Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

A couple of my coworkers (Adam and James) had been planing a trail run to Evans Creek ORV for a little over week. My wife had plans to volunteer that day so I kept saying no. Finally, Thursday came and Adam needed to use my jigsaw to do a little wheel well trimming on his Jeep. Well my wife’s plans for the day changed and she said to go. Sweet.

Knowing very well that the trail system at the Evans Creek ORV area was not designed to larger vehicles like my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser, my intent was that we would stick to the easier trails and/or forest roads. So off we went for the day’s adventure.

Once we pulled into the parking lot of the Evans Creek, we were met by a group of three other Jeeps. We decided to tag along. The emotional fun of wheeling overcame my common sense that my Land Cruiser may not fit on the trails. Luckily there there was minimal recent rain.

I’m not sure what trail we started on because there was no sign (unless I missed it). I know it was just west of the day use parking area. We started off climbing from the road shortly an obstacle that gave a couple of the Jeeps a challenge. Basically the key was to keep to the left of a few rocks in the trail (easier said then done). The long wheelbase of my Land Cruiser definitely helped in this section. Because the trail was relatively dry, it was a pretty easy time in my FJ80 and the trail provided plenty of width to navigate my 112 inch wheelbase through the obstacles (if you’re not familiar with my Land Cruiser, I’m only running an 2.5 OME lift, 31 inch BFG AT tires and unlocked diffs).

We eventually came to trail 198 (which was marked “most difficult”). I was having fun and the trail wasn’t bad so far, so I decided to continue with the group. Well this section of trail ended up being very tight for my 80-series pig. There was quite a few close calls where the off camber sections would push me very close obstacles along side of the trail. I made several attempts to get around certain root but in the end, my flare hit it and I heard a cracking sound. I thought the flair was toast. Somehow, I managed to get by with only deep scrapes in my left rear fender flair.

A little further down the trail, there was a turn that I didn’t think I could make so I tried a alternate route. The path would initially lead me between two trees (with minimal clearance on each side). I should have gotten out and sized up the obstacle first, but I didn’t. I drove up over the roots of the tree and then got high centered on my side steps when my front tires dropped into the hole on the other side. Had I built up a ramp with readily available materials (logs and rocks) I probably would have negotiated the obstacle. To continue, I had to get winched off (the only time all day). After that, the trail was still tight but I was able pass the remaining tight sections with out problem (just throw in a few multi-point turns and some spotting).

After we reached the gravel forest road, we headed up Forest Road 7930 until we reached the ridge. Normally you have a great view of Mt. Rainier from this location but today, you could only see the lower part of the glaciers. In the opposite direction, there are views of the Puget Sound lowlands, however those views were limited by the cloud cover.

By this time, one of the Jeeps in the group headed out, so we took a little time to fire a few rounds through our guns. It had been a while since I shot my 9mm Ruger, but I was actually able to hit a fairly decent grouping at 20 yards. Adam had his .44 Smith cannon and shot a few rounds also.

After making some noise, we headed down to the main road in, stopping to play and take some photos along the way.

We were able to air up at Chuck’s Service & Gas in Wilkeson. We real appreciated the hospitality because air is not a normally provided service. At one time it was, but a few people ruined for everybody.

It was a fun day. If the weather was clear, I could have had some great pictures of Mt. Rainier. I got lucky that the conditions were mostly dry (except for a few puddles). If it had been wetter conditions, my BFG ATs would not have had any traction and I would have probably ended up sliding into something and denting a quarter panel (like James in his Cherokee). The only damage I suffered was some deep scrapes in the left rear fender flare and a little tweaking of my side steps. Would I take my Land Cruiser on those trails again? On the forest roads, not a problem. On the 4WD trails. Nope. The FJ80 is just too much body and wheelbase.

You can view all of the photos from this trail run at Evans Creek Trail Run Photos.

Since most of what I needed to do at home required me to have dry weather to work on, I decided to take a ride to the forest lands above Wilkeson, Washington. Luckily for me, from my front door to the gravel forest roads of the Wilkeson Tree Farm (owned by Plum Creek) is exactly 20 miles. The drive time, depending on traffic will vary from 30-60 minutes. My goal was to explore Forest Service (FS) Road 7720. It had been a few years since my last visit to the area.

