Sunny skies, steep hill climbs, geocache and water crossings were the order of the day on the Willow Creek Trail. After a brief meeting, we started the day with a relatively vacant trail. I was very surprised, our group of 14 Land Rovers had the 18 mile trail mostly to ourselves, considering how popular the Siverwood and Arrowhead area can be, it was nice. The entry into 2N17X with its Mini-Cooper sized rock shelf started us out as an immediate warm hors D’oeuvre. Ahhh…. Decisions, decisions, Should I go left and fall into a hole or go right and possibly slide off the side? Everyone handled the entry like veterans, except for me forgetting to go to low range. Off to the races and one mile and a half into the trail is the steepest hill on the track. The most difficult route is up the middle. This route is a narrow steep path with tall decomposed granite walls keeping you honest and humble. On this route you will struggle just to get to the 2/3 mark only to be denied by deep holes with no option of alternative line. I customized my LR3 fuel tank on this one awhile back, pushing it in three inches, no leaks; it now holds a couple less gallons then factory spec. Three of our higher clearance trucks decided to give it a try, but only one of our nicely modified Discoverys made the difficult route. 2N17X is like a double espresso for the casual trail rider; a safe way to get the blood pumping each morning.
Weaving our way away from Silverwood Lake stood a few more hill climbs and a nicely canopied road side cut into the mountain, this path is the calm before the dreaded V-notch. Faith is a good name for the notch. You must commit your lovely painted passenger side close to the rough, sharp tooth wall in order to stay upright. Loose the faith, value your paint, and you slide into the notch and will be nearly on your side. Everyone carefully made it through. Yoko on the passenger side of John’s truck thought I was trying to kill her.
As we made our way over the last few hills, I decided put on a tire change demonstration; not really. I had just started up a hill when I heard a strange rubbing sound. Tawfik saw that I punctured my tire on a root. Thanks to the pit crew of Scott, Frank and Tawfik we had the tire changed in minutes. Later in the day, Jim , said he didn’t even know the flat happened we changed it so quick. Shah and others thought we did the tire change on purpose as a demonstration. Scott and I are getting experienced in LR3 tire changing; we just did his on the trail last weekend. I’m glad I didn’t hold the group up too much- “Dang trip leader, let’s get going”. This led us to the exit hill, my son Kyle and his buddies gave a nice show of riding on one rear wheel as they slid into a hole. I didn’t see it, but Tawfik said it was so bad he couldn’t even take a photo of that moment. Tipping his Disco II was not on his demonstration docket, but he seemed to give us a few glimpses throughout the day; Uggh…he really wants a center differential lock.
As we merged with Pilot Rock Truck Trail we found a scenic spot for lunch and talked about the morning’s events. Jim had spotted a few geocaches on his GPS along our afternoon route, so we decided we would find a couple along the way. Jim found the first one without much difficulty. He left a 6oth Land Rover anniversary pin and Spiker’s Off Roving card as swag. A half mile down the trail, I hear Jim over the radio, “I found it”, too easy for this pro.
Pilot Rock Truck Trail gave all the stock rovers a chance to try their factory plastic rock sliders; they don’t work too well. Safari Gard’s new sliders were represented by Michael’s nice white LR3, the sliders looked and performed nicely. Breakout the black RustOleum Michael, thou sliders have now been christened.
Making our way up HWY 173 we entered the Willow Creek Jeep Trail (3N34X) and immediately got to work. The ruts were deep and the puddles were plenty. Nice spray Tawfik! Next up, the Willow Creek water crossing, was where we tested our door seals and wake building technique; it seemed a bit deeper this time. After a short break we entered 2N28y with its rocky paths and nice hill climbs. The elevation was building and we saw patchy snow in some shade areas. The most dramatic scene was of the devastation left by the 63,000 acre Willow fire of 1999. The 50 ft black charred pine chimneys are scattered over the countryside and provided the sad reality that it would take more than a hundred years to restore. After a decade only the underbrush is coming back with vigor. It’s apparent that they are working to kill off the invasive plant species which are usually more aggressive to give the native species a chance to take hold. We saw efforts to replant the forest. Some of the few saplings visible were waist to chest high. The blue and yellow flags denoted where future seedlings will be planted. Willow Creek is a good example of the need to be fire safe.
2n27y finished off the day with its tight curves and deep ruts. We regrouped at the Splinter’s cabin trailhead. Yoko made sure we had a group photo. Thanks Yoko! Everybody aired back up and headed down the mountain anticipating the next SCLR outing.
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Thank you to everyone who participated yesterday on the Willow Creek Trail. Debbie, Kyle and I had a great time with all of you. What a terrific group! I want to give a special thanks to Lou for keeping track at the tail and to Scott for his radio relaying and spotting. Thanks guys!
