"TREAD Lightly" Principles

Travel only where permitted.
Respect the rights of others.
Educate yourself.
Avoid streams, meadows, wildlife, etc.
Drive and travel responsibly.

If everyone would follow these simple guidelines, there would be a lot less problems with back country use. Most four wheel drive enthusiasts do, but there are a few that need to be educated or else we will all lose the right to back country access. We all know that once an area is closed, it will be very difficult to have it re-opened.

Please read the club's Code of Conduct and follow it!

January's Club Trail Run Reports

South Island, January 10, 1999 - Harbourview

Sunday's good turnout at Harbourview Road allowed us to divide into two groups. One group was going to head toward Crabapple Lake, the second group headed over Mossy Hill. The rains are improving Mossy Hill, with rocks seeming larger and the holes seeming deeper. These are all Good Things! Cleavage Rock itself continues to get deeper! Rob Brooks found that out by sliding passenger-side down, and inflicting a decent amount of damage on his truck, including breaking the driver's-side engine mount. That was enough to turn him back. The rest of that group continued up Mossy Hill and broke for lunch at the top, overlooking the bay. All but Wyatt went through the mud hole on top of Mossy Hill. He was going to head back down the hill and meet up with us later. We didn't proceed very far before we heard him on the CB saying he had brake problems. Rick walked back to help with repairs, and Rob was going to turn around to help make sure he got out safely. Then, Neil and Rob Mazuch appeared, having traveled up the back-side of Mossy Hill.They helped Wyatt return to Harbourview Road while Rob, Garrison, and the others continued down the back-side of Mossy Hill, where there is a new washout forming, which shall prove interesting as the rains continue. It is already wide enough that only a Hummer can straddle it - and Rob can attest to that! After that short mishap, the group returned via Harbourview Road to the start of Mossy Hill. Wayne Foster arrived and waited with the group while Wyatt, Rick, Neil, and Rob Mazuch came back. Repairs took a bit of time. From there, the group split again, some to drive Eye in the Sky, and others to call it a day and head home.

Rob Bryce

Mid-Island, January 17, 1999 - Mt. Sicker

We met at Bow-Mel Chrysler at 9:30 a.m. (Darryl J., Toyota pickup; Marcel, Toyota pickup; Garrison and Sandra, Hummer; Berry and Jenny, Suzuki Samurai; Steve D., Jeep YJ; Dean B., Jeep TJ; Brad P. and friends, Land Cruiser, Tim W., Tonka CJ5; Steve B., CJ7; Dave B., Toyota pickup; Ian, Scrambler and from the Chemainus Mudders, Full-size Ford and Big Blazer - Peter Fryer) and headed out to the Red Rooster turn-off near Chemainus and aired down on the trail near the gate - Jenny airing down a little too much - oops! We drove up into the rain, which quickly turned to wet snow. The tank-trap/twister trail had changed a fair bit from water runoff. Darryl wheeled through very well trying out his new lockers. Brad chose a different line but avoided body damage - just. Ian altered the course a little taking out a stump, but Garrison gave us the show of the day: a stump out here, wheels up there, and a winch came in handy too! Although the trail was muddy and the snow/rain kept coming down, everyone enjoyed themselves: no breakage, just a little body damage here and there, bent mirrors and very muddy jeans and boots!

Berry Sintnicolaas

Mid-Island, January 24, 1999 - Hill 60 Area - Trail Name "A River Stops It"

After a quick fix-up for Steve D.'s Jeep following a small fire, our group (Darryl and Kim, Toyota pickup; Rick and Neil, Toyota pickup; Wayne and Nadine, Toyota pickup; Berry and Jenny, Suzuki Samurai; Steve D and Gord, Jeep YJ; Tim, Keri and Jade, CJ5; Chris and Giselle, CJ7; Steve B. and Jon F., CJ7; Ian, CJ8; Jason, Bronco II; Pat, short-box Chevy; Steve, long-box Chevy (very long!); Bill G., CJ7) headed to Hillcrest Road for an exploration run. The road we tried turns left before the Chemainus River Park, followed by a very sharp left again. Soon after this, we met a Mac-Blo truck with a surprised but friendly driver. He had to back up for the 13 vehicles headed for him, and as we passed, he commented to us, "That looks like fun!" The trail from here is an easy old logging road with a few whoop-de-doos, and a few by-pass areas where bridges are out. There was some mud to make things interesting before we arrived at the "hard spot". Here, the two full-size trucks incurred some body damage to their passenger-side doors due to one unforgiving tree. From here, we ventured into "uncharted territory". The map shows the road going through to the Copper Canyon mail-line, where we knew the bridge was out, but didn't know to what extent. The road was muddy in all the right or wrong places as one of the full-size Chevys found out when a rear-end slip had people rushing to attach a come-along to a tree to save him from going over an embankment. We reached the "bridge out" point, where it was decided to turn back since the other side of the river offered main-line logging road travel only. One vehicle had been left back at the last tight obstacle, and of course, this meant we had to negotiate the tight water runoff crossing again! Yes, more body damage - on the driver's side this time. Chris and Neil did a great job providing winch points - thanks to them and some good teamwork, everyone got through, although some people did get a bit wet and muddy - oops, sorry. We stopped at a hill-climb play spot. Here, like all hill-climbs, the idea is to get up and over it. Jenny managed the "up" in the Suzuki with all four wheels off the ground! Ian managed the "over" in his Scrambler with the help of a tug strap. All in a day's fun!

Berry Sintnicolaas

Dean Bradley, Dave Podmoroff, and Rob deLange.

Questions, comments, or kudos are welcome!

IRC's Address

Island Rock Crawlers
Four-Wheel Drive Society
P.O. Box 48034
3575 Douglas Street,
Victoria, BC Canada
V8Z 7H5