Trail Run Report

Tahuya Father's Day Folly Run great fun!

13 FJ's and a Jeep make the run

By Cassidy Steed

TAHUYA ORV PARK, Wash. (June 20, 2007) —

Trail Run Report

Record turnout for Tim's sendoff

Tim at Timothy Lake

By Jim DeFord

TIMOTHY LAKE, Oregon (May 13, 2007) — It seemed most fitting Ollalie Lake was snowed in. This NWFJCC event was planned as Tim's Farewell Run right from the start and we ended up at Timothy Lake.

The NWFJCC is not about one member, but Tim has stood out as a leader within our little FJ Community. Always willing to lend a helping hand, take the nasty trail first to see if it's okay for the rest of us, spot for us and always putting safety and trail etiquette first and foremost. It's this philosophy that the NWFJCC is built upon and it will be carried forward while Tim is apart from our group in Quantico, for US Marine Officer Training School. Godspeed my friend. Never lose touch. I know I speak for the entire membership of the NWFJCC.

Our run started out at KFC in Clackamas with FJs overflowing their parking lot out into the street! We had 16 FJs, a Jeep Wagoneer and an FJ60. Our trail of vehicles stretched down the road in a 1/2 mile-long convoy! Quite the site to see. We turned the heads of fishermen on the Clackamas River, various campers, the entire town of Estacada, every driver on the road and a bicyclist who nearly broke his neck and fell looking at FJ heaven as it passed by.

Once we left Estacada, we headed down the river and stopped for our first Geocache. It was quite an interesting activity and we signed their log and left an NWFJCC business card.

The scenery was beautiful and there were many rafters on the river. Every time we go out it just solidifies why the Pacific Northwest carries the nickname: God’s Country. We are truly blessed.

A few more miles up the road and we trekked for geocache #2, which was found by your’s truly. A Tupperware container with mostly kid’s trinkets and a logbook. I signed their logbook and we left another NWFJCC biz card. Fun stuff

Now it was time to go 4-wheelin’! We headed up to Silver Fox and found a couple of pretty gnarly, and very muddy trails. Yeah baby! The deepest water didn’t require snorkels, but this was the deepest water I had ever trekked. Like everything else, the FJ just cruised right on through.

The over-growth was pretty tight so the entire group was awarded pinstripes of varying degrees. Ahhhh, but that’s what the FJ is for. NOT for only getting groceries or going to Little League or soccer matches, but for real 4-wheeling like it was meant to be. To get that adrenaline rush as you make it through a really tough stages and wind up with no damage other than a few, buffable stripes in your clear coat.

There was one very, VERY tight trail that only Bernd, Perry and Tim were willing to go through. It was an obvious ATV trail and the top over-growth was VERY tight and some of the top growth was also tight. Even walking down the trail you had to duck.

Bernd, the Stripe-King, blasted through without a whimper. Perry was next and his roof-rack mounted hi-lift jack removed half the forest as he ripped through cracking and snapping branches left and right! Wish I had a video of that run. Bernd and Perry shared some interesting stripes.

Tim ran up next and when we asked where his stripes were he told us how he waxed most of his FJ before this trip. Barely a nick on Tim’s truck. Heck, even the mud slid off his FJ like raindrops on RainX treated windshield! I know what I am doing before our next run! Griot’s Garage, here I come!

So, we headed down the hiway and a then a super-dusty gravel road to Timothy Lake where we settled down for an awesome lunch! We had upwards of 35 people and probably enough food for twice that. What a great time to socialize.

Tim was then presented with a slightly wounded farewell cake that I just barely saved when it flew out the back of the FJ as I opened the rear door. Yeow!

Tim spoke about the club’s “sense of community” and that we should always carry that with us, not only in the club but our daily lives. Yes Tim, that will become the club’s Mission Statement as we move forward.

Half the group parted for various reasons as lunch split at 3pm. However, there were 9 FJ’s left that just simply had not had enough. We’d only run a couple of trails—though the day was very complete, we were all muddy and had a great time—it was now time to get down to some serious 4-wheelin’.

Bernd’s navigator, Shane, suggested that we head to Wildcat Mountain, southeast of Sandy. Alrighty then! Off we go!

BTW: Shane has become an adopted member of the NWFJCC. He’s a longtime 4-wheeler, a great spotter and has helped on several lift installs. Now, we just to get him an FJ!

The weather was turning from an average, partly cloudy, Northwest day into what was looking to be rain. Go figure. Someone had mentioned earlier in the day that we were going to get “dumped-on” Saturday night, and that would come true, after we were done wheeling. In the meantime it was only a bit of harmless fog and drizzle.

