely to change, but to give you an idea this is what has happened on past early runs at Whipsaw .....

Depart Whatcom Road approx 9.30am, so will be running through your area about 10.30am. Highway 3 to Princeston. Fuel up and head to Coalmont arrive approx 2pm. Start on the Whipsaw trail heading to Lodestone Lake, normally would take 1hr in the summer, could possibly take 3-4hrs depending on snow. If we make Lodestone lake we normally make this the first overnight camp spot. If we don't make Lodestone then we will fall back to Coalmont and camp at Granite city.
The second night is optional, some will head for home on Sunday, others will see how far they can push down the trail, camping somewhere along the trail on Sunday night (where and when depends on snow depth).
Very hard to predict, best to keep all options open!
We will confirm more details as we get nearer to the date,
cheers,
Andy

Now..............
For all of you fine folks who just like me have come to the sad realization that the buffing kit you have ordered and so hoped would come in time for VanDusen Garden show in fact will not be here till the following week and will not be able to attend and greet others with your smiley face there is an alternative equally as exciting as the ABFM show !!
Our first camping/adventure/exploration trip of the year.
Just like above where our fine Mr President mentioned, we will meet Saturday May 16 around 9 o'clock at Whatcom Rd. fully assembled depart by 9:30
After a fuel/food stop in Princeton we will head to Coalmont and up to Lodestone Lake.
If we are unable to run the entire trail and have time left we will head back and try to enter from Hwy #3
Most likely back home in early evening on Monday.

There will be several Unimogs joining us on this trip and it seems like we will have a fair size group for our first Whipsaw run of the year.
So don't be shy , come and join us!!
Unless of course, you were one of those lucky bastards and did get your buffing kit in time!!

Kris

Well, I got the tent aired-out today ready for this trip. I am wondering if there are any other kids coming along? My three boys will be going.

We will be going up on Saturday morning. I will meet you guys along hwy 3 so I dont have to back-track. Anybody in the sat am main group I can be in contact with via phone if there are delays?

Ray

Have fun everyone wish we were coming but have to travel to Europe for a few days. See you on the next one!

All the best,
John and Sandrine

Hi Ray,

I will be going along with Bailey, my 10 yr old.

Sounds like you are going to have your hands full with 3 in the car :shock:

I still haven't confirmed my departure time yet, I will do in the next couple of days....

cheers,
Andy

Hello all, I will be be coming out in my 75ish :? 109. I look forward to meeting everyone, this will be my first run. I'll be coming out with my brother in law and my dog.

I plan on meeting everyone at Whatcom rd around 9am so see you there... :occasion5:

I'll be heading up on Saturday morning and plan to be at Whatcom at ~ 9:00 and on the road no later than 9:30. I expect to meet Kris and Mark in Chilliwack and Alex in Hope. We're thinking that we'll go up the Coquihalla and through the Champion trail to Lodestone.

Andy, are you going up Friday night or Saturday morning?

Regards,
Pete

Hi Pete,

See you at 9am Saturday at Whatcom Rd for a Timmy's breakfast!

Ray, does Hope work fo you as a meet point? Maybe post or PM us your cell number.

Hi Landlover, glad you can make it! See you at Whatcom Rd.

Andy

I will feed the family at home, and if you plan to go up the Coquihalla then I will meet you guys in Hope with Alex. I am 10 mins from Hope up hwy 3.

my home number is 604-860-0308 or cell is 604 889 2169

Ray

Ok so the plan is to go up the Coquihalla through the back country and up Champion. The weather forecast tonight and tomorrow is for heavy snow in the southern mountain passes including the Coquihalla which is much lower in elevation than lodestone. Champion is north facing and very steep. This plan is ill conceived, inconsiderate, foolish and dangerous. So I’ll see Saturday morning at Tim Hortens.

shawn doherty wrote: ill conceived, inconsiderate, foolish and dangerous

Are you referring to the plan or me? Inconsiderate, foolish and dangerous I may be, but I can't comment on being ill conceived. You'll need to ask my dad...

