Well… Not exactly the trip we had planned. Cruise the Woods has always been the finale of our wheeling season as the rain usually moves in shortly after this annual event. But this year the rain came a bit sooner than it has for the last 5 times I have made it down to Brown’s Camp… This year we might have called it Cruise the Wet…
But like always the guys in Cascade cruisers put in a massive effort to hold this event and make it enjoyable for all, experienced to beginners. Hard not to have a good time if you make the effort to get there.
And even with all the wet weather I am not the least bit sorry I went. I really like wheeling with all the guys in Cascade, they just make the event worth going to year after year. Only regret this year is that we had to bailout a bit early as everything we owned was soaked to the bone and that included us.
Drive down to Oregon was grey but not wet, at least it was until we got almost to Brown’s camp. This should have been our warning… Had a few showers to set up camp in but for the most part things were pretty dry Thursday night. Even got to hang out around the campfire without being rained on. Friday morning was another story…
Pretty much rained all night, not heavy but wet.
We did get to make the Friday run with Jerry and Clint from Cascade. Since quite a few people show up year after year the 
Friday run gets divided up by just how crazy you want to get or how mellow you want to be or to make sure you avoid any carnage before the main run on Saturday.
We were going to head out on a more difficult run but decided to jump in with Jerry as he didn’t have too many folks on his run and he needed a tail gunner anyway… Had a great time, got to see some of the Tillamook State Forest that I had not seen before, even found some winch time for Don in his 40. No fault of Don’s though, mother nature added a bunch of water to the muddy surface of University Firepower, a trail that just doesn’t like unlocked front diff’s when trying to go up it in the wet. I have been down that same trail when it’s wet and for the most part you are just along for the ride… Took momentum and about 2800 rpm out of my little 3B to keep me moving and my front locker definitely made the difference, not to mention the KM2’s.
Hit Powerline again and like a lot of trails this one is getting a little torn up but it is a great trail that I have always liked. It snakes it’s way through the trees and along the what else, powerlines, that run through this neck of the woods… Not all of the runs I go on have to push the limits, nice twisting tracks through the woods are nice too and Tillamook has plenty of them. And what is really nice is that changing directions you drive on the trails often makes it feel like a whole new trail.
Hit a bit of gravel till Lyda camp where we had lunch in the rain. Interesting how areas of the Tillamook State Forest can feel so different, heavy woods, wide open spaces (rare but there are a few and most of them are on ridgetops…) smooth gravel roads etc. Lyda camp even has a bit of a Lord of the Rings feeling to it, dark and somewhat forboding… but a nice place for lunch or to hide from the heat if you make it in the summer time.
Headed up to Can Opener to see if Ross wanted to try it in the wet. Been awhile since he had seen it and it has changed drastically since then and decided to save it for some dry weather. But while Ross and Jerry checked on the obstacle the rest of us decided to pick up a bit of a mess. The Oregon Dept of Forestry puts out a huge effort to keep this area open for us and occasionally they need some help cleaning up after some morons… We decided to pick up 200 plus empty shotgun shells and other garbage left by those same morons. Nothing wrong with having a good time but no reason on earth to leave all your garbage… Thanks to everyone on our run who helped out with this mess. We had the area picked clean in about 20 minutes. So if you made it up to a sparkly clean area below Can Opener, thank all the great people I was wheeling with on Friday.
On to Archer’s for a bit of muddy puddles on the way to Waterfall. Waterfall is a bit tough for most folks who don’t want carnage or their rig may not be set up for it but lucky for us, Ross’s rig is not one of them. Not sure there is a place it won’t go. He has done a ton of work to it and thankfully one of the changes was widening the wheelbase and lowering the center of gravity…. The slick rocks decided to kick his rig a bit sideways and I was not among the minority as we all thought the rig was going over! Luckily it stuck to the rocks and all it took was a winch rope to keep things safe as he mostly just drove off the rock. I can’t wait to see his rig when it’s dry…. Funny how the only folks who really cringed as the rig slide sideways was all of us outside the rig, neither Ross or Jerry as passenger felt like it was all that bad, we even got it on video and like most pictures doesn’t do it justice, either the slide or the capabilities of Ross’s 40. It’s truly an awesome build that is worth a closer look if you get the chance.
After that just a meander through the woods to get back to camp. Had a bit of a side trip on pavement with some slow speeds due to the fact we didn’t want to air up. Then it was my bad as I took the guys by the Prison camp rather than keep going on the highway. With Jerry being the guy he is, he went back to look for us (Thanks Jerry and Clint) but he figured out what I did, especially after I beat him back to camp! Another one of the great things about wheeling with these guys, the guys from Cascade are not going to leave you in the woods! Great job by our trail leaders for the day, Jerry and Clint, thanks.
All in all just another great mellow Friday Run, a part of this event that I have always liked. Had a great time in the woods as always when we are down there.
And this is where things, weather wise didn’t improve. The rain just never let up, a couple of times it almost put the 
campfire out! Hard part was that it would let up just enough to move our chairs next to the campfire and instantly turn up the faucet so back under the tarp we went. And that wasn’t much better as it had rained so much our usually dry shelter was raining on the inside.
Finally called it a night as we had hopes for the weather to change for Saturday. But sadly that just wasn’t the case, rain worsened during the night and now even our tent was starting to drip and the picnic table shelter was worse. I still want to know how it managed to rain inside the awning…. But after some breakfast graciously cooked up by our friend and Ross’s wife, Cadri, we came to the same conclusion, facing a wet day in the woods and probably an even wetter camp site and long drive home (7 hours for us and just a bit shorter for Ross, Cadri and Don with his kids) we decided to pack it in for this year and call it good. Unbeknownst to Ross and I, Don had already made that decision…
And to be honest I have never been as wet as I was after we finished packing up the trailer, which I was extremely grateful to have along as the wettest stuff was just jammed into the trailer. I can’t imagine if we had had to stuff it back into all the storage bags…
And my hat is off to my wife, Sooz and Ross’s wife, Cadri. Neither one of them would have flinched if we would have stayed nor did they ask to leave. They left that decision up to us since wheeling is mostly for us but it’s even better when they come along. Two great ladies to wheel with if you ever get the chance to be around them. Our four legged friends, Aki and Mira also were quite the troopers. I think Aki was about wore out and might have had the best seat for the long drive home in our rig…
So while this may not have been the end of the season run I was hoping for I had a great time as always. Not the least bit sorry that I drove down, would have done it just for the Friday run even if I had known we would get washed out on Saturday.
House is pretty much looking like a disaster with all the wet gear drying out!
Hats off as always to the guys, gals, family and friends of Cascade Cruisers for having this event year after year. My only regret was not getting more time to visit with everyone as much as I would have liked. Already looking forward to next year, hopefully see everyone sooner…
Make the trip to CTW 2014, you won’t be sorry. Hope to see you there!
