Tom Mandera's Big Sky Binders

I think I figured out a way to make these come up faster...so I am testing.

Thanks again for leading the way this weekend. The guys are still checking in on www.tacomaworld.com as they return home (its seems showers have taken priority over sharing pictures from the trails) but so far everyone seems happy with the trip. Pictures and stories are at http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/north-west/174503-mt-august-meet-pictur...

And yes, I'm already getting harassing for having to be rescued by a Jeep. We were expecting that though, right? LOL

Now I just have to make sure to make the next trip bigger and better. Thankfully I have all winter to plan that!

The Tacomaowners.com group liked their trip here in August so much that they came back again. They invited me to participate once more so today I went with them over Rock Creek Trail, up to Blizzard Hill and then back down Indian Creek today. It was a good ride. Several in this group are driving rigs on street tires and without lockers so they have to work a little harder at a few of the "big rock" spots on this tail. Everybody did a great job on the trail though and we had a great time. I think everyone enjoyed the trail and there were no casualties along the way.

More photos at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.211819875537927.57180.152476354...

On Saturday the 13th of August, 3 members of Helena's Frontier 4 Wheelers, 3 members of Butte's Continental Four Wheel Drive Association and a member of the Tacoma owners group from tacomaworld.com came together for a conservation project.

We worked about 6 hours on trail maintenance and we are very proud of the result. A favorite 4x4 trail is passable again ONLY due to the efforts of these people. Given the current situations, it may have been years before this trail was opened otherwise and it is possible it could have been closed.

Thank you to all who participated in making this project a success.

This is what our organizations are supposed to be about. Over this weekend (at least) Frontier 4 Wheelers, Continental Four Wheel Drive Association, Magic City 4 Wheelers and the Bozeman Mountaineers all had conservation projects planned. If you enjoy 4 wheeling in Montana (and even some in Wyoming) then you owe these groups and the members who participated in these projects a debt of gratitude.

If you don't think this work really matters, I can tell you at least one of the trails worked on this weekend (and made passable for the first time this year) was, in years past, slated for reduction to an ATV trail until M4x4A members performed trail maintenance which both made the trail passable and caused the forest service to allow continued use by full size rigs on the trail. I attended one meeting with the forest service this year where, along with several others, I was able to use my common use and familiarity with a trail to show a trail was still being used by a large number of people. To my surprise the forest supervisor removed the plans to close the road right then and there. What we do matters. Getting involved matters.

On July 31st Joe and I decided to head first to the washout on Rock Creek Trail to check it out. Good thing we did. The hole has enlarged by about 5 feet since we first encountered it. We took some photos, made some plans and feed the 'skeetos.

After that we headed up Cataract Creek Road out of Basin and did the Lave Mountain Trail. Joe had never been on the trail so it was a new run for him.

There is a large rock outcropping in the road just at the far base of the trail by where Quarts Creek meets Lava. This pile of rocks has been the one and only place I commoly ride where I ALWAYS scrape a rock-- hard...but I made it over with no touching at all. ( I still have an adversion to scraping all the paint off my skid plates but my friend Larry would just say: "If you don't touch occasionally...your overbuilt". ) He may be correct but I figure over-built beats the alternative. Anyway... We had a great time on the trail. It is not a tough technical trail but it has it's moments. Joe kept hooking low hanging trees with his top-rack and I kept trying to snag my softtop on limbs.

Over all it was a great time with a good friend in Montana's mountains. Another great day four wheeling.

This past Sunday I took a test ride with my father in his 48 Willys Jeep. It did better than expected but we found a few things which need attention. He has been working on this for about two years I think and it was great to get it out.

I ran up to tizers on my dirt bike on tuesday. I had never been up there and figured I would ride my dirt bike to check it out. The road to the tizers was really rough but not washed out any where. we made it to the lake didnt see a single person on the way up hung out at the lake for a few then headed back. on the way back found a bike helmet in the middle of the road strange. stopped at the tee. decided to take the basin loop then head back to the truck. about a mile up the road where you cross the creek it was completly washed out about a four foot drop off in to the creek. we managed to get around where some four wheelers crossed. then continued on the loop and made it back. for my first experience to the tizers it was great definetaly beautiful drive cant wait to make it up there in my jeep now. definately gives you a work out on a dirt bike though.