Shane had been up at Wildcat just a few weeks prior and some of the trails he had run were blocked off. But, we did find a couple that kept this run going until 7:30 pm in a heavy drizzle and darkness.

We ran into one dead-end where the entire group had to turn around. That was interesting! The next trail was a muddy-mess with several 20 foot long mud puddles and a huge 50 foot long mess that, yet again, the FJ’s just road right on through.

The trail became tighter and eventually everyone had to head back out. Due to some miscommunication about space available to turn around, I only made it ½ the way down, but coming back up there were two trail choices: The muddy one or the dry one. Oh boy!

The muddy trail was very slippery-slidey going down, but was a real pucker-factor-challenge coming back out. Thoughts of winching danced through my head as the FJ would not crawl through this uphill climb and a very, very tight S-turn, with trees and vegetation on either side.

Eventually, it was A-TRAC on, and the FJ powered and bounced right through it. Bernd also took the muddy route, noticing that it was thrashed it pretty hard, and then suggested the others take the dry bypass.

Gabby and Christy, in their 100% stock FJ, were brave enough to hit Wildcat with us and they made it through with flying colors and stripes that any FJ’er would be proud to own. The smile on their faces was a beautiful sight as they pushed their FJ to its very limit and then some and made it through with zero damage. A day 4-wheelin’ cannot get more perfect than that!!!

Had we been in Alaska and had more hours of light I am sure we all would have gone further, but finally, it was time to pack it in and head home.

With high-fives all around, zero-damage, about 700 stripes and rain now coming down hard, we took our traditional end-of-the-day group photo and headed out.

Thank you everyone who participated. Thanks to Harold for organizing, making two pre-runs and making this event a true success. Good job! Thanks to Tim for your friendship, leadership and sharing your knowledge with us. We all look forward to your post-Quantico run.

Thanks to Bernd, Shane and Tim for your 4-wheelin’ expertise, spotting and willingness just to go first and see what’s out there. Thanks also to Bob for the FJ Magazines.

Special thanks to our out-of-town members who got up at umpteen-thirty to make this event. We will come your way soon.

If anyone has a suggestion for a June or July run, let’s chat! Seeya on the trail!!!
 

Trail Run Report

Dyno Day produces interesting results

ECU proves to be very intelligent and a quick-learner

By Jim DeFord

TIGARD, Oregon (April 28, 2007) — PDXTuning hosted its first FJ Dyno Day and gathered a plethora of information for their FJ database. A half-dozen trucks ran three pulls each. Jarrad surmised that a CAI has a potential for 3whp (3 horsepower to the wheels) which is at least as much as TRD or AFE claims to offer. We were not able to run direct comparison pulls on the same vehicle comparing stock airbox to a CAI.

A stick will offer upwards of 12-15whp and 4-15lbs of torque to the wheels. Needless to say we had quite a wide variety of vehicles with various mods to compare. Large mud tires would affect a pull as would various engine mods. A truck with an AirRaid setup and stock tires show no apparent gains over the stock air box, but you have to keep in mind the AirRaid design still incorporates the use of most of the stock air box.

Later in the day Jarrad put his TRD on the dyno and pit in several gallons of race fuel. There we could see the ECU learn and adjust to the new octane. We then opened his airbox and saw gains there too showing the potential direct gains from a CAI.

The top manual transmission vehicle of the day recorded 199whp and 225 torque. The top automatic transmission of the day recorded 185whp and 221 torque.

Trail Run Report

Nail biter at Brown's Camp

Mod run a blast! Pucker factor level high!

By Jim DeFord

BROWN'S CAMP, Oregon (April 14, 2007) — We had originally planned to head to the TruckFest in Puyallup this day, but after the members had convinced me that going to the TruckFest would probably result in several divorces we decided to stay away from even the slightest attempt to spend any more money on Mods, take the Mods we had and run to Brown’s Camp to test them out.

We had a total of 10 trucks show for the run with only one being fully stock and two with no lifts, more on that later. The generous folks at MetalTech 4x4 donated a slew of goodies for giveaways and I dug up some various items of my own for a small drawing before we headed up the hill. A big thanks to the folks at MetalTech 4x4 in Newberg, Oregon.

After the drawing and pawing through three boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts it was time to decide where to run. We had bumped into a couple of Bern’s friends while a few of the group picked up the ORV permits and that sealed the deal for us to head to Archer’s Firebreak. Archer’s was a ways up the road on the west side of the park. Everyone was thrilled to finally part with the confines of asphalt.

