[bad karma]

Full gallery of the trip here:

View post on imgur.com

For Memorial Day I wanted to get out into nature for a couple days (along with the rest of the people in Oregon). It's always interesting trying to find a place devoid of other people on a busy holiday weekend. I consider it a personal challenge.
Historically, my buddy and I go to the same place every year. A secret spot off of NF-58/4610 in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Up until very near to our spot, NF-58 is a paved, single lane road. Since my girlfriend's JK needed an oil change and some other service, I opted to take the bimmer, knowing the road conditions would be fine for her.

Well, due to holiday traffic, Google Maps decided to route us a different way to our usual spot. I didn't think much of it, until the road went from paved to maintained gravel to heavily potholed and rutted dirt very quickly. Working with about 5.5" of ground clearance made navigating this interesting, but fun. Until we hit the snow.

I wasn't expecting snow on an 85 degree day, but this road had climbed to 3500-4000' before I knew it. The bimmer was on Pilot SuperSports, tires that grip snow about as well as you'd grip a greased up pig. But I keep a snow shovel, tow straps, and even chains with the rest of my VEDC, so fuck it. We've come this far. We made it through the first few piles of snow with some creative application of acceleration, until I eventually got bogged on a little uphill section. Had to unload ALL the camping gear to get to my straps and use my buddy's lifted 4x4 and his Warn winch Pontiac G6 with no tow anchor points to pull me back.

With the topo map showing another 500+ ft of elevation gain, it was clear the snow wasn't going to get any thinner and we weren't going to make it to our usual spot using this super-secret back way. I made the call to head back down the road, initially with the plan to get back to the highway and go the (regular) long way to our spot. But with eight miles of shitty road and the fact that we were bleeding daylight, I checked the topo one last time and noticed a little spur that seemed worth exploring...

...Lo and behold it led to a beautiful vista overlooking the beautiful foothills east of Estacada, OR. 270 degree views, no civilization for miles any direction, and devoid of any other people. What an incredible find. Unfortunately, the otherwise stunning site was tarnished with trash left behind from disrespectful fuckheads using old computers, propane tanks, oil containers, and beer bottles for target practice. We did our best to clean up all the shit we could safely get to and haul out, but there was a ton more down the ravine. All that said, the multitude of old shotgun shells "upcycled" nicely onto an LED strand I brought along. Made some cool White Trash Christmas Lights.

We set up camp, built a nice fire ring, and watched the sun as it set over the horizon turning the sky into a stunning ombre of sapphire blue through deep burt orange. The stars were incredible.

I was excited to finally get to use the camp kitchen I'd built for my girlfriend over the winter and stole from the back of her Jeep. It ended up working out wonderfully all weekend. I can share some build photos of that if people are interested.

All in all it was an excellent trip and well worth the new pinstripes in my paint.

[tturedraider]

Cool beans. I guess you're figuring that pinstriping will buff out.

[bad karma]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Cool beans. I guess you're figuring that pinstriping will buff out.

Eh, I buffed a lot of it out yesterday but it's far from perfect. My girlfriend and I have been talking about possibly wrapping her and trying to figure out a way to put some 17 in wheels with grippy AT tires and maybe a slight lift (if such a thing is possible with the factory suspension) to turn it into a sort of Subaruish/Audi Allroadish wagon. No one has ever really done a "battlewagon" with an F31. Throw a light bar, some rotopaks, and a custom skid plate on her...Really turn it into a "WTF did I just see?" kind of car.

[otay]

Nice post. Awesome story and adventure!

But there's no way I'd do this with my current ride or the 340i on order. Had to go about 200 yards on a gravel road this past Saturday to a kayak rental place and was freaking out about just that little bit of "off road".

[bad karma]

Originally Posted by otay

Nice post. Awesome story and adventure!

But there's no way I'd do this with my current ride or the 340i on order. Had to go about 200 yards on a gravel road this past Saturday to a kayak rental place and was freaking out about just that little bit of "off road".

Thanks!

I gave up keeping my F31 in mint condition a long time ago. I just use it too damn much and for so many things (camping, hauling dogs, etc) that the minor bumps and bruises don't bother me.

[2000Z3M]

nice rifle. you need a better light though. what was your pistol?

[Calvin36]

Dude that looks AWESOME! I wish I had the know-how to do that. Too much of a city boy to know all those things. Looks hella fun.

[bad karma]

Originally Posted by 2000Z3M

nice rifle. you need a better light though. what was your pistol?

Aw, what's wrong with my light? Other than that she's older than hell. 700 lumen Olight M30 Triton with a pressure pad. Not the best light ever, but she still works just fine after many thousand rounds mounted.

Pistol pictured is my XDS in 9mm.

[spuntyb]

[FaRKle!]

For unpaved roads/trails the DWS 06 work pretty well. They got me around, up, and down the hills just fine this past muddy/rainy season.