It was a fine October morning. The birds weren't awake yet when my alarm clock went off, though I'd been up for 45 minutes. I threw some ice in the cooler, stopped for coffee and hit the road.I rolled into Welches with a full tank of gas and an empty belly, fortunately, we were meeting at the Barlow Trail Roadhouse, a fine establishment with a wonderful breakfast menu. Waiting for me when I got there was my friend Eric in his AEV equipped JK. He'd had an incident with a saw earlier in the week and wasn't going to be able to come on the run, but joined us for breakfast. We grabbed a table and after a little while, Darren and his brother, Will I Think, joined us. We scarfed down our food, Darren declared his burger was not worthy of the Best of the NW list, then joined my friend Jason waiting for us in the parking lot in his Kia Sportage. After getting lost on the only road in the area, Scott and fam eventually found us in the parking lot. We waited a while longer for Scooby before eventually heading out without him.
Our first lake of the day was Trillium Lake, by way of Still Creek Road. The last time I was up there, the main road was closed and you had to detour on the 20 road, so I headed straight for that. And discovered that bridge was now closed. A neighbor advised us Still Creek road is now open so we backtracked on hwy 26 about a mile and headed uphill. Scott piped up over the CB about halfway up saying he was having heat (as in too much) issues with the Renix but apparently figured it out before we got up there. We parked by the dam and checked out the view. We were semi lucky to actually be able to see a bit of Mt Hood, though of course not all of it. I used the facilities there then, after confirming Greg wouldn't be joining us, we headed out. To highway 26 we went, then east to Frog Lake. Some of us aired down while the children threw rocks in the lake then we headed up to the summit of Blue Box Pass and headed around the west side of Clear Lake, stopping to find the BIGGEST Geocache I've ever seen. :worship: At the parking area, I explained to the group that Little Crater Lake was 100 feet across (though I mistakenly said 60) then lead the unimpressed group down the short trail to the lake. They were now impressed. It's also 30 deep with near vertical sides, a beautiful blue color and it maintains an approximate 34 degrees year round. The group boogied up to High Rock, one of my favorite places in Oregon. Jason, Darren, Will I Think and I hiked up to the top while the Scott posse stayed behind and messed with the other rigs. We ate lunch then started downhill when Renix struck.
Scott smelled gasoline and, having recently replaced some parts on the fuel rail (I don't know what he actually did) decided to stop and check it out. He found some gas leaking out. We figure the best bet was to limp it the 200 yards back to pavement and call AAA. With a quick red duct tape patch job, we were down to the road in no time. Not surprisingly, they weren't terribly helpful but eventually we got a tow en route from Brightwood. Shortly thereafter, Jason talked to Greg, who was happy to bring up a replacement o-ring. We quickly canceled the tow then waited for him to make the drive from Woodburn, which he did quite quickly, all things considered. Eventually he got there and we got it put on to find gas leaking from elsewhere on the fuel rail. We didn't have an o-ring that size. Greg fashioned one out of Gorilla Tape and we pointed Scott in the shortest direction home, though I may have suggested the nearby cliff as an alternative.
We quickened our pace as we were getting to the point of losing light. Down we raced to the Timothy Lake Dam, where Greg took the lead, guiding us over a few less traveled FS roads to Summit Lake, where we said goodbye to the daylight. We explored for another hour or so in the darkness before eventually dropping down a temporarily open powerline access road to the 46 road. We aired up and rolled out one at a time back towards town. The advantage of spreading out of course is that those of us with REALLY BRIGHT LIGHTS were able to use them in the dark and rainy road. Even with the quad midnight suns on my front bumper, I still ran over numerous frogs who though the road was a good place to hang out. Sorry fellas!
Our first lake of the day was Trillium Lake, by way of Still Creek Road. The last time I was up there, the main road was closed and you had to detour on the 20 road, so I headed straight for that. And discovered that bridge was now closed. A neighbor advised us Still Creek road is now open so we backtracked on hwy 26 about a mile and headed uphill. Scott piped up over the CB about halfway up saying he was having heat (as in too much) issues with the Renix but apparently figured it out before we got up there. We parked by the dam and checked out the view. We were semi lucky to actually be able to see a bit of Mt Hood, though of course not all of it. I used the facilities there then, after confirming Greg wouldn't be joining us, we headed out. To highway 26 we went, then east to Frog Lake. Some of us aired down while the children threw rocks in the lake then we headed up to the summit of Blue Box Pass and headed around the west side of Clear Lake, stopping to find the BIGGEST Geocache I've ever seen. :worship: At the parking area, I explained to the group that Little Crater Lake was 100 feet across (though I mistakenly said 60) then lead the unimpressed group down the short trail to the lake. They were now impressed. It's also 30 deep with near vertical sides, a beautiful blue color and it maintains an approximate 34 degrees year round. The group boogied up to High Rock, one of my favorite places in Oregon. Jason, Darren, Will I Think and I hiked up to the top while the Scott posse stayed behind and messed with the other rigs. We ate lunch then started downhill when Renix struck.
Scott smelled gasoline and, having recently replaced some parts on the fuel rail (I don't know what he actually did) decided to stop and check it out. He found some gas leaking out. We figure the best bet was to limp it the 200 yards back to pavement and call AAA. With a quick red duct tape patch job, we were down to the road in no time. Not surprisingly, they weren't terribly helpful but eventually we got a tow en route from Brightwood. Shortly thereafter, Jason talked to Greg, who was happy to bring up a replacement o-ring. We quickly canceled the tow then waited for him to make the drive from Woodburn, which he did quite quickly, all things considered. Eventually he got there and we got it put on to find gas leaking from elsewhere on the fuel rail. We didn't have an o-ring that size. Greg fashioned one out of Gorilla Tape and we pointed Scott in the shortest direction home, though I may have suggested the nearby cliff as an alternative.
We quickened our pace as we were getting to the point of losing light. Down we raced to the Timothy Lake Dam, where Greg took the lead, guiding us over a few less traveled FS roads to Summit Lake, where we said goodbye to the daylight. We explored for another hour or so in the darkness before eventually dropping down a temporarily open powerline access road to the 46 road. We aired up and rolled out one at a time back towards town. The advantage of spreading out of course is that those of us with REALLY BRIGHT LIGHTS were able to use them in the dark and rainy road. Even with the quad midnight suns on my front bumper, I still ran over numerous frogs who though the road was a good place to hang out. Sorry fellas!
