Heidi and I entered Tonka Toyz Mudfest Event. The Chevy was fun in the mud drags Saturday and I got 2nd place in the Tough Truck on Sunday sporting the Tamers flag. They will be posting the event on their Facebook page.
Continue reading “Tonka Toyz Event”Gallagher Lake Run
Most of us met at North Bend Safeway and convoyed to Cle Elum where we topped off the tanks and then headed out to the trail. We met up with Alan from Moses Lake at the cabin staging area, he had seen the post on the Tamers Facebook and decided to join in the fun.
Continue reading “Gallagher Lake Run”Walker Valley – Travis’s last run.
Travis is moving out of state and so a group of Tamers got together with him for one last trip to Walker.
Continue reading “Walker Valley – Travis’s last run.”WYBDR scratch that WABDR June 2022
Sometimes plans get changed or canceled. Most of the time we try to work around things. Two years ago we had to cancel our trip to Colorado. A trip that Moose and I have been talking about for at least 8 years. Last year many of our plans changed do to fires. This year there was not one reason but many that caused us to cancel going to Wyoming and instead stay in Washington state. For those who may not know South Montana and Parts of Northern Wyoming saw over 10 inches of rain. This caused major damage to the trail system including the Morrison Jeep trail. There were also many personal issues that caused several members to change their plans. I guess that is life.
Continue reading “WYBDR scratch that WABDR June 2022”Walker Valley Jun 2022
It was a wet morning for the 6 of us. Me, Doc, Dean, Joe, and Mihai. Chris Steimel would meet up later. After the air down session, E&E paperwork, and a brief drivers meetings away we went. Straight towards Timber Tamers trail. Considering I just replaced balljoints on the XJ i chose not to try the big rock at the beginning. Doc gave it a shot and with a bit of spotting over he went. Good job Doc! Leading thru the rocky area i fought a bit .
Continue reading “Walker Valley Jun 2022”Lost Lake May 2022
Joe, Nate and I had a great run to Lost Lake. Good times and no one broke down.
Continue reading “Lost Lake May 2022”Tahuya May 2022
We met up with everyone at the Safeway in Belfair. Everyone was on time, and we set out for the Elfendalh parking lot at precisely 9:06am. We got to the parking lot and there were still a few places to park and air down. The crew of the day consisted of: Bill in his big bad Yota, Travis in his red Rubicon, Evan in his LJ, Joe in his trusty TJ, Ryan and I in our JKU, our friend John in his “Lil Donkey” JKU and candidate want to be Ben in his 2017 JKU.
Weather said it wasn’t supposed to rain on Saturday……
On the drive over it was raining. I was thinking it was going to be a muddy, sloppy mess. Trails probably filled with water to capacity, but what actually happened was glorious. The skies opened up and beautiful sunshine filled our souls. It was warm!!!
Continue reading “Tahuya May 2022”Whitehorse May 2022
Outside of the little town of Whitehorse there is a very cool looking mountain. in fact it ranks right up there with the Tetons.
On the run was Shawn, Dan and Sarah, Nate Emily and I. Friday after work we headed up to an area outside of town. At about 2700 feet we starting running into snow which is pretty low for this time of year. It was raining which of course meant the snow was junk but we have learned to love Washington state slush. As we aired down it was starting to get dark. I went down to 10 PSI and then later down to 8. You would not think there would be much difference between 8 and 10 PSI but I can assure you that there is.
Continue reading “Whitehorse May 2022”Moses Lake Apr 2022
Its quite possible you’ve never even thought about it – but after a few times with the Tamers going “to the dunes” it makes one wonder – “What the heck are sand dunes doing in the middle of the desert in Washington State?”
Well – please indulge me in a little factual non-speculation – from our friends at (no less than) the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of technology:
Moses Lake Dunes
The Moses Lake dune field is covers 40 km2 in the Quincy Basin of central Washington southwest of Moses Lake, making up the largest basaltic aeolian sand accumulation on Earth [Petrone, 1970; Edgett and Lancaster, 1993; Bandfield et al., 2002]. The dunes, which are composed of 55% basaltic lithic fragments with lesser amounts of quartz, are thought to originate as sediment deposited in the basin during the floods that forms the channeled scablands [Petrone, 1970] . East and northeast paleo-winds have reworked sands, from the eastern banks of the Columbia River into the current dune forms, which include transverse, parabolic and barchan dunes. West of the Potholes Reservoir the dunes are wet and vegetated, but on the east side of the reservoir the dunes remain active and advance at approximately 3 m/yr [Petrone, 1970] .
