Labor Day Run at the Ahtanum
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
Report by Clay Graham. Photos by Clay Graham / CegPics.com
On Tuesday August 29th, 2006 I took up my family to Tree Phones to get a camp for the Eastern Washington Off Road Labor Day Run.
On Wednesday we loaded the kids in the XJ and the wife rode the quad. We went up to Darland Mountain and back around. We hit a few side trails on the way.
On Thursday we took a drive on Sedge Ridge.
On Friday my wife went into town to get some more fuel and supplies. I sat around camp waiting for members of the All Wheelers Off Road Club and others to show up. PullUout came up early in the day. It was nice to have someone to BS with. Everyone else showed up in the evening.
On Saturday as we were getting ready to pull out for the run, Deputy Sutliff from the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office came to our camp to meet us. He said he had seen we had a run from the Eastern Washington Off Road forum. We talked awhile about the web site and about the closed areas of the Ahtanum. It was good to meet Deputy Sutliff. He said if anyone has any questions about ORV areas in Yakima County they were welcome to contact him. His e-mail is: [email protected]
On this run we had 4 quads (99, Tiny, Bobstar & his wife), 1 bike (Jacob) and 7 rigs (Ceg, Sgt. Superman, Test Dummy, Stiff_CJ, Mischief Maker, PullUout & Fatboy). We started off the by going down the Mid Fork Ahtanum to the McLain Canyon Road and up the North Fork. Jacob’s bike broke down and Tiny pulled him back to Tree Phones with his quad. We moved on up the North Fork Road. We turned up the Blue Lake Trail, then 4W615 passed Blue Lake and stopped at Blue Slide Lookout.
After we regrouped at Blue Slide Lookout we headed on down and onto 4W613. It was tight for PullUout’s full size. I had to stop to get the boulders out of the trail down from the cattle guard since they were to big to drive over. We had to stop on the trail while PullUout repair his power steering. Then we stopped to regroup at the Lower Meadow.
On up the trail we ran into MonsterMazda and his group crossing the Upper Meadow. We talked awhile then headed on down the trail. The next stop was on Strobach Mountain for a cool view of Rimrock.
After a few pictures we headed down the Strobach Mountain 4×4 Trail. Near the bottom of the trail we stopped to regroup. That was good because Odo was hungry.
After we regrouped we headed down to the Nasty Creek Corrals. Most of the rigs hit the North Fork Ahtanum pavement and went back to Tree Phones. Test Dummy and I stayed with the 3 quads and ran up Doe Pocket onto Foundation Ridge and back around. It was dark the time we got back.
On Sunday Colemancooler came up to wheel with us. Dweezy camped with us but didn’t get to go with us until this days run. On this days run we had 4 quads (99, Tiny, Dweezy & Jacob) and 6 rigs (Ceg, Colemancooler, Sgt. Superman, Test Dummy, Mischief Maker & Fatboy). We took off from camp and headed up on top of Whites Ridge. Colemancooler’s rig was over heating so he headed back. We took a break at where the Grey Rock Trail meets the Whites Ridge Crest Trail.
We turned around and ran the Whites Ridge Crest Trail back down. At the Whites Cross Over Trail we meet up with Sgt. Superman. A few of the guys ran back to Tree Phones to get some refreshments and the rest of us ran the Whites Ridge Trail to the bottom. We all meet back up at the Sno-park.
From the Sno-park we ran up A2400 and then A2420 to the top of Sedge Ridge. On the way up I lost my low range in my XJ’s transfer case. I had to run the Sedge Ridge Crest Trail in high. It was fun getting up the Sedge Ridge Rocky Climb, but I made it up on the easier trail. We ran the trail to the cross over looking Cultus Hole. Deputy Sutliff had told us that the logging company bought the rest of the trail and didn’t want anyone on there land so we watched the sun set and head back down the way we came.
This was a great run. Thank you for all coming out. You made this old man happy on his Birthday.
Here are some photos of the EWOR Labor Day Run at the Ahtanum:
