Love the prominent 4WD sticker on the truck ... only when they are all on the ground! Cinnabar Hill, CA, 1997. [attachment 38086 ChucksTruckAdv97.jpg] http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259411#msg-259411 Wed, 22 May 2013 18:23:18 +0000 Phorum 5.2.15a http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,261401#msg-261401 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,261401#msg-261401 Another vehicular mishap, on the road out of Rock Candy mine, circa mid-80's. This Chevy was affectionately known as the White Whale, became a flatbed when the pickup bed fell off on the road to Spruce. Drove it over the bank on a foggy morning when I was headed to Grand Forks to pick up a film crew. The small sapling at the front end was all that kept it from rolling over a 100 ft. cliff. That was the first bit of 'luck'. The second was having the the other pickup come around the corner shortly after I'd climbed out the passenger window, knees knocking. That pickup's driver was going up to retrieve his dozer from a logging camp further up the road. His dozer jerked the Whale back onto the road, the only injury being a severely bent rear bumper.

The Whale then moved to Spruce, where at the end of the next mining season, it wouldn't start, and we left it at the Spruce trailhead. That winter, the road had a major slumping failure, which made the Whale the only vehicle inside the slump, which took the FS 2 years to fix. Mounted bench seats on the boards, so it held 12 people, seat belted in, for our trips to Spruce.

Final chapter for the Whale involved an overzealous King County sheriff, who ticketed it for 'being parked over the centerline'. Centerline of a one-lane dirt road, that is! Had it towed, which is no small feat from Spruce. Went to court to protest that, and the judge instructed the county to buy the Whale for the $1500 I had paid for it. Lots of adventure in a free truck.

Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Tue, 22 May 2012 00:46:13 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,260541#msg-260541 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,260541#msg-260541
I climbed in the cab, crossed my fingers, and gave it the gas. The truck moved about 2 feet and 4x4 posts started flying everywhere. The truck settled down in pretty much the same position that I had started in. I had forgotten to put the thing in 4WD!

There was less digging to do, so re-building the cribbing only took another hour. Lesson learned, the truck crawled off the posts in good order.

Cheers!

Steve]]> Stephen Rose Scrapbook Fri, 11 May 2012 23:27:30 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259996#msg-259996 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259996#msg-259996 Ray Hill Scrapbook Sun, 06 May 2012 07:55:12 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259726#msg-259726 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259726#msg-259726
I've already conceded to Bob as winner.

And Bob and I have both put you at harm a couple of times in near mishaps in the collecting process..

Does that explain your light agitation ? Williams Creek road ?

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Thu, 03 May 2012 13:27:38 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259717#msg-259717 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259717#msg-259717 John Lindell Scrapbook Thu, 03 May 2012 09:13:03 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259694#msg-259694 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259694#msg-259694
The vehicle is a 1987 Honda Wagovan. The World's greatest vehicle if you change out the wimpy 13 inch rims to 14 or 15 inch rims.

4WD with a super low gear. We used to call shifting into that gear, cramming it into "granny". The only year Honda made that vehicle was in 1987. The modern mini SUVs don't have a super low gear.

The photos show me using a a lousy axle jack to slowly build a platorm underneath the rear wheels. Took me 3 hours to get the car back onto the road.

If I had been equipped with a Hi-Lift truck jack complete with a wheel rim adapter I would have been back on the road in ten minutes.

Here is the Hi-Lift website.

[www.hi-lift.com]

Bart

[attachment 38141 cid_DWT157.jpg]

[attachment 38142 cid_DWT156.jpg]]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Wed, 02 May 2012 22:26:06 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259577#msg-259577 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259577#msg-259577 On the shore of Big Heart Lake. Chopper was carrying my then-boss, John Medici, and his 13 year old son Jay. Left from Camp Brown enroute to Katie Belle. They flew, I hiked. When I arrived Katie Belle a few hours later, no chopper, no campers. So hiked back down, drove out, and called the heli company. It was after dark, but the wife of the pilot did not sound worried, or even particularly interested ... said her husband often didn't come home if something interesting happened. So I called the Civil Air Patrol. They were very interested! The next day the Middle Fork looked like an air show. The pilot missed Katie Belle ridge by only 9 miles!

Still looking forward to the high lift photos!

Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Tue, 01 May 2012 06:19:59 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259574#msg-259574 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259574#msg-259574
That photo wins. The rest of us can give up on out-doing you.

What is the location ?.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Tue, 01 May 2012 02:32:20 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259513#msg-259513 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259513#msg-259513
Does it count against my 29 lives if I wasn't on board?

Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:59:40 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259511#msg-259511 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259511#msg-259511
You're right. There is no Railroad. My head is hurting now. I have a book which details the entire history of the area.

I'll find out why it's called Railroad Creek. Probably the idea of an early Army Engineer.

Is that Bob Bartsch in the photo ? I didn't know that there was a slow spot anywhere on Railroad Creek.

Remember, never get into a creek that climbs over your knees.

Last time I did, even with an ice axe, within a millisecond, I found myself hurtling downstream with only the spare air in my backpack keeping my head above water.