Unfortunately, the weather did not allow for the great views of the Puget Sound lowlands below or to Mt. Rainier above. I’ll have to save that for another trip.

I started out from downtown Wilkeson, Washington and turned on Railroad Ave and drove past the historic Wilkeson School (the oldest operating elementary school building in Washington state), past the old Coke Ovens and the Wilkeson Sandstone Quarry and then turned up the hill near the entrance of the Sunset Lake Camp. None of the roads in this area have signs. The only road that shows on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest map is FS 7720. My GPS initially listed this road as the South Prairie Creek Road.

Once I climbed out of the valley, there is a section of the road that is the haul road for another quarry further up the road. After a short distance, there is a fork in the road, with the quarry road to the left (very obvious) and FS 7710 to the right. In a short distance I turned left on FS 7720 and followed it up the South Prairie Creek valley.

It wasn’t too long after this that my GPS showed no roads. So with no map or GPS showing the roads, I began to explore the area. I decided to drive up to roads end and work my way back down as time allowed. I climbed for a while when I came to a junction with two well used roads. First I chose the road to the right which dead ended in about two miles. Some great views through the mist. Probably better on a clear day. So I backtracked down to the last junction.

Next, I followed the road to the left. From what I could tell from the forest service map and the geography, this road was FS 7720. From this junction, the road was overgrown with alder trees in sections, steep, rocky and rutted in others. A high clearance vehicle would be recommended to travel this area of road. After passing multiple forks in the road, while staying to the left, I eventually came to an overlook into the valley and Cedar Lake. A nice mountain lake downhill from my vantage point. There appears to be a road within a relatively short distance from the lake’s outlet (it would still require a hike through the brush), but from where I was standing and without a map, I couldn’t tell you how to get to the road.

While looking at the forest service map, I noted that there was a trailhead for Trail 1178 at the end of the road (only a short distance further). Once I got home and started writing this trip report, I found out that this was the Clearwater Trail #1178. After some photos of Cedar Lake and driving to the end of the road, I turned around and started heading down for further explorations.

Some of the spur roads I explored dead ended rather quickly, some were very overgrown with alder trees. Limb risers on my Land Cruiser would have been nice, or just simply turning around as what I had to do on FS 7724 because it was too overgrown.

Because of time limitations and a storm blowing in with visibility dropping to about 50 yards, I opted to head home for the day around 3:00 PM. I made note of some of the other roads I needed to explore on a future trip to the Wilkeson Tree Farm.

You can view all of the photos from this trip at Wilkeson Forest Roads.

Anybody who ventures away from well-maintained forest roads will eventually be faced with the decision to attempt a water crossing or not.

Before you go out for your next overland adventure, you should learn a little about your vehicle, its capabilities and some modifications that will help you in case you are faced with a water crossing.

Once you’re about to make the water crossing, you’ll need to do some planning to increase your chances of a successful water crossing.

Then after you successfully made your water crossing, there are some maintenance items that need to be dealt with.

All these topics are discussed in a great article titled Water Crossing How To over at Offroad-Adventure-Travel.com.

This information will help you safely make water crossings without major damage to your vehicle.

You can read more off-road adventure travel tips at http://www.offroad-adventure-travel.com/tech.html.

Over four days, I completed a 671 mile adventure (not counting the additional 465 miles to get to the starting point and back home again) following an overland route through the Cascade Mountains of Washington state, stretching from the Columbia River near Carson, Washington to Chopaka at the border crossing with British Columbia. From my records, about 63% of the overland route was on forest roads.

Over these four days, my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser was driven hard, physically traveling roughly the same mileage that it would take to get to Los Angeles from Seattle via I-5 without leaving Washington state (is this what is considered “severe service” by the manufacturer?). Near the British Columbia border, the odometer on my LandCruiser also achieved the 190,000 mark.