Cumberland Pass Apr 2022
Trail report. We came , we played in the snow , we all made it out alive and unbroken… was a great day . Thanks to all that came today.😎😁
Tonga Apr 2022
Got Snow?
A few of us decided to get together and do a snow run with the latest round of winter weather dropping snow in the mountains.
We all hooked up at the Sultan Chevron at 9am, and with 5 rigs we headed up to explore an area none of us had been up before.
Continue reading “Tonga Apr 2022”Tillamook Apr 2022
Jeremy and I had plan set, work half day on Friday and head on out to Browns Camp and get set up, Dave and Tammy (LJ) heading out early to get to their RV Park on the west side and Dan and Sarah (JLU) getting a motel in Hillsboro… unfortunately, life doesn’t go as planned. The CJ motor install wasn’t going as planned and we worked until 4:00, stopped and packed up the WJ (2” puck lift and open/open) and hit a motel in Portland.
Continue reading “Tillamook Apr 2022”Hyak Apr 2022
The Crew
Joe and Michael in the TJ
Thomas
Nate
Curt and Emily
We hit plenty of roads around Lake Keechelus. The snow was really sloppy and wet but we had a lot of fun.
Continue reading “Hyak Apr 2022”Tonga Mar 2022
Well today’s run went exceptionally well. A couple of us arrived at the chevron earlier than everyone else, but it didn’t take long for rigs to start trickling in topping off thier fuel and parking. 10 rigs in total today ok 11 and a trailer because someone trailered their wheeler.
After a quick drivers meeting we headed to Tonga. Not a ton of traffic, but did find one moron that pulled out in front of the towed rig. Was nice seeing those trailer brakes working great.
Continue reading “Tonga Mar 2022”Walker Valley Feb 2022
Had a good turnout with 7 rigs. Me, in Stomper. Bill with his Toyota , Dean Blue 4dr, Dan and Sarah Teal 4dr, Matt black 2dr, Jon and Serena upgraded white 4dr, and Jerry white Zuk. After a brief drivers meeting and getting an idea of Jerrys wheeling experience I made a decision to put Jerry closer up front and chose acceptable trails to hit, Easy Valley connector, Ridge Rams, Rons run, gravel pit, Around the sound, Humps & bumps, a glance thru the skills area, and last, Timber Tamers (depending on time).
Continue reading “Walker Valley Feb 2022”Beckler Dec 2022
We organized our Hangover Run for this year similar to last year—actually a night trail run up Beckler Road on New Year’s Eve instead of doing it as a day run on New Year’s Day. Since last year was a lot of fun, it seemed like doing a repeat would be a great idea! The only downer was that it was discovered after these plans had been made that the FS6530 Road to Johnson Ridge was officially closed by the Forest Service due to repeated dumping of trash as well as “resource damage”. (In other words, some uneducated folks had been driving on and damaging the high alpine meadows. So to protect the delicate meadows, access was closed for the season. This is part of why it can be hard to get and keep “good stuff”, and it’s a big part of why it’s important to educate our fellow 4-wheelers who may not be aware of Tread Lightly principles and acceptable back-country trail ethics.)
Continue reading “Beckler Dec 2022”Tonga Tree Run Dec 2021
The couple of weeks prior to the 2021 Timber Tamers’ Christmas Tree Run we had almost historically warm temperatures ending-up the wettest meteorological autumn on record. The most frustrating part of this was that we’d had a LOT of rain until a few days before the run, but with the temperatures all in the 50s, it was a warm rain and threatened to melt all the snow, even at altitude. Even more ominous, here on the first weekend of December, the ski resorts weren’t even open yet because they didn’t have enough snow. I started having fears we were going to have to do this run on a wet and un-snowy Forest Service Road. However, the blessing we had was that starting in the early morning hours of the very day we took this trail run, heavy snow was predicted—and heavy snow it was!
Continue reading “Tonga Tree Run Dec 2021”Walker Valley Nov 2021
I am sure at some point there will be a story to go with the pictures but one thing is for sure. There is a new owner for the cow bell !!!!