We finally reached a point where we could all park to air down and socialize before getting’ dirty. We had several new folks and everyone got along perfectly. There’s something about meeting other FJ owners in this type environment that is just too cool to put into words.

So after airing down and Harold shooting a million photos of all the mods it was time to head out. Archer’s Firebreak is split up into several small trails and we figured this would take the majority of our morning and into the early afternoon.

The damage from the winter storms was evident everywhere. Some trails had also been thrashed by some irresponsible 4-wheelers but this side of the park just showed storm damage.

On one part of the trail we found a tank trap and then headed up a very steep, very rocky and slippery slope. The FJ just crawled right on up without a whimper.

Our stock FJ (Bill) had zero problems on this slope or on any other trail the entire day. Bill even had stock tires and he just crawled right up along without a hitch, although his skid plates got a bit of a workout where the rest of us barely, if at all, scraped anything through the day.

After another interesting and challenging trail or two we came to our challenge of the day. The trial going down this 400 yard run was angled drastically to the right. Also to the right was a 4 foot high wall of rock, mud, and trees.

So, we decided to take a little break.

After studying and discussing this trail, Tim decided to give it a go and made it without a problem. He then walked back up to spot for the rest of us.

The footing was bit treacherous with typical slippery clay/mud and a large rock that stair-stepped a bit, so when you popped down off the rock your truck naturally wanted to slide to the mud/rock wall. There would be a pucker factor of 4 as we all traversed this obstacle.

But, everyone made it without any damages, but we were presented with another trail. A nasty looking, massive deep V cut into the trail. The footing was slippery. It was definitely doable, but one wrong move would send your truck sliding directly onto it’s side for a guaranteed winched and thousands of dollars of damage to the FJ.

Tim did run about 50 feet down the trail, but once we noticed the very treacherous and slippery footing we decided this one was just not worth the risk.

We took the alternate route and then headed to another section of Archer’s Firebreak. We then ran up a fairly easy section and the discovered an interesting downhill route with a deep-cut V but not nearly as bad as the abandoned trail. It took some gentle maneuvering, but again the FJ just handled it like a dream. I was shooting some photos of the tracks coming down and as Bill came by he shouted, “Okay! I’m awake now!!!”

There’s nothing like seeing an FJ owner running their truck for the first time. Running trails they would never, EVER even think of running, and when they do, the adrenaline is rushing bigtime and the smile on their face goes about three feet past their ears!

We then ran a beautiful run along a ridgeline road with awe inspiring photo ops. And we took every one. It was about this time that we saw out first rain of the day. The weather gods we’re just letting us know they were still in charge and the rain let up after 20 minutes or so. Other than that, the third official NWFJCC run had yet another incredible day of great Northwest weather.

We then decided to end our day running Trail #41. The Firefox trail.

The Firefox trail is a very, very narrow, winding trail through a batch of trees, some pinstriping bushes, lot’s of rocks to crawl over and mud to slide on and a wonderful end of the day as we rounded the FJ’s in a beautiful grove of trees.

It was here we decided to end the days’ run, spend some time airing back up, socializing and sharing. And then Tim pulled out his Smith and Wesson 500. A virtual hand-cannon! My lordy me that thing was loud as he placed on his eye and ear protection and shot safely into a stump. The shockwave to the bystanders was nothing like I have ever felt. Amazing!

So, after that we said our goodbyes and headed back home extremely satisfied and yes, a bit proud of ourselves and our FJs at the day’s accomplishments. Every single member contributed to the fun and thrill of this event and wide, ear-to-ear smiles were not hard to find.

A huge, heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this run. Every single time is a new adventure, new stories and new friends. Special thanks to Tim and Bernd for picking the trails and having the know-how of this park to keep us organized. It was great to meet Perry and Salena (and her fiery hot Cheetos, bag of candy and energy. You’re a lucky man Perry). Bill had a killer time and will be telling stories at work all week for sure! Nice to meet Pat, Jerry, Dean and James and of course it’s always great to gather with previous runners such as, Harold, Dave and daughter Kelsey, Tim and Bernd.
 

Trail Run Report

St. Patrick's Day run at the beach

12 trucks attract attention on beach run

By Tim Keithly

PACIFIC OCEAN, Oregon (March 17, 2007) — The run to the beach started out great. First thing in the morning we met up in the Target parking lot in Aloha. It was a beautiful sunny day which from the looks of the sky promised 70+ degrees. As the group rolled in we saw lots of new faces and new FJs to go with them. The variety of people who showed up was only outshined by their creativity in modifying their rugged looking little trucks. The assortment of mods and gadgets was dizzying and the tales of how each piece was installed was rather like listening to fishermen boasting about the one that got away. It was really amazing to see how these 12 trucks which were all produced within a few months of each other were all different from one another. One member when asked what mods had been done on their FJ replied sheepishly that it was still stock. As if that was anything to be ashamed of. Around 08:45 the group headed west towards the Pacific and adventure. Corny I know but that was the feeling in the air. Everyone was excited to have a nice day and enjoy the scenery.

