Where's The Fire?

[4.3LXJ]

We were sleeping in today, I didn't sleep much at all last night, and just sort of lounging around when the wife said, "You wanna go somewhere?" I said sure, what did you have in mind. We discussed a few options when she said, "Wanna take the Jeep for a shake down before we go to Fordyce?" Sure, why not. I wanted to test out my new KM2s anyway and see how they performed. So off we went. It was getting hazy from the forest fires up in the hills. I knew there was a fire somewhere up there, but I really didn't know where it was. I figured that if we found it, we found it. I used to put them out for a living, so no big deal. So we headed to High Lakes. It is the local rock crawling hot spot and I hadn't been there yet. Tried a couple of times. First time, I sort of got to the area, but never found it. Second time, too much snow to get in there.

So maps and GPS in hand we headed for Philbrook Lake. At least I knew how to get there this time. We paused at the campground at the lake to use the restrooms and discuss maybe camping here sometime.





You can see how hazy the air is from the smoke. Normally the air at 5,00 feet is quite clear. So I consulted my map and it said there was a road at the end of the lake marked 4WD. Must be the place. So off we went. Only to find a gate. We knew where we wanted to get but didn't know how to get there unless we took this road. So a little more map reading and we went back a little and north. We found our intersection we wanted and hung a left. This was looking more like it. The track started out somewhat narrow and was climbing. The road was still fairly good, but getting narrower and a little rougher as we went.



The wife was rocked gently to sleep as the road became a two track with rocks. Got the suspension good and twisted up several times, a front wheel off the ground going down hill. Still asleep. Oh well, we will take some vids on the way back out. I heard a few "tinks" I had never heard before. But oh well, still rolling. She wakes up finally and says, "Hungry". Now I knew she didn't pack any food. I look over at her and she starts pulling out chocolate. Now I know I have a good nose for chocolate. Where was she hiding this stuff? "I had it in the freezer" she says. I am going to have to search in there more often. So while she was unwrapping candy bars, I took this pic in this Old Growth Noble Fir Forest.



This is typical of these type of stands. Just like a park underneath. Oh well, we were on the wrong track anyway, so I turned around and we went through a few areas of flowers. It is still spring at 6500'







We went a little further and came to a forest service road block. Ahead of me was a guy in a 60K buggy getting a ticket, with the ranger cop smiling at him. I thought, "Oh great, now I get to pay a fine". He shakes the guys hand after handing him the citation, and walks up to me and asks where I came from. So I told him how I got there. You see, I was on the wrong side of the road block. Fortunately I had the GPS plotting my course to prove it. The road I came in on was not blocked. So we BSed a little and swapped forest service stories and he just told me to head out on a well traveled road. It turned out, this was the road we should have taken to get where we wanted to go in the first place. But because we were new to the area and semi lost, we got some good wheeling in anyway. So out we went, grateful for no tickets. Apparently the fire was closer than we thought.

On the way out, the way we came in, there was now a detour set up, so we turned north again and headed for a place called Butte Meadows. The wife asked, "You know where you are going?" "Nope, never been there." "It's been a long time, are we going the right way?" "Yep"

We finally get to Butte Meadows and back to a familiar highway home. Before hitting the highway, we stopped to use the restroom and air up. Here is another nice place to camp.









So, on the highway we go. At 60 mph we find out what those tinks were. I now have a driveline vibration. I just replaced some u joints. Next time they will be Spicer.

All in all, I am pleases with the new tires. They ride much nicer and quieter than the MTs. We never slipped a tire. But I think I will sipe them anyway before we go to Forcyce.

[4x4Dalton]

Awesome lookin areas man. Looks like yall had a great time gettin lost.And hey dont forget to check freezer when ya get back

[Brasscatz]

Very nice Steve! I wish my wife would wake up and want to just go wheelin somewhere! Sounds like the perfect Saturday!

[4.3LXJ]

Ya gotta make it so she gets something out of it too. We were joking about rocks for the rock garden. We found one, nice piece of granite. Unfortunately it was a monolith the size of a mountain. I told her it wouldn't fit. I always take her to see lots of scenery with rocks in it, which she really enjoys. One of these days, I will let her drive. We are already talking about a red XJ for her. It will be called "Rockin Rose"

[Brasscatz]

Definitely can't go wrong with red