Past IRC Events and Trail Reports

Here are some trail reports of past IRC events, complete with photos.

• IRC Snow Run - Jan 2008 On Sunday, Jan 06, 2008, the IRC and guests went up Hill 60 west of Duncan and found snow. Lots of it! Five miles in and Three feet deep. Everyone got their kicks on Hill - um, Sixty - no rhyme, but hey! Good Day, eh!
  
  
• IRC Rock Creep - Sept 2007 On Sept. 21-23, the IRC hosted some friends at Horseshoe Bend campsight for a weekend of wheeling and relaxing in the Sun. Thanks to everyone who attended, and a big thanks to Rob McFadyen for organizing.
  
  
• IRC Show-n-Shine - Apr 2007 On Sunday, Apr 22, 2007, the IRC held Ramp Day/Show-n-Shine at Slegg Lumber on Sooke Road. Good Turn out, decent weather, and a lot of fun.
  
  
• IRC Snow Run - Jan 2007 On Sunday, Jan 07, 2006, the IRC went up Mt Brenton to see what they could see. The sledders didn't seem too impressed, but we had fun anyways.
  
  
• IRC hosted Rock Creep '06 near Skutz Falls
  • Glenn's pics
  • Gearhead's pics
  • Chet's pics
  • Lars' pics & write-up
    
    
• IRC Show-n-Shine - Apr 2006 On Sunday, Apr 09, 2006, the IRC hosted a Show-n-Shine at Slegg Lumber on Sooke Road. Rain held off, the turnout was absolutely huge, and it looks like folk had fun.
  
  
• IRC New Years 2006 Snow Run On Sunday, Jan 8, 2006, the IRC and guests went back up Mt. Brenton to find some snow.
  
  
• IRC Show-n-Shine - Apr 2005 On Sunday, Apr 24, 2005, the IRC hosted a Show-n-Shine at Slegg Lumber on Sooke Road. Good weather, decent burgers, and an awesome turnout!
  
  
• IRC Club Run - Jan 2005 On Sunday, Jan 9, 2005, the IRC went up the Renfrew Road to Weeks Lake to play in the copious amounts of snow.
  
  
• IRC New Years 2005 Snow Run On Sunday, Jan 2, 2005, the IRC went up Mt. Brenton near Chemainus in search of snow. We definitely found it!
  
  
• Island4x4 Hillcrest Road/Mt. Sicker Cleanup On Saturday, Nov 20, 2004, the IRC joined up to assist Island4x4 for a trail clean-up.

• IRC 2004 Show-n-Shine On Saturday, April 18, 2004, the IRC held its first annual trail Show-n-Shine at Slegg Lumber on Sooke Road.

• The 2003 Trail clean-up On Saturday, May 03, 2003, the IRC held its annual trail clean-up in the Butler/Boneyard area north of Sooke.

• The 2nd (not quite Annual) IRC 'Play Day' On Sunday, April 06, 2003, the IRC staged its second 'Play Day' at the Burnt Bridge gravel pit near Shawnigan Lake. The event included an obstacle course, a water bucket course, and a trail for people to drive while blindfolded.

• 2nd Annual IRC “Chick Run” On Sunday, February 16, 2003 the IRC hosted othe 2nd annual "Chick Run".

• IRC vs. RIP: December 2002 On Sunday, December 8, 2002, Shane Hofer finally got some takers on his invitation to run RIP, a trail that has seen less than its share of running due to its foreboding name and reputation.

• 1st Annual IRC “Chick Run” On Sunday, February 10, 2002 the IRC hosted our first ever "Chick Run". This idea was spurred from our female-only pre-running of the trails used for last fall's Mystery Run.

• Mystery Run 2001 On Sunday, October 22, 2001, over 60 4x4 enthusiasts took part in a joint adventure between the IRC and Island4x4.com known as the Mystery Run. The event, conceived by Keith Daly of Island4x4.com, was a good excuse to bring the two clubs together to meet each other and have a good time. Well that was definitely accomplished, along with the help of Cara Duffield of Island4x4.com, and Lori Hrynuik and Gina Innes of the IRC.

• The First Annual IRC 'Play Day' On Saturday, March 24, 2001, the IRC staged its first annual 'Play Day' at the Burnt Bridge gravel pit near Shawnigan Lake. Al Vandervelde and a band of helpers arrived bright and early to set up an obstacle course and a trail for people to drive while blindfolded.

• Public Access to Public Lands Rally On Saturday, November 25, 2000, over 500 people joined us at the legislature to increase awareness of the steadily decreasing places we have to go to practise our sport.