Speaking of scenery we stopped off at a view point for some pictures and to terrify a lone Hummer H3 with our half mile long caravan of FJ Cruisers. Across the way we spied a muddy hill climb which looked inviting to a couple of the members. For the record there was no posting nor indication that the road (see cat trail) was off limits to motor vehicles. After a few attempts on the muddy slope and only making it up 2/3rds of the way with a semi ungraceful decent and a moment of pucker. A state worker in a yellow truck pulled up to bully us into leaving. This wasn’t really much of a sell seeing as the hill was too muddy for more than a couple of trucks to get up there even with the assistance of lockers and various electronic traction programs.

Leaving the viewpoint we forged on towards the sand and surf of the Pacific. After a few miles the radio call went out that our convoy was being passed, which comes as no surprise since 12 FJs stretches way out on the highway. The surprise was that we were being passed by another FJ, a silver one with a kayak on the roof and a rather grouchy driver who simply refused to return any of the 12 waves our members gave him as he sped past.

When we came into the first little Oceanside community we spotted another FJ at an antique shop. The first vehicle in the convoy honked and the driver who was just leaning over the front seat looking for something in the back. Later we heard that by the time the last FJ was passing her she was talking on her cell phone with a bewildered expression on her face. We saw that same expression repeated throughout the day from what seemed like nearly every driver who was paying attention.

Finally we found the road leading us to the beach and away from the oppression of asphalt. The group then turned north and continued for about two miles. At this point we circled the wagons and by the time the last vehicle had stopped moving there were already a half dozen smiling faces partially obscured by clicking cameras. Some ran up the dunes, some shot from the front seat of the truck and one member even took a really amazing 360 degree panoramic from the center of the circle.

Now, folks were ready for the business of relaxing. Within moments there were chairs, ice chests, soda, water, food, tables and a the little barbeque that could. Several of the members used their trucks, some rope, and a tarp to create a wind block for the chef. Flames went up, burgers and dogs went on the grill and we were in business.

The kids and dogs (not the ones on the grill) made their rounds and did what kids do best in the outdoors, find dead things (They did this in Stevenson too…)to wave at adults. Before long there was a pile of dead creatures ready for inspection, at least until the kites went up in the sky. During our break the original members got to know the new ones and by the time we finished eating there was no longer any perceived division among the ranks.

As the spring tide rolled ever higher up the beach we decided to roll on to the north and our ultimate photo op of the jetty. Around halfway there we stopped at a National Guard hummer and asked if we could pass through their live fire range exercises. They were very kind and let us pass through without much hassle at all other than to say to cover the 2 miles of beach “real fast, cause you don’t want to get your trucks shot up.” Whew!

As we neared the next beach access road we spotted a little blue Toyota van and a young couple in distress. The van was buried up to its body in soft, fluffy, damp sand and the couple was admirably trying to dig it out with their bare hands. Normally this beach has lots of traffic but today in over 2 hours on the beach our group had only seen this van and a couple of other vehicles. This young couple must have looked up from their labors and first thought it was some kind of Technicolor Japanese invasion. Then some of the lead members pulled up and posed the obligatory “Ma’am you look like you could use some help thar.” The young couple of course eagerly agreed all the while eyeing this odd looking group of invaders.

A few moments of planning and a tow strap and the fun began. To say this sand was soft is a bit of an understatement. Even with the wide tired and relatively light weight of the FJ Cruiser the truck doing the pulling was easily sinking into the dark, damp, depth of beach. Amazingly (even to the driver) the little yellow truck popped right back out when thrown in reverse. After a couple more attempts and some more strategy the rear locker was engaged and the FJ tugged, and tugged this time hard enough to rattle the teeth of the van driver. Momentarily and with some help from several FJ owners bouncing on the vans bumper the FJ made it to hard traction and dragged the van up the hill to where it could be detached and the now elated young couple could be on their way home. The FJs were all elated as well because they finally got to rescue someone, and take the pictures to prove it.