Hey thanks for letting me tag along with you guys, gave me a chance to get out and meet some great people! I now have Monday the 18th off so i am going to try to make the Anaconda meet. Lokking forward to the next time.

I took a ride Saturday with a few friends and members of the Frontier 4 wheelers and Continental 4 Wheel Drive Assoc. along with a guest from the TacomaWorld forums.

We were originally going to run over Hay canyon but decided to make a run at Rock Creek Trail (Leadville) instead. It was clear we were the first full sized vehicles up the trail as we had to remove some of the trail obstructions left over from what must have been some seriously high flowing runoff. We would eventually have to turn around due to a washed out bridge. (Conservation project anyone?)

We ran back down to the main road and went up Indian Creek and to the top of the Leadville trail. Brian B. would manage to find a deep mud hole on a flat and otherwise dry section of road. He would have to be pulled out by a Taco…lol The snow was far too deep to go far once we got to the trees at the top. This time we would turn back and go up to the top of Blizzard for a look at the view from the top.

It was a good trip with good people. Thanks for coming down and running with us Tony.

Rich,
On my way down to Deerlodge to visit my brother on Friday and I was wondering if there was any chance you were free to show me a few more trails down that way on Saturday? Let me know.
Thanks
Tony

I wanted to make a run up the Tizers today though I am betting there is too much snow to get to the top yet. Instead I ran into a sign saying the area is closed. Tons of ATV were going up anyway but I could not tell if it was open so I took a run out the see the “washout” the FS said was on the Little Boulder River Road and the North Fork of the Little Boulder road. No photos from North Fork but the washout is VERY minor. It may keep a few cars off the trail.
The washout on the Little Boulder Road is about what is common every year up that way. There is a big mud hole in the road just above Wilson Creek but nothing major up that way. It was a great ride but you did not want to stop for long of those “skeeters” will suck you dry before you can get back in your vehicle.

http://m4x4a.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=117509

I had a great time playing trail guide for a www.tacomaworld.com trail ride on Saturday. I think they had 12 vehicles join in. They were all Tacomas but that seems to represent a wide range of truck styles. (who knew?) The group camped in Whitehouse Campground / swimming pool. I drove out to meet them Friday evening to get a handle on where they wanted to go and when. Good thing too, when this group decides to head out they are gone REAL fast. My poor “heep” (as one of the participants referred to my Rubi in their forum) had a tough time trying to keep up with them on the highway. (I would extract my revenge on the trails though. Place evil laugh here. ) We would start out at around 8:30am.

The group decided they wanted to start with Lava and after a quick stop in Boulder we headed out for Clancy…at about 90MPH!!! Lava was a bit damp. We would make it up to a serious mud hole in a notorious washout. I made it through but the spot was looking like it might hurt a truck or two so we would turn around there. This hole tried to swallow one of the trucks. While trying to winch one of the more adventurous drivers through the mud pit I ended up with a screw loose. Not that one! The one that holds my cable to the drum. It would take me about 2 hours to get that fixed Saturday evening. I am ashamed to say they got a photo of me rolling up my cable to put in the back. I am trying to figure out how to delete that from their site. LOL

From Lava we ran down Quartz Creek. They got a bit of excitement as another mud hole was eating trucks. At the intersection of north and south Quartz the group split up. The extra adventurous drivers and I took a stab at South Fork. The washouts were really something and would provide some more excitement and the chance to use a highlift to save a dif. from a rough time. Everyone worked together and we got him out in no time.
We would end up stopped by snow but I think the trail gave them all a good time.

I was reading their forum on the weekend and some youngster said: Best point- going up some of the steep rocky spots after we broke off from everyone else and continue following Rich. I don't know how old Rich was but he kicked ass for an old guy!

OLD GUY???? REALLY? Ouch! That hurts…

Here is a link to their forum on this run: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/north-west/161750-mt-meet-picture-threa... they have some photos there.

