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From: "James Hassi" (james.hassi@allsop.com)
Well Guys (and Gals) -
I have bit my tongue for a couple of days now, but I can't hold out anymore with all this talk of the GSMTR. I was hoping that John Barron (that locker luvin, diesel driving fool from the island) would make a post. Perhaps he and Lori Don't want to toot their own horn, so I guess I'll jump in. (But I will cover this in brief so that John or another IRC member can write a real trip report)
First a comment about the list: As some may know, I recently relocated from Northern California (yes I left Fordyce and Rubicon behind) and moved to Bellingham WA. I had contact from several listers before I went, and when I got up here, I hooked up with Kurt Brunhaver. I went up to Canada with him the first weekend I was here to a Toyota dealer Land Cruiser invitational drive in. Saw lots of cool vehicles (and more diesels and rust than you can shake a stick at) and met Rob Mullen, Kim Johnson and a few others. Bottom line: I moved, but I knew people here because of the list, and now I have friends to talk Cruisers with and go wheelin.
Prelude:
I had been interviewing with the company I have joined since late October, so I had a pretty good idea I would be moving up here. The dilemma was whether to leave my rig (I learned the Canadians simply call them trucks) in California and do the Rubithon, or bring it up on the first part of the move and gample that I could arrange my time and have my rig ready to go.
Beginning:
SInce I now have a 14 month old son, and the date that he will be allowed to wheel approaches (well I still have a year before he can go hardcore), I decided to sell my very beefy cage to a club member in California before I left so that I could build a family cage. So I arrive in B'ham without a rollcage. I ordered the parts, but they weren't going to arrive in time. As Kurt decided he wanted to tag along with me, and since his 40 is frame off right now, we decided to slap his cage in my rig for the IRC the night before we were to leave.
The Event:
This was the second year that the IRC was put on. John's SO Lori is the club president, and I have to hand it to the club - they put on an excellent event!
Kurt and I arrived Friday night, so we missed the first day of the event (it seems that Canadians get about one 3 day weekend a month, and they always tack on a day to make it a 4 day). I was having some concerns about leaking gear lube from my T-case, as well as some unidentified crunchy banging sounds, but I had lube and a spare rear driveline, so I set my fears aside.
The IRC was open anyone, so we had a good mix of vehicles, mostly J#@ps and Cruisers (BJ-40's, HJ-60's, FJ-40's,FV8J-40's, FJ-45, BJ-70 am I missing any John?) a couple of Samis including a longbox, and Toyota minis including Lori's turbo diesel which I did not see in action.
I met listers from this list, the ORD and the J**P list who are also on the ORD including (but I am sure that I'll most): John & Lori, Rob Mullen, Ian Archibald, Scott Shannon, Larry Soo (the guy has a quick wit even when the CC is doing the talking), Rob Bryce and more. John and I joked about our ongoing dialog on lockers vs. LSD's.
Saturday:
I won't get into too much discussion about the trails themselves, but I will say that I was totally impressed with the quality of the rigs and drivers who were participating. John was our trail leader, and after doing the planned 2 trails, we decided to do Cats back. John Went up first, and I went up next. Now I have been wheelin Cruisers for a little while, and I have never been winched, tho I had been strapped in my previous 73 FJ-40, but never needed help in my 71. On the approach to part of the Cats Back trail, there was a wet dirt hump that you had to go up that wasabout 70 degrees prom the trail, and almost perpendicular to the fall line. Well I bounced off once, backed up and tried to get a better line, bounced off again and ended up perpenicular to the fall line. I began to manouver and both uphill wheels lifted. I everyone standing around jumped on to surf, and John ran his minch cable down to stabilize me while I got back in line. I then used a winch assist to get up that spot, and later again to get lined up on Cat's Back. Wow - on the hook twice in one day!!! It ended up that nearly everyone else used the hook at the lower spot. I was impressed that there was not the macho element that I have seen so many times that says 'Nope - I'll try again' and sheetmetal damage ensues.
Sunday:
Once again I decided to jump from the group I had been assigned to to go with John. We did Pigpen's Revenge a most excellent trail! When I got to the top of the mean climp without a hitch, I just couldn't get the shit eating grin off my face. This was turning out to be some first class wheeling.
Insert mandatory birfield breakage story here: One guy with an HJ-60 was coming up Pigpen's, and was a bit stuck. He was kind of jammed up in the rocks, spinning his front tires, when his buddy reminded him that his locker wasn't on. He engaged it, spun forward, the reverse and BANG! (though I can't remember whether he was going forward or reverse, but it doesn't matter since the breakage was due to a locked front end spinning and then touching down fast!) Well John got winched up the rest, and at a lunch stop by the river, John B., Rob M., and John ? tore the front down, pulled out a spare birf and began the fix. Once it was clear that the repair was well in hand, John and Rob led the rest of the group through an additional4 or 5 trails. Gas-It-Hill was fun, and Canopener was a challenge (like in California, a wrong line or hesitation can bring severe sheet metal damage - I did see the Ranger that gave the rock it's name!
At the end of the day we took a trail that hadn't yet been run that year to a secret place - worth the trip, I won't tell you about it, you just have to go). Several downed trees had to be sawn and winched, and at one point I had to lower the bows on my softtop to get under a tree laying over the trail. I guess I must have been the tallest rig since no one else had problems.
Good attitude counts for a lot. Jacques and claude in their practically stock Sami longbed went everywhere with a smile a joke and lots of the go pedal. Some clutch feathering on Gas It Hill put up a choking cloud of clutch, but they got up and kept us amused.
A good rig can mask a bad driver to a point, but a good driver can make a bad rig shine. We had one J#@p driver in our group on Sunday who had a nice Wrangler w/o too much done to it, who just drove perfectly. The rest of us were impressed, especially since half the time he was shielding his 3 year old navigator from the brush. If the IRC had a driver's award he deserved it. His son had a blast, so next year Ethan will get his taste of Canadian Rock!
Wrap Up:
I had a blast. Despite an electrical problem that left my amp guage reading off center and burned a good chunk of wiring, and nagging worries about what my crunchy bangy noises were. My rig went everywhere I wanted to and performed excellently. Aside from my bad line ups on Cats Back, I thought I did a pretty good job driving.
The event was in a simple word: GREAT! Low key, good trails, good personalities and well prepped rigs. Oh yeah: great weather too! I am sure Kurt will agree we had a great time!
Warning:
If you value your paint job, and will feel bad if it it looks like someone took a wire brush down the sides and top of your rig, don't come. I was amazed at how tough my softtop is. Brush was a near constant, with many eye-high snapping branches and snags reaching out at every corner, but so far as I have seen, no rips or deep scratches. BTW- There was one J@#p guy there who had just painted his rig (in fact he claimed that it dried on the ferry), and at the end of the weekend, it looked 10 years old - tho I am sure when cleaned and buffed it will look fine!
Also - Don't drive behind a cold diesel. And John - it looks like I will have to get a locker in case next year the trails are wet.
The Bottom Line:
I'll be back next year!
Jim Hassi
(with no .sig since MSMail doesn't let me do one as near as I can tell)
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