Saturday, November 10 - Monday, November 12, 2001

Our annual Remembrance Day camping weekend was coming up, and we were trying to decide where to go. Jud posted: "How about we take the Edith Lake road through the swamp to Goose Lake? There are some trails in this area I have not been on. Later we could take the trail from McConnell Road, past Ross Moore Lake, and out to Swamp Lake on Hwy 5a. If there is still time we can travel around Roche Lake in less snow than we had last Easter."

That sounded reasonable enough! Brad and I had originally planned on attending as well, but due to various reasons we dropped out. So Jud and Doug met up on Saturday morning at the usual Sardis Petro-Can, and headed off in search of adventure.

On Monday, November 12, at 01:01h, Jud sent the following message to the mailing list: "Well, this weekend was cut short by mechanical failure. This makes it twice this year a trip came to disaster near Merritt. Instead of engines, it's diffs. Doug somehow managed to break his right Birfield in two feet of water and ice in Frogmoore Lake, then broke the pinion on the rear diff trying to get out the lake. After I tugged him to dry land and he removed the Birfield and rear driveshaft. He tried to drive with one wheel and broke the other Birfield. A trip report will be available later."

Hmm, maybe it was a good thing I didn't attend that one! Jud was referring to me blowing my motor in Merritt back in April and having to get towed back to the Lower Mainland. In the morning, I phoned Doug's house to see if I could assist in his repairs; Cheryle informed me that Doug had not actually made it home yet. I phoned Doug's cell phone to see how he was making out; he was mobile again and was actually on the highway just passing Hope. He said he'd give me a call when he was back in town.

At 14:58pm, probably after he woke up, Jud posted this message: "Leaving Chilliwack on time, we went up Hwy 5 and took the (toll booth) bypass route at Falls Lake. There was some snow, but it was well-travelled so we had no problem. We turned off Hwy 5A at Knutsford, and after several hours of exploration ended the day at Bute Lake. The next day we found our way to Ross Moore Lake and discovered a route to Mildred Lake. Arriving at Frogmoore Lakes we ate lunch and were on the way to the lodge at Frogmoore, when Doug broke through the ice and had me tow him to Hwy 5 at Lac le Jeune. I went back home via the same bypass route but travelling the other way after dark; it was quite icy and I almost had to turn around."

Doug finally arrived back in town and gave me the scoop. They had spotted a trail that was only accessible by crossing one of the Frogmoore Lakes. The lake was frozen, and appeared solid enough, so Jud drove across it. Doug said he could hear a slight crackling noise from the ice buckling beneath Jud's 4Runner, so he took a slightly different route, closer to shore, to avoid driving over the now-cracked ice. With all the body armour that Doug has welded to his truck, it weighed a bit more than Jud's stock 4Runner, and of course, the ice started to break up under him. Doug floored it to try to escape, but it was not enough. With a big *crack!* and a *splash!*, Doug's truck broke through the ice and fell to the muddy bottom of the lake, which was fortunately only about 2.5' deep at that location. Good thing his truck has a good-sized lift!

Doug's truck has a Smittybilt front bumper, and dropped front spring hangers, which essentially makes the front of his truck a brick, so when he tried to drive out he merely contacted the edge of the ice with the metal surfaces and was unable to climb up and out. He said that if his front bumper was angled, he might have been able to push it over the edge of the ice to get his front end up. Doug jockeyed his truck back and forth, attempting to free himself. *Bang!* Oops, broke the right Birfield. Doug was now down to 2wd. *Bang!* again. Oops, something in the rear end just let go. Doug was now down to no-wheel drive! After breaking a lot of ice, they finally extricated his truck with the tug strap and towed him to shore. Doug commented that the water was cold!

Doug, who was still recovering from two broken wrists and a broken arm, disassembled the right side of his front axle, and cleaned all the broken Birfield bits out. Then he removed the rear driveshaft. This would allow him to lock only the left front hub, and use one-wheel-drive to get home. That was the theory anyways! He got about three feet, and *bang!*, there went the other Birfield. DOH! The only thing left to do was to pull the broken rear diff, install the still-good front diff onto the rear axle housing, then reinstall the rear driveshaft, giving him rear-wheel drive. However, diffs are heavy when your wrists are still mending and you only have a 3-pound lifting capacity, and neither of them were into doing the swap on the trail, so Jud ended up tugging Doug to the highway, where Doug called for a tow truck to take him into Merritt. Once Doug was on the back of the tow truck, Jud left for home.

The tow truck dropped Doug off at a gas station with a mechanical shop, and he spent the night in their parking lot, sleeping in his truck as the traffic whizzed by. When the mechanic arrived in the morning, he swapped the diffs around, and Doug was finally mobile again.

This was certainly one trip they'll remember for a while. Doug laughs about it now, but I just know that there was some pretty good cursing going on that weekend. And we do this for fun! :)

Addendum: Doug sold his Smittybilt front bumper to Matt, and has a new unit planned, complete with an angled skid plate. The rear-end problem ended up being a broken pinion gear.

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