• Welcome Warn Group and Friends! On Labour Day, 2001, some IRC members explored the trails around Sooke while hosting the Warn group and their friends from the US.

• Highline 2000, Cameron Valley, BC Over the BC Day long weekend (August 3-7, 2000), IRCers were invited to assist the Highline 2000 organizers as they staged a world record traverse of the Cameron Valley using half-inch rope and some 4-inch pulleys.

• Wilderness Watch Lake Cowichan Area Clean-up On Saturday, May 6, 2000 the Island Rock Crawlers were invited to lend a hand in a Wilderness Watch-organized Clean-up Day near Lake Cowichan. Tons of trash was picked up and disposed of properly during this substantial volunteer effort.

• Sooke Area Clean-up 2000 Saturday, April 17, 2000 was our fifth-annual Clean-up Day in the hills around Sooke. Over fifty people were on hand to pick up trash in three areas: Boneyard Main, Butler Main, and the Harbourview area.

• The New Year's Snow Run 2000 January 2 was chosen as the day for the annual New Year's Snow run. This allowed everyone a full day to recover from the Year 2000 celebrations before heading out for a full day on the trail.

• Trail Report: Rock Creep '99 On the Labour Day long weekend, the Island Rock Crawlers held the first annual Rock Creep. This event was organized to provide club members a chance to camp and run some of the trails from Rock Crawl, but without the added pressure of taking care of guests or doing any chores...

• Bigs and Littles Picnic to Sheilds Lake, July, 1999. For the second straight year, we entertained a group of big brothers and sisters and their little friends by staging a picnic in Sooke Mountain Park.

• Pacific Northwest Four-Wheel Drive Association Trail Jamboree - some IRC members attended PNW 1999 near Naches, Washington, and I doubt anyone will argue that we put up a great showing!

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  The 4th Annual Island Rock Crawlers "Rock Crawl" (May 21-23, 1999), was the largest, most successful event that we had put on to date. This year we saw about 170 vehicles and over 300 people in attendance. Of those 170 vehicles 130 were participant and sponsor vehicles, and the remaining were club vehicles/trail guides. This year we had the usual crowd from BC, Alberta, Washington, and Oregon, and many other places.

• Rock Crawl '98 - the 3rd Annual Island Rock Crawlers "Rock Crawl" was held May 15-18, 1998, when we hosted about 150 vehicles and over 300 people. Most participants came from BC and Washington state, and some came from as far away as Oregon and even South Dakota!

• 2nd Annual Island Rock Crawlers Trail Jamboree (May 16-18, 1997) - Our second annual event was the largest and most successful event so far! In total, over 100 people participated, with more than 50 vehicles, over a beautiful long weekend. Once again, we had participants from as far away as Alberta and Washington. Special thanks to all our sponsors, for providing a bounty of draw prizes, the Sunny Shores camp ground, for graciously accomodating all the trucks and campers, and the Sooke Lions Club, for serving excellent meals.

• 2nd Annual Harbourview Road Clean-Up (April 20, 1997) - For the second time, we headed up Harbourview Rd with our boots, gloves, and trucks, and hauled out as much garbage as we could. This year, we had an 875 cu ft. "roll-off" garbage bin donated by the Greater Victoria Water District, which we filled to overflowing! As well, we extracted 7 wrecked cars, a boat with outboard motor, a complete living room suite of couches, tables, a TV and stereo, and too many appliances to mention. Maybe some day these people will get the message that garbage should be recycled or disposed of properly!

• Fool's Trip (March 29-30 1997) - Traditionally, some friends from the mainland come to the Island on or around April 1st for some four wheeling. This years trip was no disappointment, with some new trails and some old favorites, which have changed quite a bit since last season. "Pigpen's Revenge" claimed another victim.

• IRC Inaugural Trail Jamboree (September, 1996) - We invited everyone we could think of to come on over to the Island to go 'wheeling on our trails. The result was 26 trucks and over 40 people, enjoying a long weekend of camping and driving. The trails were as varied as the vehicles and drivers, but everyone had tons of fun. So much so that the participants couldn't wait a year for our "second annual" event, demanding we organize another run sooner! So, willing victims of peer pressure, we organized our second annual event for 8 months later (see above).
  

• First Annual Harbourview Road clean-up run (April, 1996) - Littering and illegal dumping result in garbage of all kinds on the side (or middle) of our favorite 'wheeling trails and camping spots. The IRC spent a day hauling garbage out of the bush, until we couldn't fit any more in our trucks. Then we spent the rest of the weekend driving around the nice, clean trails.