I took a run up Lump Gulch today. I only made it about ¾ mile up the trail before the snow put a stop to my plans to go over the top. There are quite a number of trees in/on the road. A little trail maint. up there may be a good thing. I went from there out to Bernice and up to Rock Creek Trail. What a muddy mess at the bottom. I ended up turning around due to deep snow right below the second water crossing. I had to remove more trees from the road as it looks like a little more blow-down up there. From there I took a run up to Blizzard Mountain to enjoy the view from the top. From there I ran down to Deer Lodge and had some dinner at the 4Bs there.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.178575642195684.49300.152476354...

photos fron melrose

The Frontier 4 Wheelers Club run was Sunday May 15th. Three vehicles made the trip with a total of 5 participants. My son was with me on his last day of R&R before going back to Afghanistan and one of the other drivers had brought along the son of another club member.

I called Saturday night to get permission to cross the private property at the low end of Quartz Creek and they said "OK" with no issues.

We tried North Fork first and had some good wheeling until the snow just turned too much for us. My Rubi is a little low slung so where I could not ride up on the snow, I turned the lead over to someone with a bit more clearance. Those skid plates on my rig have protected me from a few rocks but in the deep snow they just leave me high centered. When we ran out of "GO" on on North Fork, we ran up south fork. The road was very washed out and was for all practical purposed a creek. We managed to get into the snow soon enough on that trail too but the snow was a bit different and we were able to climb a good ways before finally giving up...after I got stuck three times in about 50 feet.

It was a beautiful day with great weather and we had a good time. Where the heck was you guys?
Sorry, not much for photos…all the cameras were left home. I did take a few with my phone and will post when I can if they come out ok.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.174499955936586.47675.152476354...

I managed to get my hard top off and my soft top on my Jeep with the help og my son on Saturday. I could not have done it without his help. But now I am ready to go topless when the weather allows. After getting the top off, we took the doors off and went for a ride…my glasses blew off and luckily landed in the back of the jeep. I will need to get one of those eyeglass safety / sports straps to keep my glasses on my head when running without doors and top.

What happened to June?? LOL

See you in August then.
Richard

A little snow anyone?
Hay Canyon, April 23rd

4 rigs from Helena's Frontier 4 Wheelers and about 10 from Continental Fours Wheel Drive made another attempt at Hay Canyon yesterday. We started from the Pipestone side meeting at the pipestone exit and then re-gathering at Four Corners to wait on a few of our chronologically challenged friends (late people). The run up Whitetail Road was uneventful up to and across the creek crossing as the water was running a little lower than I expected. Then the fun started as we turned up onto the Hay Canyon trail. While the first obstacle has been tamed down a little from the way it was last year, it still made for a substantial challenge for several vehicles. The ground was damp and the rocks slick. Even with both lockers in I still spun my wheels and reaffirmed the placement of my skid plates.

It was just a short jaunt to the next obstacle. Though there was a bypass only two took it. Scott and his Bronco played a good game of teeter totter with only one front and the opposite rear tire touching the ground and the other set teetered back and forth. He would back up and try again with the same result a number of times before getting through. It was cool to watch but I don’t imagine it was as “fun” from the driver seat. I hung up on a stump that was a little (ok…a lot) bigger than I thought it was (thank you rock rails) in that same obstacle.

One of the two spots offering the real excitement would come courtesy of a very snowy (read: ICY) hill with several curves and allot of trees to stop you from sliding too far and give you a great reason for new tube fenders. Then there was the VERY snowy side hill at the end of the trail. This resulted in the 4 wheeling version of drifting where the vehicles ended up facing up hill and with the proper application of the gas pedal, you just slide sideways for about 100 yards or so. For me, when I came up out of the last draw my ground guide indicated I should hit the gas hard. I was glad I took his advice. Once I was able to realize I was not going to die, the resulting high-speed (by off-roading standards) several hundred feet sideways slide was one heck of a fun and crazy ride. I think I was actually laughing out loud, like an 8 year old at Disney Land’s Space Mountain, as I crossed this section.

It was a great time and was followed up by BBQ in Whitehall. There was a lot of laughing, a lot of storytelling and in general, a wonderful day among friends both old and new.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.169388736447708.44670.15247...
or
http://m4x4a.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=115972