Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

Day Two: August 11, 2007.

Daily Goal: To Drive from Babyshoe Pass (on FS-23 near Mt. Adams) to Cle Elum, Washington (I-90).

Map Reference:
Gifford Pinchot National Forest Map
Wenatchee National Forest Map

After a surprisingly comfortable night of sleep in the back of my 80-series Land Cruiser (with my dog Tareva right next to me), I arose just after daybreak to the awesome views of Mt. Adams and Mt Hood. This was my first attempt at sleeping in my FJ80. I initially had my doubts on how comfortable it would be, considering my height. My newly built cargo box, the back seat folded down, a plastic tub on the second row footwell and the front passenger seat folded forward and all the way to the dash provided a great support for my air mattress. All that I had to do to rearrange from the days trip was to move the ARB refrigerator to the drivers side and throw some of my bags in the front seats.
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After nearly a year of lurking on the Backroad Drivers Northwest group mail list, last Saturday (June 9, 2007), I was finally able to attend one of the organized gatherings of the group.

The planned destination was the Clover Springs and Little Bald Mountain areas off SR 410, near Cliffdell, Washington. I had been to this area before, during the 2005 Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association (PNW4WDA) annual trail jamboree, but never from the direction we were coming in from. Also, this time of year, there was bound to be snow, which places a whole new twist on the adventure.

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