Through all the abuse I dished out to my 80-series Land Cruiser (all these forest roads were not nice graded roads), the only mechanical failure I had was a broken catalytic converter support bracket (once I had climbed up the Bethel Ridge road I noticed a new knocking sound that was terrain specific). The only physical damage occurred while driving the FS-1701 on Manastash Ridge when I heard something hit (stick, rock ?) underneath the body. I stopped and could not locate any damage, so I continued. It wasn’t until I was at home, under the vehicle doing maintenance, that I noticed a dented rocker panel under the drivers door.

Had I known local road closures and conditions better, I could have eliminated some of the backtracking and alternate routes that I followed. I guess that’s why this was also an exploratory route finding trip.

Since I began posting my trip reports, I’ve received suggestions for several possible alternative routes to explore. Obviously, a person could substitute more 4×4 trails to the route, especially in the Naches/Cle Elum/Liberty areas. There may also more 4×4 trails or unimproved roads that are not clear on the maps that could be added in the route. Since I was traveling solo, driving designated 4×4 trails was not a goal for this trip.

After mapping out and driving this route, I’m hoping that this trip may lay the groundwork for an official overland route such as the Oregon Discovery Route (too bad the Oregon Discovery Route ended near Walla Walla and not closer to the Cascades).

My goal for this trip was to break down the North-South route through the Washington Cascades into manageable daily drives. I had originally planned each as follows:

Day One: Carson to Packwood.
Day Tow: Packwood to Cle Elum.
Day Three: Cle Elum to Chelan.
Day Four: Chelan to Chopaka.

The only day I did not reach my daily driving goal was on day one. Had I got an earlier start and eliminated some backtracking and/or driving dead end roads, it would have been an easily achievable goal. If a person desired to stay in comfortable accommodations, you could easily plan out each nights stay.

Would I do this again? In a heartbeat! (probably not this year though). I would rather have some friends/vehicles along to include more designated 4×4 trails. I would also add an extra day or more to the time frame to not be so rushed. I would also like to spend a day exploring the ghost towns and mines of the Okanogan region of Washington state.

Trip Summary:
Total Miles Driven: 671 miles (approximate)
Paved Highway: 95 miles (14%)
Paved County Roads: 158 miles (23%)
Paved Forest Service Road: 133 miles (20%)
Improved Gravel Forest Service Roads: 252 miles (38%)
Limited Maintenance Forest Roads: 33 miles (5%)

In case you missed some of the trip reports, you can catch up on each day by following these links.

Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Introduction
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day One
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Two
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Three
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Four
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Final Thoughts

Day Three: August 12, 2007.

Daily Goal: To Drive from near Blewett Pass (Cle Elum) to Chelan, Washington.

Map Reference:
Wenatchee National Forest Map

Today, I awoke to what sounded like raindrops landing on my Land Cruiser. I looked out, sure enough, it was raining. This was a perfect time to see if I could roll up my sleeping and air mattress as well as rearrange the refrigerator and my gear before even stepping a foot outside. Success. It was actually easier once I got over the fact that there is limited headroom. After my morning routine, I was on the road again for the days adventure.

From my campsite on FS-9738, just west of Highway 97, it was a short 15 minute trip to the highway and another short three minute drive on the highway until I reached FS-9705 (Durst Creek). In all my years of living in the Washington state, this was only my second time of visiting the area between Liberty and Wenatchee. I followed FS-9705 for about 5.4 miles until it joined the main Liberty area road FS-9712. Along the way, I saw a flock of wild turkeys and and a small herd cow elk.

FS-9712 is a well maintained road until you reach Haney Meadows. After that, it becomes the type of road I enjoy to drive, limited maintenance, and high clearance vehicles only. FS-9712 basically follows the ridgeline, with a good portion above 5550 feet in elevation. From the ridgeline, you would see into the Wenatchee River valley, including the Columbia River and beyond.

After about 24 miles and 2.5 hours on FS-9712, I reached FS-7100. FS-7100 basically follows Mission Creek down into Cashmere, first on state and private land, and then back to national forest. The trip from FS-9712 to where the pavement began just outside Cashmere was about 12 miles and took about 40 minutes to travel.

