Chad had just purchased his new S-10 the week before, and wanted to introduce it and himself to the sport of four-wheeling. He had ordered the Highrider suspension package, and the truck came with 31" BFG All-Terrain tires. He had heard four-wheeling stories from his friends and myself, and was excited at the prospect of a day-trip to travel the back-roads. The only condition that had to be met was "no scratches" in his new paint! So, I had to find an area that offered a moderate challenge, roads wide enough for his pride and joy to escape unscathed, and be fairly close to civilization. I decided on the Squamish area, as he had never been there, and I knew that there were a few back-roads which met the criteria. Oh yeah, he also said that he wouldn't mind splashing around in some water or something like that.

So, bright and early (10:00 am!) we met up at the McDonald's at Hastings and Cassiar in Vancouver. Weather was good, slightly cloudy. We drove to North Vancouver, gassed up, and hit the Sea-to-Sky Highway to the Squamish area. Of course, it began to rain shortly after we passed West Vancouver, and somewhere past Lion's Bay we had the privilege of a 45-minute wait in traffic due to road maintenance. Eventually, we got underway again, and we arrived at the trailhead. By now, it was raining hard enough to soak you through to the skin if you stepped outside for a few seconds. The trailhead is located just past the world-famous Stawamus Chief (a mountain-climber's paradise), and just before the town of Squamish. The Mamquam Forest Service Road leads off to the right, and is actually the start of the road that leads to the north end of Indian Arm. Anyways, off we went, with Chad making happy noises on the CB.

This part of the road is an active logging road, is wide enough for two logging trucks to pass each other, and is smoother than some back alleys in Vancouver. At about 4 km, we detoured to check out a road, but it turned out to be gated just around the corner. We parked there and had lunch, and admired the view of the raging Stawamus River through the rain-streaked windows of our vehicles.

Continuing on, we passed many new dirt roads that bore evidence of recent logging activity (fresh tracks in soft dirt, felled trees, piles of branches). The main road eventually turned to the left, and went over two good-sized bridges spanning the Stawamus River. I'd like to point out that the river was flowing extremely fast, and was quite high up on the banks, high enough to be passing through the trees that were usually above the water line. At this turn to the left, an older road also continued straight, and this older road was the route we decided to take.

Taking a break near a small waterfall

This road followed the Stawamus River along the south bank, and had been "winterized" by cutting deep trenches across the road for snow run-off to flow down to the river without taking out the road. The dirt removed from the trenches was piled up on the "down" side of the trench to further help hold the water. So, to travel this road, we had to take our time, and crawl up over the berms, down into the trenches, and back on to the road. Lots of fun, and Chad learned about "articulation". Some of the trenches had a bit of water flowing down, but nothing major. Chad was in his element; first time on a back-road, braving the weather, his truck performing admirably in the dips and bumps in the road.

Solid-axle articulation in a small dip

Some of the trenches were a good size, around 6 feet across, and a couple feet deep, with water flowing through like a small creek. I warned Chad about excessive splashing soaking vital electrical components. After a few km's, we came to a rather large creek, about 20 feet across, with fast-flowing water about a foot to two feet deep surging over basket-ball sized rocks. This was the biggest challenge thus far! I told Chad it would be no problem to cross (as he looked at me with a "You've got to be kidding!" look on his face). I told him to pick a line, and watch what I did, then I drove through the creek. Apparently, it looked kinda neat to see water flowing through the round holes in my Outlaw II wheels. Easy. I stopped on the other side, and radioed Chad to come across. Of course, he had no problem crossing it, and he had a pretty big grin on his face when it was over.

The road continued on for a good while, climbing continuously. More dips and berms to cross, and few more small creeks. After a couple of hours, we reached a badly washed-out area (no road, and lots of boulders and fallen trees blocking our path). Since we had travelled as far as we were able, we stopped there for a snack. The rain had not let up at all, so we again ate inside our vehicles and talked via the CB. I stepped outside for a few minutes to wander around the washed-out area. Good thing I brought a change of clothes, as I got soaked pretty fast. We turned around, and started back down the road. Lexindra held my wet shirt over the heater vent to dry it, in case I had to get out of the vehicle later and got soaked again.

Stopped near the top; switchbacks across the valley are visible through the mist

Having conquered all the obstacles on the way up, Chad experimented with the berms and dips on the way down, getting a tire off the ground on numerous occasions. We observed that the small trickles of water in the trenches had increased significantly, and that a lot of the road's surface had rivulets of water streaming across it. The trip down was pretty uneventful until we got to the creek.

Chad's S-10 creeping over an uneven spot

What was once a fast-flowing medium-challenge creek was now two to three feet deep, and raging fast enough to roll the basketball-sized rocks downstream. I decided to pick up a football-sized rock and throw it into the creek to try and gauge the depth; it never hit the bottom. The "creek" picked it up as it hit the surface, and sent it crashing away, over a three-foot ledge, and downstream until it disappeared. Underneath the roaring of the creek, we could hear the sound of the large rocks moving and hitting one another, like thunderclaps. We looked at each other with concern. This was not a good sign!