Continue reading “Walker Valley Nov 2021”Walker Welcome Run Oct 2021
This is our opportunity for a “do-over”. Six months ago, virtually to the day (on 4/24/2021), we made our first attempt at a Welcome Run for our new members. As you may recall, that Welcome Run was effectively hijacked and taken away even before we got to the south gate by the Timber Tamer Trail where we were beseeched by a motorcyclist to help with his friend who was injured after crashing his motorcycle at the top of the Lower Timber Tamer Trail. Being the socially responsible Tamers we are, we went to his assistance, and stayed with him until an ambulance got there—about 2½ hours later. That meant we essentially lost most of our opportunity to actually do our Welcome Run where we had planned to share 4-wheeling skills with our newest members and candidates. Things have been busy enough that it took us another 6 months to schedule another Welcome Run—and this time we weren’t kidnapped by any emergencies to help with!
Continue reading “Walker Welcome Run Oct 2021”Operation Shore Patrol Sep 2021
OPERATION SHORE PATROL 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Operation Shore Patrol, (OSP), is a bit of a passion of mine, as I love the ocean. Planning this event typically starts for me in the spring, and doesn’t finish up until the week or so after the event. It begins with asking for volunteers, contacting the campground and vendors, and moves outwards from there.
Evans Creek ORV Sep 2021
So as Travis might bring up in his report when we got to the lower parking on Evans Creek it was obvious that we had a lot of rigs and we discussed splitting the group up. I took volunteers that would be willing to run trails quickly and with as little spotting as possible.
Continue reading “Evans Creek ORV Sep 2021”Montana Aug 2021
It was like any other morning really, but it was not. Eddy was going to make a new friend today. It had been a hot night and the temperature in the morning was still warm. Eddy had spent the morning down by the Clearwater River just north of Kamiah with 4 of his friends. Around mid-morning Eddy’s friends thought it would be a good idea to explore across the road. Three of Eddys friends crossed before him. Eddy who is not that bright decided he would cross too. Then he saw someone coming toward him. This will be my new friend he thought. After all he is very friendly. Eddy thought to himself how he would introduce himself and ran towards his new friend. Eddy’s new friend was coming very fast. At the last-minute Eddy changed his mind and switched directions. It was too late. Unfortunately for Eddy his new friend was a steel bumper traveling at 60MPH. Rest in peace Eddy, you will be missed.
Continue reading “Montana Aug 2021”All Jeep Show Jul 2021
Well, I agreed to head things up for a booth representing the Timber Tamers (and PNW4WDA Region 1) at the 2021 Jeepcast.com All Jeep Show. As it turned out, this was a pretty good event to attend. It was planned as a big event that this year would celebrate not only Jeeps, but also the lifting of the COVID restrictions that had been in place for something like 17 months! It was well-advertised on Facebook as well as word-of-mouth, and on Facebook something like 1500 people had registered at least interest if not commitment to attend! (In addition, to that, more than 350 Jeeps registered to participate in the show-and-shine competition!)
Continue reading “All Jeep Show Jul 2021”Trail Jam Hosting July 2021 (Dave)
Representing for the Tamers as trails hosts at this years Trail Jam there were John, Jake, Sean, Rick, and Tammy and I (Dave). I may be a bit off on some of the details, this is all from my (flawed) memory and it was a long week, by the end details were running together.
Continue reading “Trail Jam Hosting July 2021 (Dave)”Trail Jam Hosting 2021 (John)
For the first time in several years, the Timber Tamers decided to sponsor and send a group of Trail Hosts to the PNW4WDA Trail Jamboree. For those not aware, this is an event that is held annually (well, at least when it’s not cancelled by a pandemic!) in July in the Naches Ranger District of the NFS, and is based out of Jim Sprick Community Park in Nile, WA. This year it was held July 8, 9 & 10, 2021. However, since the Trail Hosts act as trail leaders for this event, we actually arrived at Jim Sprick Park ahead of the event so we could pre-run the trails. And, was it ever an eventful week!
Continue reading “Trail Jam Hosting 2021 (John)”Colockum Pass Jun 2021
There is one thing for certain you can count on in this life – and that is – NOTHING – is for certain. My 20+ years in this club (and my 60+ year in this life) there is always a surprise waiting around the corner.
