Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

Organized by the Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association, Operation Shore Patrol is an annual cleanup of Washington’s southern coast, scheduled for the weekend of September 20-21, 2008. The goal of Operation Shore Patrol is to focus attention on litter accumulated from water and land sources on Washington’s ocean beaches.

Litter poses a threat to people, fish, and wildlife and creates an unsightly environment. Operation Shore Patrol is a major step in helping to rid Washington’s coastline of litter and debris.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to make a meaningful difference, get great exercise, and make new friends. Contact the coordinator for your favorite area below.

Read more at Operation Shore Patrol.

This year was the third year attending the annual PNW4WDA annual jamboree. As in years past, I volunteered to help ARB serve their annual Friday dinner for the event. This is always a lot of fun and a great group of people to work with. They do a great job on putting on the dinner.

Since the event was a sellout, all the trail runs on Saturday were quickly filled. This was also the first time I was actually going to wheel my FJ-80 Land Cruiser, so I decided to sit in and attend (and assist where needed) the Four Wheel Drive 101 class presented by Chris Wood of ARB. This is a great class and you will pick up tips whether you are brand new to wheeling or a seasoned veteran. A great emphasis is placed on personal safety and preparedness. There were also some excellent discussion and demonstration on vehicle recovery techniques including a demonstration on how to winch you vehicle backwards with a front mounted winch.

After the presentation, the rest of the day was spent on the Clover Springs Trail with a few stops along the way to practice off-road driving techniques. An especially important practice session was backing down a hill using only your mirrors.

By time we got back to the jamboree base camp, we had been on the trail nearly eleven hours. A long and fun day. I look forward to next year.

You can view my photos of the trail run at Clover Springs Trail Run.

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.

(more…)