Long weekend on the Magruder

[Metcalf]

Hello everyone,

I thought this was the proper place to share the tail of this little adventure last weekend with some good friends.

Its not often that we all get together these days. We all met while in college in northern Idaho a few years ago. Time has gone by but we all stay in touch and have tried to get together over the years for bigger trips. There was four people on this trip....myself, Marc, Jonathan, and Doug. Since Jonathan and I have a flat fender jeep problem and don't have fancy newfangled vehicles that are big enough for trips like this we both got 'Winch Serpa' duty for the trip. I was also in charge of feeding all four people for the entire trip!

This trips goal was to make the first vehicle tracks over the Magruder corridor between Idaho and Montana. This section of trail is over a hundred miles of forest service roads from Elk City, Idaho to Darby, Montana. You never really know when the road is going to open up in the spring. Doug and Marc attempted this trip last year during Memorial Day weekend and didn't even come close to making it. This year we where attempting the trip about three weeks later hoping that would allow the snow to melt just enough to make it possible. This year however ended up having about 150% of normal snowfall and included 18" of new snow about a week before the trip! There was lots of last minute preparations to be done but we all ended up meeting only about an hour late just outside Kooskia, Idaho and caravaned onto Elk City, Idaho.

Though its a little out of the way its the last chance to fuel up the jeeps before the trip started. To my surprise the fuel wasn't overpriced even with the very remote location of the town. I have to commend the owners of the fuel station for this in Elk City!

Both jeeps where fully fueled and ready to go!

Marc owns the Silver jeep. Its a 2004 Jeep Rubicon. It is fresh out of the shop with a new 5.3 GM v-8/4l65e swap. It has the stock Rubicon 4:1 transfer case followed up by the stock D44 front and rear axles with 5.13 gears and Alloy USA shafts in all 4 corners. He is running a 4.5" Nth Degree Mobility long arm suspension system with OME shocks. 35" Krawlers and Hutchinson Rockmonster wheels give it a little bit of a mean look. The bumpers are by Safari Gard and a Superwinch 9000 pound with sits up front with some 3/8" winchline.

Doug owns the green jeep. Its a 2001 Jeep Sahara. I don't really know where to start with this one! Doug works as a machinist and it comes out in his jeep. Every time you look at it you find something new he has done. It still runs a fairly stock 4.0L straight six backed up by the stock NV3550. Behind that things get a little exotic. The stock np321 was cut down into a air shifted crawler box and followed up by a flipped D300 with a twin lever cable shifter. The stock D44 rear axle has 4.10 gears and an ARB air locker along with a disc brake conversion. The front axle is a high pinion D30 out of a cherokee with matching 4.10s and ARB air locker. The axles are still running stock shafts but are capped off with a set of the new 31575r16 BFG KM/2's on a set of Stuan beadlocked 16" factory Rubicon wheels. The suspension is mainly OME shocks and springs with some custom control arms and bracing. There is a small 1" body lift to help clear the transfer cases and to help make a high clearance transmission cross member fit correctly. The front of the jeep is capped off by a Kilby bumper, a 9K Tabor winch, and some 3/8" winchline. I could go on and on about this jeep! I hope to share some of the little stuff that makes it so unique throughout the story!

To be continued....

 

[Metcalf]

The drive from Elk City to the start of the Magruder trail isn't too long. The scenery along the rivers is amazing this time of the year with everything so green from all the extra snowfall. We arrived at the turnoff in the early afternoon. We didn't really have a firm plan on where we where going to camp the first night. It had depended on what time we finally got everyone and everything together. Since we had a little extra time and things where going smoothly we decided to set off up the trail towards our first nights camp spot.

The first few miles of dirt road where almost dry as a bone. We had high hopes that the snow would be light the first day but that quickly faded away when 4wd was engaged, the tires aired down, and the locker buttons pushed.

After we got a feeling for the snow conditions we decided to try and make Granite Springs campground for the first night. This was about 18 miles in from the trail head. Marc and Doug had camped there before and knew it had an outhouse and fire ring! The snow conditions where pretty good with only a few soft sunny holes to work through. In general we don't mess around too much in the snow. We have been snow wheeling for years and have found very little air pressure to be the ticket in the the deep stuff. Both Marc and Doug have double beadlocks on there jeeps. Marc has the Hutchinson wheels which are basically a hummer wheel style. The tire is clamped in the rim by a big rubber band! Doug is running the Stuan internal beadlocks. These function like a small tire inside of the tire. This lets you run the tire down to just before the tire starts to contact the inner beadlock liner. I think Doug ran 4.5-5 psi most of the trip while Marc ran anywhere from 2-5psi depending on snow conditions.

It wasn't long before we arrived at camp in the early evening. It was still daylight out and that let us set up camp quick. Everyone was really hungry so I started prepping dinner while everyone else tried to get a fire started to cook dinner. The first nights menu consisted of salmon fillets, broccoli, and couscous! After a bit of work we had a fire started. This time of year is a little hard to find nice dry wood! Once we had some coals we threw the grub on and kicked back in front of the fire.