The gaggle of blue, yellow, silver and a lone black FJs returned to the beach to run all the way up to the jetty and then back to the access road where they drive on the pavement to the topside of the Jetty. Unfortunately the jetty access was closed due to some pretty heavy duty construction. There were rocks there ready to move that were the size of an FJ and weighing more than all the trucks in the group combined.

After a few pictures at the Jetty parking lot the travelers detoured back to the Hwy and around to the Astoria Column. The Column is really just a converted lighthouse which stands on the mountain above the town of Astoria. Tourists and FJ owners alike braved the 8 million spiraling stairs to the top of the tower and were rewarded with a view rivaled in few places, even on a misty, cloudy day like this one. Even the amazing pictures of our group members can’t do it justice, much less my meager words. To see the coast range mountains in the east the ocean to the west and the stunning four mile long Astoria Bridge to the north complete with giant cargo ships passing silently beneath was breath taking at the least. One person threw a balsa airplane off of the tower and I looked as if it flew all the way down to the river.

After a few moments reviewing plans and admiring fellow members work it was time for the adventurers to split up and head back to the places they came from. Once again to say the group was diverse is an understatement. Members returned to Troutdale, Portland, and parts far north in Washington. Every person in the group made a contribution to the success of the run. It is not often that people can come together and have only a few basic things in common and work so well together.

Congratulations, and many thanks to everyone for making that personal investment. I am sure everyone came with the intention of having a good time and ended up sharing more of themselves than they had thought likely. Creating community is what these runs are actually about.

Stevenson run a muddy adventure!

Great weather and 10 trucks

By Jim DeFord

STEVENSON, Wash. (February 17, 2007) — The second run of the year for the newly formed Northwest FJ Cruiser club was once again greeted with perfect weather. Our first run was in January at Brown's Camp.

The morning started off warm and foggy, but soon parted for beautiful, crystal blue skies as we adventured through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest north of Stevenson, Washington.

We ran with 10 FJs. As always, our runs are a family-friendly adventure so we had wives, kids, friends and dogs along for the ride.

The kids had a blast and seemed to have an odd propensity for gathering dead animal parts this day. From jaw bones, to leg bones and hoofs. Gotta love kids!!! See the galleries for for more bones.

Our goal for mud was answered early with a slushy mud puddle just minutes into the run. As you can see we were all pretty excited to get our trucks a little dirty.

The scenery was breathtaking as we trekked along on the various forest roads. Paper maps and two GPS equipped trucks kept us on the trails.

The trail of the day was a short, gnarly jaunt up a gooey, wet, clay packed road up to the power line. It was a slippery, sliding, and moderately challenging road. And it got more challenging as more trucks went through.

A few brave souls made another, more difficult climb up another section of this road, but they ran into a dead end of fallen trees. Tim ran up with a chain saw to see if it was worth clearing, but the road conditions had deteriorated so badly that it was decided to not send up any more trucks. The trip down was pretty wild as they slid a lot of the way down.

As we left this area, we just had to make a splash! Nearly every truck was completely mud covered from nose to tail and most of the white roofs had turned a mellow color of beige. Engine compartments were also not spared.

We then ventured further into the forest, but ran into several icy, snow packed roads that were non-navigable by rubber-tired vehicles.

The scenery was absolutely incredible and we plan to adventure back this way again in the summer when we won't be stopped by snow-crusted roads.

One the way down we stopped by this wooden bridge on Morgan Creek. Water was moving fast and the clear. In the summer this is definitely a popular gathering spot as there was a swing rope there. We also discovered a bunch of trash, soda and beer cans, a tennis shoe and a dress shoe, among other crap left by people before us. So, as we enjoyed the scenery we also cleaned up the place. It's so disappointing to see people abuse our forests like that.

10 trucks full of friendly FJ owners, family and friends, and perfect weather made for a super fun run and a full day of great 4x4'ing and scenery you can only find in the Great Northwest.

For next month were are looking forward to a run being setup by Tim and a chance to dyno our FJs over at PDXTuning. Stay tuned here and at the FJ Cruiser Forums for more information.

Who Ran (Forum screen names): 1 Bored Clerk (Blue), Bernd (Silver), BDFJ (Black), Couver (Black), PDXTuning (TRD-SE) Mick the Ginge (TRD-SE), Bennutt (Blue), Terahex (Blue), Son of a Son (Yellow), Stumptown FJ (Silver).

Thank you all for joining us. It was a wonderful time and we look forward to seeing you next month and our future runs. Remember, the absolute only thing you need to do to join our FJ Cruiser Club is to come out on a run with us. The more the merrier!

Feel free to contact me for more information at: jim@nwfjcc.com.

See the photo galleries at: Photo Library