Once I fueled up and bought my favorite coffee drink, I headed directly across Highway 2 to the Nahahum Canyon Road (which eventually becomes FS-7412) which I planed to travel to reach the Entiat River. After driving up the canyon five miles to where the pavement ends and the gravel begins was posted a sign, basically stating that due to extreme fire danger, this road was closed by order of the Chelan County Commissioners and it was strictly enforced by the Chelan County Sheriffs Department. I debated for a moment and decided that I would find an alternate route and not risk getting a ticket. So I headed back down the road back to to Highway 2 and drove to Leavenworth.

Once in Leavenworth, I stopped at the Forest Service office, but of course being on a Sunday, it were closed. Luckily I spotted a Forest Service employee pulling in behind the office with “Fire” marked on the truck. Just the person I needed to talk to. After a short conversation, I found out that all Forest Service road are open to the public and that Chelan County only has jurisdiction on closing county roads and not federal roads. Thats all the information I needed to continue my adventure. The last thing I wanted to was abort the trip or have to drive the highways to reach Okanogan County.

So after looking at my maps, I found a road that connected up to my originally planned route. From Leavenworth, I headed north up the Chumstick Highway until I reached Eagle Creek Rd. After about 6 miles, I reached FS-7520, back on my original route, only with a slight unnecessary detour. From FS-7520, I would first follow FS-5800 and then eventually FS-5700 through the Entiat Mountains until I reached the Entiat River Rd. (22 miles/1 hour travel time).

While driving up the Entiat River valley, I encountered the first of many areas of previous wildland fires that I would encounter over the next two days. The Entiat River Rd. eventually becomes FS-51. From FS-51, I followed FS-5900 (Shady Pass Rd.), through the Chelan Mountains, over Shady Pass and reaching elevation of +6000 feet in elevation, until I reached Lake Chelan. Along the way, I could see and smell the smoke from the Domke fire that was burning. As I descended towards Lake Chelan, the smoke had settled into the valley and had limited the views. Just before reaching Lake Chelan, I passed the Incident Base Camp for the Domke fire including a helibase with a Chinook helicopter parked for the night.

Once I reached Lake Chelan (27 miles/just under 2 hours travel time), I followed the lake until I reached the city of Chelan where I fueled up the Land Cruiser for the next leg of my adventure.

From Chelan, I headed north out of town towards Manson. After passing Wapato Lake, the road becomes FS-8200 and passes Antilon Lake. Just before the lake is Upper Joe Creek Rd/FS-8210 (which I totally missed on the way up) which eventually winds it way up to Cooper Ridge. After a short distance of driving Cooper Ridge, I drove up the spur road to the site of the old Cooper Mountain Lookout. Since it was getting late in the day, I decided that I would spend the night here. Elevation approximately 5800 feet.

The view to the west were good considering the smoke from the Domke fire filled the valley below. After setting up for the night, I was able to spend some time experimenting with my camera, including sunset shots (the reason why there are so many shots of this area).

Daily Summary (including some detours):
Total Miles Driven (approximate) - 201 miles (Blewett Pass to Cooper Mountain)
Paved Highway: 37 miles
Paved County Roads: 57 miles
Gravel Forest Service Roads: 108 miles

See all of the photos from day three of this trip at Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Three Photos.

Next Day: Day Four: Cooper Mountain Lookout (Chelan) to the British Columbia border at Chopaka

Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Introduction
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day One
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Two
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Three
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Day Four
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 - Final Thoughts

Summer in Western Washington usually doesn’t start officially (at least weather wise) until July 5 of each year. Today (06.24.07) was no exception. The forecast for the day was for rain and a snow level of 5000 feet.

Since I worked the night before and my wife’s nephew was coming over for dinner, I had to keep the day’s adventure somewhat local from my home. Flipping through the book Washington Byways, I found Tour 49 - High Rock Lookout Loop and it fit perfectly into the day’s time restraints. I loaded up the dog in the Land Cruiser and headed towards the Cascades in hopes of finding some sun above the low hanging clouds.

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Last Sunday (June 24, 2007), I ventured into the High Rock area near Mt. Rainier. The weather was overcast and rain most of the day meaning in no great views of Mt. Rainier. These are the photos I shot on this adventure. Most are taken from the inside of my Toyota Land Cruiser.

High Rock Loop Photos

The complete story of this adventure will be coming soon.