Instead of meeting Kris and Mark in Chilliwack, we're going to meet in Hope at the Chevron at 10:30. So we'll leave Whatcom at 9:30 and Hope at 10:30. We may not be able to refuel until we're back in Hope so you may want to fill up in Hope before we head up the Coq.

We're going to try going in via Champion but if we can't make it, we'll take Highway 3 back through Princeton and try the trail from the south. In any case, it's going to be cold at night with plenty of snow still on the ground so come prepared.

Regards,
Pete
Cell: 604.505.0541

i have an inch of fresh snow at my place outside Hope this morning.

Does it make more sense for us to go in via the hwy 3 route?

Ray

I think the climb up to Lodestone is easiest via Champion (despite what that trouble-maker Shawn posted!) with the only exception being that the Highway 3 approach is from the south. Regardless, I still think we should try Champion first.

I was planning on coming out, this being my first trip, however I have encountered some problems while working on my brakes. Does anyone have a tandem brake master cylinder?

If anyone has one that would be fantastic then I can come out to this run. I have already tried rebuilding it and that was unsuccessful...please PM me if you can help. If not have fun at Whipsaw and I guess I'll meet everyone later...

Where in Hope should I plan to meet everyone at 10:30?

Hi Ray,

Pete mentioned to meet at the Chevron gas station at 10.30 in Hope.
We have your Tel. number so will call you if we are off schedule a little.
I hr should be plenty of time for us to get from Whatcom to Hope.

cheers,
Andy

Do you guys think a Freelander with a 2" lift can make it up there this time of year? Unfortunately my Series will not be ready until Tuesday...

Hi Landlover,

One of our members brought out a FreeLander a while ago and it did excellent in the snow, as it was smaller and lighter it was able to get up ontop the snow and made it a lot further than most!
Do you have Snow / AT / MT tyres or chains?

Its easy enough to tug each other through the sticky sections but that requires you to have good tug-points on the front and rear of the FreeLander.

cheers,
Andy

Awesome, the truck is packed, the boys are in bed, the sky is clear, and the dogs are getting dropped at the kennel early in the morning. I am amazed that we have gotten 5 people and all our gear (winter camping is never light...) into the truck since I don't have the roof rack on right now.

I am not planning to bring any Diesel Jerry Cans along for myself since I have twin tanks, but if anyone needs I can bring along a spare Jerry can of diesel if someone else wants to carry it.

We will see you guys at the Chevron at 10:30.

Cheers

Ray

At first I thought about the Freelander but then realized I'd have to tent it, my Series III is a camper so I'd have to pack a lot into the Freelander and I don't have the right equipment to sleep out in the cold weather anymore. No chains just A/T tires too...

The Freelander does impress everyone that hasn't seen one in action though, it's a surpirsing little hippo. Have fun @ whipsaw I've never been so take lots of pictures! :occasion5:

Hi All,

Wow... what great weather for our first assault on the Whipsaw trail!
I think everyone is a little burnt around the edges!

We were (as expected) turned around by deep snow. We tried from two different approaches to get up to Lodestone but both ways were blocked by heavy snow and steep climbs when we were just a couple of km's from the lake.

A great turn out, 6 Land Rovers, 4 Uni-mogs and 1 Toyota.

Great to spend some time camping out in the mountains, lets try the trail again in a few weeks..... Photos coming to the Gallery soon,

cheers,
Andy

Great trip, lots of fun, the whole family had a great time. Thanks to all the organizers.

Were there only 4 Unimogs? They were so darn big that it seemed like there were more of them.

Or as my boys called them, Uni-Gogs, as in "I was a a-gog, they were so big".

Cheers

Ray and Family.

Photos of the Whipsaw Run and the ABFM are now up in the Gallery.
Bill