Well, Chad decided that he wanted to try to ford the creek first. We looked at the rocks, and I pointed out the best line for him to take. A deep breath, and he was off! I snapped off a quick picture. But, he neglected to take into account the strength of the current, and drove straight across instead of against the flow. As he reached the center of the creek, the water picked up his truck and slid it sideways, dropping the passenger-side front tire over the three-foot drop, and dumping the truck at a precarious angle. He had the driver's front tire on the rocks, and the passenger rear tire on the rocks, with the other two tires off the ground. And this was under two-to-three feet of water! The current kept hammering his truck, rocking it back and forth, as he tried desperately to move. But he wasn't going anywhere. "There's water coming in under the doors!" he yelled on the CB.

I spent a couple of milliseconds debating whether or not to take more pictures, or initiate the recovery process (decisions!). I ran back to my truck, threw the camera at Lexindra, and quickly grabbed my Warn recovery chain out of the ActionPacker. I attached one end to my passenger-side front tow hook, and splashed into the water to attach the other end to his truck... but to where? There were no tow hooks on the back of his truck, and I couldn't get the chain between his bumper and his tailgate... In desperation I wrapped it around his passenger's side leaf shackle, as it was the easiest strong location I could find. I ran back to my truck, fired it into reverse, and pulled. Nothing. Pulled some more. Tried jerking the truck in a vain attempt to jar it off of whatever it was stuck on. What's that smell? Oh, my clutch and tires are smoking. Chad was still revving his engine, trying to free himself. By now, the water was starting to flow over his hood. I suddenly realized that if I was pulling from his driver's side shackle, I might be able to pivot his front end out of the drop-off instead of into the drop-off. I ran up to Chad's window to tell him to stop spinning his tires, because he was just digging himself deeper. I could barely stand up in the water, as it was almost waist-high and raging pretty fast (and cold!). I heard and felt the crash of the rocks under my feet, and hoped that none of the big ones slammed into his week-old sheetmetal and pushed him further over the drop. I stumbled to the rear of his truck, and moved the chain to his driver's side shackle. I got Lexindra to sit in my truck's bed, over the right rear tire to aid in traction. I was spinning my tires, spraying mud and sand all over the back of Chad's truck (and Lexindra), and Chad was rocking his truck in an attempt to gain some kind of foothold. Movement! I jerked the truck a couple of times, kept pulling, and slowly, miraculously, his truck came back over the ledge, bumped over the rocks, and suddenly it was over. He was out.

Whew! Time to assess the damage. His check-engine, ABS, and air-bag lights were on, and the truck was beeping away madly. There was about 4 inches of water on the carpeted floor. Chad turned off the engine, and popped the hood. Everything was dripping water. I then noticed that GM in their infinite wisdom had positioned the air intake down below the driver's headlight, in the rad support. Off came the air-cleaner housing, and I inspected the air filter. It was damp, but not soaked. There was about a quarter-inch of water in the bottom of the housing. Fortunately, no water had entered the engine (warranty? not!). We placed his damp air filter on my warm engine to help dry it out, and drained the water out of his air-cleaner housing and air-intake tube. We scooped the water out of his cab, and attempted to soak it out of his carpet. Once the air-cleaner was dry, we reinstalled it and reassembled the air-cleaner housing. The truck started up fine, and ran well. But the check-engine light was still on. Chad observed that his front license plate and mount were nowhere to be seen, having broken off when his front end crashed into a large rock in the creek, and the current presumably had sent the plate downstream to parts unknown. Since the truck seemed to be okay, it was time for a second attempt at the creek (the only way out, unfortunately), before it got any worse.

This time I made the attempt. I steered hard to the left, against the current. I felt the water push my truck to the right, and I floored it, bounced over some large rocks, and roared out on the other side. I turned my truck around, and got the chain ready in case Chad got stuck again. I pointed to the line I wanted him to take, and he started across. Again, the current pushed against his truck, and he came to a stop against a large rock. I was about to attach the chain, but he gestured for me to move out of the way. He quickly reversed, and took a second run, found the right line, and emerged victorious. We further inspected the vehicles, and I pointed out the water level in his turn-signal lights. He also sustained some damage along the lower lip of the body, on the passenger side, from where it was resting on the rocks. And his front bumper had a small dent where his license-plate mount used to be. The only damage I suffered was tearing some chunks out of my tires, and accelerated wear to my clutch. Disconnecting his battery for a few minutes cleared the engine-code error, and the check-engine light no longer was lit. Feeling much better, we began the short drive out to the trailhead.

Quick exit from the creek

Rounding a corner, we were surprised to find... mud! And lots of it! A logging-contractor's four-wheel-drive was parked there, and a large front-end loader was parked a short distance away. Apparently, while we were off exploring the road, the hillside had given way, and had slid down across the road behind us! Fortunately for us, the logging contractor was also stranded on our side of the slide, and he had used the front-end loader to clear the road of debris so he could get out. Thank-you very much! We powered through the mud, and drove the final few km's to the pavement.

We drove into Squamish, and had dinner at the White Spot. I could hear the water in my boots squelching as I walked. We probably looked like quite the trio, wandering into the restaurant all soaked, and covered in mud. We didn't care. We had gone out in search of adventure, and had found it.

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