Day two coming soon....

 

[paulj]

Your first night campsite reminds me of our camp at Bridge Ck near the Red River Hot Springs around June 1. The roads were clear of snow, but there were plenty of patches around the campground, and on nearby trails.

These hot springs are about 10 miles from that Darby Road sign. I got the impression from the owner of the hot springs that a portion of his business comes from people drive this road. The late snow was putting a crimp on his transition from winter business to summer.

paulj

 

[Metcalf]

Day two

The next morning we woke up to the clear blue skies and sunshine! In some of the previous pictures you'll notice that some of us camped in hammocks and some of us camped in tents. I have used a hammock for years and love it. Even though the temps dropped into the 30s the first night I slept great. The hammock is super light and takes about 2 minutes to set up! The ground doesn't need to be level or dry, all I need is two trees....or one tree and a jeep rollbar, or two jeep rollbars. I have an older zero degree down sleeping bag and a simple foam pad for insulation under me. Marc has his tent, Alaska rated down bad, and a thermarest. Doug was hammock camping like me but didn't bring a pad to sleep on so was a little chilled the first night. Jonathan has a nice one man tent, pad and bag. He did have a nice seam failure in his tent the first night that he chased the rest of the trip.

Once everything was all packed up in the jeeps we headed up the road. Getting everything in a SWB jeep for a long distance trip, food for 4 days, chainsaws, Marcs soda supply, and my boots takes a little bit of work. Things thinned out during the trip but it was still a tight fit!

Don't go thinking that we went off into the great unknown unprepared. We had stuff hidden everywhere including a spare axle shaft or two, parts, satellite phone, tools, water, etc. It felt like we could have built a spare jeep out of everything we had with us. Its a fine line between taking too much stuff vs not taking enough. Both jeeps where right around the 5000lb mark ready to run with people, fuel, food, and water.

After driving for a few miles we reached a fork in the road. The bad news is that the Snowcat that had been used over the coarse of the bear hunting season took the other road. The Snowcat hadn't been plowing the snow for us, but had been knocking drifts down in places to make the side hills quicker to navigate.

The other downside to loosing the SnowCat trail is that the trees that had fallen down accross the road would now need to be cut out of the road. We where the first people back this far this season so we got the privilege....groan.

Both jeeps where backing freshly sharpened chainsaws so we made quick work of the numerous trees across the road. Some we could drive around or over, while others had to be cut out of the way. It gets a little old after awhile unpacking and repacking the saw! I definitely think a saw holder of some kind would be on my wish list for the next jeep.

The road gains and drops elevation as you get farther into the back country. About 25 miles in you drop down into Poet Creek. There is a nice campground and it was bone dry. We pressed on as the going was good an we where only about a quarter of the way through the trail.

As you gain elevation again coming out of Poet Creek you make a steep climb back into the snow. It wasn't very long until the winch lines came back out again. Its so easy to slip a little too far sideways on the snow towards the edge of the road. Sometimes you can creep through, others for every inch you go forward you slide two sideways! It takes a lot of patience and humility to drive on a trip like this. Your a long ways from help and there isn't anyone we could call to come help if things went bad. You ride the line between being able to make good time and distance vs crawling at the slowest speed possible to hold a high line on a snowy side hill.

It wasn't very long till the going got tough. We where entering the area of the trail that had turned around Doug and Marc last year. We where already in more snow than last year but we where hoping more snow might have filled in some of the side hill sections of the north facing slopes. We where not that lucky. In general it isn't the deep snow that stops us. Once your floating on the snow it doesn't matter if your on one foot or ten. Side hill is another matter! It doesn't really matter what you are driving or what tricks you try....there is eventually going to be a side hill that stops you.

It wasn't long before we had worked ourselves back into the first major north facing section before we called lunch. The going was really slow and most of the last half mile had to be done at the end of a winch line.

The drill is something like this for us Sherpa's of the winch. You strap an uphill tree a decent distance and angle away. Then the driver can use the winch to pre-load the front of the jeep a bit to hold it on the side hill in the snow with a big scary hill about 2 feet to the downhill side.

Lunch was served. In general bagels hold up pretty darn good on the trail. The loaf of bread we brought was another matter!
MMMMMM....this picture makes me hungry.

During lunch we talked over what to do next. I think we all knew we where not going to make it much farther in time. Its not like we couldn't have winched the entire thing, but we just didn't have the fuel to winch about 20 miles! The drivers walked up the road a bit and made the call to go to plan B. The road ahead was more of the same stuff.....and it was just too time consuming to concur! We elected to turn around and head down into Poet creek to camp for the second night but first we had to winch out way out after the afternoon sun had softened the snow and make it much more slippery!

 

[ttora4runner]

Awesome.

 

[Ursidae69]

Killer thread. :costumed-smiley-007

 

[boknows]

Very cool trip, looking forward to the rest of the story

 

[blazinid]

you guys are doing the exact trip that a few friends and I have been talking about for the last few years! Trail busting would be alot of work but what good times. Keep it coming!

