July 7, 2001

We got off to a late start (sadly, at least 50% of my trip reports begin this way) but we were in high spirits. We were at the beginning of a 7 day fourwheeling trip. This was to be the longest 'wheeling trip I've ever planned and we would be playing on what is possibly the best known 4x4 trail in the world: the Rubicon Trail! Our group consisted of people whom I had fourwheeled with in the past. For a trip like this, you need experienced people who could be relied upon in difficult circumstances. They fit the bill perfectly:

Jeep XJ	Gordon Land
Early Ford Bronco	Dave and Pam Lippmann
Jeep CJ7	Armin and Marion Lippmann
Jeep CJ7	Ron and Dolores Gooch
Jeep TJ	Jonathan Yim
Toyota BJ42	John Barron and Rob "Rye Guy" Bryce
Jeep YJ	Larry and Sue Soo

Rob almost didn't come with us because his project vehicle couldn't be completed in time. Fortunately, we were able to convince him to come along. His spotting abilities and mechanical skills would a huge asset plus he and I had been talking about doing this trip for years, almost since we first started fourwheeling in the lower mainland together. To finally realize this dream without him being there would have been a great disappointment.

All the vehicles save for Gord's Cherokee were seriously built 4x4s. Jonathan's TJ had uncut F150 axles with front and rear lockers with 4.10 gears and 35" Goodyear MTR tires. It sported approximately 6" of lift and rocker and corner armour. Dave's Bronco was also locked front and back and rode on 36" Swampers. The original rocker panels were cut out and replaced with 4"x4" square tubing and his 4-spd tranny had a nice, deep first gear. His dad, Armin, just finished re-building his CJ7. It was reborn with a freshly painted aluminum tub with rocker armour and elevated with a combination of 4.5" suspension lift and 3" body lift. It was locked front and back, ran on 38" Swampers and the Dana 300 tcase sported 4:1 gears and a twin-stick shifter. Revolvers were installed front and back for additional droop. Ron's CJ7 was shod with 35" Goodyear MTRs riding on Scout D44 axles. Suspension was spring-over-axle. It was locked front and back and low gearing was provided by the T18 and 4.56 diff gears. The Dana 300 tcase had a twin-stick shifter. The only diesel of the bunch was John Barron's BJ42. Like Armin's Jeep, it also had an aluminum tub protected with rocker armour. It had a spring-over conversion and ran front/rear ARBs with 4.11 gears. Tires were 33" radial Swampers. My Jeep, Project YJ, was also locked front and back with Detroit Softlockers turning 4.10 gears and 35" Pro Comp MTs. The axles were Dana 44s from an International Scout. Suspension lift came from a spring-over-axle conversion and the Dana 300 tcase was spinning 4:1 gears. Rocker armour was recently built and installed specifically for the Rubicon trip.

Compared to these locked, lifted and big-tired, short wheel-base 4x4s, Gord Land's Cherokee was the runt of the litter. It had a modest 3.5" Rubicon Express lift, sway bar disconnects, and 31" Yokohama Geolander MT tires. It was equipped with bumpers, transfer case and rocker armour built by Gord (TLC Armour). I didn't have a problem with Gord coming along because he was a good driver and knew his limits. (I also curious to see how difficult the trail would be for an open-diff vehicle.) Although I had never been to the Rubicon before, I knew there were bypasses. Besides, if the Jeep Jamborees can get near-stock Jeeps through, then Gord could certainly make it through as well. As we were to find out a few days later, Gord didn't need no stinkin' bypasses! (Well, not very many, anyways.)

Dave preps his Bronco for towing by removing the rear driveshaft.

After crossing the Canada/USA border, our first todo item was to hook up with Alan Chung, our fourwheeling buddy in Washington state. He decided that he would convoy down to Portland, Oregon, with us. He was waiting for us on the side of I-5 and joined up with us shortly after we passed through Bellingham. As I said before, we were quite excited about this trip and before you knew it, our convoy got spread out quite a bit. Ron's cruising speed was lower than the others' because of his 4.56 diff gears and lack of an overdrive. So some of us ended up quite a ways ahead while others, like Ron and Armin (who was flat towing his CJ with a GM dually) brought up the rear. After about an hour, we decided to pull over at a rest area and once we parked, we radioed the rest of the group to let them know where to turn off. Before long, they pulled in. Dave's Bronco was overheating at highway speeds so they began pulling the drive shaft so Armin could flat tow it and Dave would drive Armin's CJ instead.

The first leg of a 22-hour (approximately) drive.

Al mentioned that my brake lights weren't working so I set about searching for the problem. Some time during that busy period, it dawned on me that Ron and Dolores were missing. Apparently, their CB wasn't working very well and their last known location was between those of us in the front and Armin and Marion in the back. Al, who is renowned for his lead-footed tendencies, immediately volunteered to race down I-5 to find them. It took him 45 minutes but he finally caught up to them and we eventually re-grouped at a restaurant in southern Washington. After that incident, you can bet that we paid more attention to everyone's location and kept our group closer together.

Upon reaching Portland, Al split off from our convoy to visit his friends and we were back down to seven vehicles (eight if you count Armin's tow rig). Our first night's stop was at a great family-run campsite just south of Grant's Pass and immediately north of Glendale, called Meadow Wood RV Resort and Campground (541-832-3114, 869 Autumn Lane, Glendale, OR 97442). The owners were very friendly and quite funny. For US$6 per person, we got free showers, a pool, grassy sites for our tents, and clean washrooms. Although it was late, we had a small fire and a few beers before retiring for the evening.

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