Part the First – Howdy-Doos and Road Time
Saturday was one LOVELY day to do anything – and it dawned brightly at the smokestack in downtown Monroe, the appointed meeting place for the Tamers to start this adventure. Mary and I pulled into quite the crowd of Tamers and friends already milling around. Once parked – we had to discharge the first order of business. At the monthly meeting a few days previous, I got the brilliant idea (brilliant? Just ask me – I’ll tell you!) to bake some homemade brownies and auction them off as a little club fundraiser and something different to do for the month. The bids started at $20 – and after a number of minutes of some spirited back and forth bidding on them – Mihai issued the winning bid – of $50!!! And so it was my task to make sure the brownies were delivered, which Mihai then handed back to me – so that they could be shared around – and further making sure Gary Miller got the first bite. Once he wanders off with a look of supreme satisfaction on his face – I start wandering the crowd with my yellow pad in one hand and brownies in the other – getting names and trying to make out who is who on the trip – because you know – the first few years in the club – you mainly know folks by what they drive – and generally after few years – you start putting names and faces with rigs to make sense of it all. So I’m in this process – when a somewhat familiar face pokes out from around behind someone – saying, “Hey Moose – do you remember me?” (Surprise the first.) I look – and I don’t want to be mistaken – but upon saying – “OMG – are you Jess?” And yes – IT WAS! Jess – or JR as we always called him – was in the house with his lovely wife Christina – and WAY older kids than I think I’d seen in a long, long time. Jess was in the club WAY back when – when I was in my pup days with the Tamers – back when I drove a CJ that was open-open with way-too-tall gears and sporting a street Holley that wouldn’t run worth a hoot up a hill. That means the last time I’d seen him and Christina was like – 18 years previous? And somehow – his red hair is still red. (While my brown hair is now gone AWOL….) But what a treat to see them again! They were all ready to wheel in limo style in a built LJ.
Continue reading “Colockum Pass Jun 2021”Green Dot May 2021
Having a Blast Out of Kittitas!
(Tamers 5/22/2021 tipping toeing through the green dots…)
I suppose there are some in the Tamers, used to more (ahem) “vigorous” wheeling (trees, mud, big rocks to climb, body damage, rolls, etc.) might view the green dot roads as somewhat tame. (which – I don’t see the problem – we are Tame-ers – after all…) But – this day we did have all of the requisite parts and pieces of a trail run – use of 4WD, AND low range; sidewalls gashed out, PNW pinstriping and general trail rash, 2 rigs needing winching to avoid a memorable roll down an open mountainside – and probably one last bunch of hillclimbs on an open-faced ridge trail that probably caused some folks some degree of VRI. (That’s Vinyl Rectal Inversion – where your butt cheeks become a traction aid clamping onto your seat covers, willing you secure attachment to if not terra firma – at least terra-seata….
Continue reading “Green Dot May 2021”Walker Valley Apr 2021
The Timber Tamers have been really blessed over the past couple of months to have something like 8 new people contact us with an interest in joining our 4-wheeling club. And, we have been offering an opportunity to mentor people new to wheeling to help them develop experience and skills in 4-wheeling so they can enjoy themselves more fully and more quickly. About a week and a half ago, the BOD developed an idea of holding a trail run to help the newer folks have this opportunity in a more structured setting rather than just “letting it happen” however and whenever. So, at our meeting this month we proposed to the membership having a “Welcome Run” to do just this, which everyone thought was a good idea—and we planned it for today!
Continue reading “Walker Valley Apr 2021”Cumberland/Finney Creek Pass Mar 2021
I had been researching areas behind Walker Valley for scenic routes and ways but I was finding everything closed off by gate after gate. One evening while watching YouTube I saw a video about Cumberland Pass and when I researched a little more found there was no gate. FINALLY!!! Taking a look at the maps a little more they showed the route ending at Segelson Sno Park or Finney Creek Sno Park. I am thinking I have a snow run.
Continue reading “Cumberland/Finney Creek Pass Mar 2021”Walker Valley Feb 2021
There was a lot scheduled for Walker Valley this day, so I thought I would get up there and help in any way that I could. Now being a 2nd shifter the meeting time was a bit early for me so I set my alarm. Casey decided it was going to be too early to cold and too snowy so she was staying home..LOL I really didn’t think we would see very much snow. Oh how wrong I would be.
Continue reading “Walker Valley Feb 2021”