 

[blazinid]

Is there any forest service regs on hitting those trails before all the snow melts?

 

[paulj]

Probably not, as long as it is not seen as 'mudding' or 'resource damage'.

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15175&highlight=elum

Their saw work saves the FS some money.

paulj

 

[Metcalf]

I will post up some more soon. I have had a busy day or two....

The road is never open or closed as far as we can tell. The road is never plowed open by the forest service either. Once a year they run a grader down it to knock down the big bumps and rocks off the road. We are responsible off roaders and would not be up for the trip if it was just to play in the mud.

If you are planning to do this trip let me know. I have a lot more information I can give you including somewhat local contacts.

More later tonight hopefully....

 

[pygmyowl]

Cool trip report! I always wanted to that trip. I float the Selway often, but permits are so hard to get that I have been going in over Nez Perce pass in early May with Tim (can't remember his last name) before permit season. He was using '70s Broncos with lockers to get us in, and I know what you mean about the side hills. That time of year he only goes in after a hard freeze at night, and we leave at dawn from near Darby, MT. I see at the gage near Lowell that the Selway is still over 15,000 cfs - pretty amazing for last day in June.

Curious if that was synthetic line you were winching with?

Scott
------------------
06 Tundra AC, ARB Front Bumper, Warn M8000, Donahoe Coil overs, Slee Rock Sliders

 

[Metcalf]

Getting turned around was a little harder than expected. The road is rather narrow and there is a nice bank of snow on the inside. The basic formula is to try and get the nose as high up as you can then kick the rear locker out or put it in front wheel drive. Then the front end can pull over on the snow helping you turn around. Sometimes it works pretty slick, sometimes you end up doing a six point turn around.

Once we where facing the right direction we started working our way back through the bad sidehill section. It was later in the day and the snow had softened up a lot. This made it really hard to keep the jeeps in the old tracks. What worked best for us was to go as slow as possible. Marc's jeep has a 4:1 low range and an automatic. It tends to push the brakes a bit more than you would want and the crawl speed is just a little fast. You end up having to ride the brakes a bit to slow yourself down. With the brakes a little wet from the snow it made stopping the silver jeep a leg workout. Doug's jeep with its double transfer case is pretty low geared. I think its over 115:1 with 35" tires. The sad fact is that a 4:1 gearset is on Dougs wishlist because the gearing just isn't low enough for the super technical snow crawling. If your looking to build a vehicle to do a trip like this I highly suggest the lowest possible gearing with a manual transmission. Something in the 170-200:1 range would be nice to have.

Working the jeeps back out of the side hill section took a bit. The drill was just about the same. Hook the winch, drive about 30 feet and re-hook. Sometimes re-hooking on a bad side hill section can be a bit dangerous. There are times that you are on a very steep side hill and you just can't winch anymore off the current anchor. The best trick I had up my sleeve was to hook a double anchor system. You end up running a snatch block on the first tree, and then a solid anchor on the second. The Jeep uses the first winches toward the snatch block. When you use up that angle and pull all you have to do is pull the slightest slack in the line and disconnect the snatch block. the winch doesn't need to be disconnected from the second tree. This way during a difficult side hill section you aren't without a safety line.

Once we where though the side hill section we headed back down the road towards Poet creek campground. We ended up getting back to camp pretty early in the evening. Doug had noticed that one of his Stuan beadlocks was leaking so we decided since we had the time we could fix it. Marc's rear locker wasn't locking either, we all figured it was the small air line in the differential that had failed. We could have fixed it, but since the rear limited slip had been doing ok for him we decided against opening that can of worms.

Next time I will show you how to mount and dismount a tire on the trail using a stock jeep bottle jack and a few small tire irons.

 

[Metcalf]

Cool trip report! I always wanted to that trip. I float the Selway often, but permits are so hard to get that I have been going in over Nez Perce pass in early May with Tim (can't remember his last name) before permit season. He was using '70s Broncos with lockers to get us in, and I know what you mean about the side hills. That time of year he only goes in after a hard freeze at night, and we leave at dawn from near Darby, MT. I see at the gage near Lowell that the Selway is still over 15,000 cfs - pretty amazing for last day in June.

We are thinking about starting on the Montana side next year. We have heard that it doesn't side hill as bad as the north side. There are bear hunters that run into the Selway also...so at least the road gets used more.

Starting out with the snow harder is generally better, but once you get way back in you have to get back out. If you don't get another freeze you can work yourself into a bit of a bad situation.

Curious if that was synthetic line you were winching with?

Yes, both jeeps are running 3/8" synthetic line. I think its the only way to go! Its really nice not to have to worry about getting stabbed with a stray strand of wire, you don't need gloves, and it handles A LOT better than steel cable.

 

[SubVet]

Nice Rack

Metcalf,

I like the storage rack on the back of Marc's silver rubi.

Do you happen to know who made it?



Thanks,
Ed