One more example of "Bart's Luck".

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:50:14 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259506#msg-259506 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259506#msg-259506
[edit] Got me, Rock!... didn't read the embedded caption

Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:54:57 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259504#msg-259504 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259504#msg-259504

Click on the image & read the full caption.	©

]]> Rock Currier Scrapbook Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:43:30 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259457#msg-259457 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259457#msg-259457
I've not had the displeasure of driving the road you speak of, but certainly agree that anyone who thinks the road to Spruce is the worst in Washington has not traveled widely in our state. At times I would have nominated the road to Bald Hornet, where the state would routinely repair washouts with 12 inch minus rock, and the 6 miles of switchbacks were too narrow to accommodate the turning radius of a pickup, so you had to drive one or another leg in reverse. The old road to the Flagstaff Mt. barite mine would be another candidate, 8 miles of driving at a 15 to 20 degree angle to the bedding plane of limestone ... like driving up stairs. A recent project I've been working in Arizona has a road section like Flagstaff Mt., except that there are concretionary interbeds of shale, so the stairsteps are covered in marbles.

You've already topped me ... have more photos? Could be a fun 'competition'.

Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:09:42 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259455#msg-259455 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259455#msg-259455
With your penchant for photography and collecting all over the planet, you must have at least 100 great mishap photos. Maybe even one taken in my basement. You must have at least one from my old Crown Point Molybdenum mine when you had to cross the roiling waters of Railroad Creek just above the 500 foot edge of Crown Point Falls.

I have a feeling that what with all your travels to hostile territitories, you may even have been killed a couple of times.

Yet there you are.

Regail us, please.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:04:23 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259451#msg-259451 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259451#msg-259451
How inscrutable, and oblique.

Are you just about to go to bed or just waking up ?

I am just going to bed, but tomorrow afternoon I will instruct on the use of the "Hi-Lift" truck jack.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:41:15 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259445#msg-259445 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259445#msg-259445 Did an old Chinese gentleman ever wish that you might live in interesting times?]]> Rock Currier Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:22:04 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259444#msg-259444 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259444#msg-259444
The images are worth opening for the jury rig lover.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:17:41 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259443#msg-259443 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259443#msg-259443
Visible gold, shiny gudmundtite xls, aurostibite and sprays of kermesite from 7.200 feet in the high Cascades.

Have I got your attention ?

Some say the worst road in Washington State is the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River which leads to Bob Jackson's Spruce Claim.

Wrong. That is a cake-walk compared to the road in to the Snook and Ellen in Chelan County.

A 9 mile long boulder filled creek bed which diverges 28 miles above the Cle Elum River Road above Roslyn, the home town of the TV show "Northern Exposure".

The trip in with my constant hiking companion and one time fashion model who named herself "Curtis" was fraught with problems.

At one point the up the road, the frame of my Jeepster Commando twisted so badly that the clutch linkage dropped off, and I was passed on the boulder trail by two DEA agents on extreme enduro bikes who thought there was a drug operation above me.

But the clutch was repaired in about 30 minutes.

At the trailhead I started to notice something not good about the steering system. When Curtis and I got back down to the Jeepster at dusk I inspected the steering system and though it looked OK, but three miles down the boulder bed the steering wheel spun as free as a roullete wheel.

The steering gear box had dropped off the frame horn in the pitch black at 10:30 PM, and was lying on the cobbles of the "road".

I notified Curtis that we would be spending the night in the wilderness. With no sleeping bags and much as I would have liked to cuddle with Curtis for survival, I suggested that we pull everything out of vehicle and take inventory of what we had for a jury rig repair.

Two ton "Power Pull", (a hand operated winch), and a pair of vise grips. I cinched and pinched the steering gear back on the frame

I hoped it would at least get us down to the Cle Elum River road. We inched forward and eventually we found ourselves 28 miles down the road at the well lighted, but close Shell Station in Cle Elum at 1 AM. where I inspected the repair.

Looked good. Got onto Interstate 90 and got back home to Seattle at 70 mph.

One more example of "Bart's Luck".

[attachment 38094 SteeringGear01.jpg]

[attachment 38096 SteeringGear02.jpg]]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:14:38 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259438#msg-259438 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259438#msg-259438
When I tried to attach the photos, the whole thing went away.

Seems like maybe the in-line photos need to be attached BEFORE the text.

Correct ?

I will try again, but if there is anything I hate more than re-composing text, it might be winching my vehicle back onto a road.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:41:13 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259423#msg-259423 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259423#msg-259423
I will collect my images and post in-line..

The concept of 4WD is a bit false. Unless one's rig has limited slip differentials front and rear, that rig can quickly become ZERO wheel drive in the mud and irregular driving surface. Before I bought my "Power Lock differentials", I built a lever controlled system that worked on the brakes to stop the the spinning wheel manually and send the power to the wheel that could move me ahead. Cost about $ 20, but a poor substitute for the real McCoy.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 06:37:10 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259421#msg-259421 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259421#msg-259421
If you have your images posted online somewhere:

Go to the message toolbar and click on the 10th icon, the one that looks like the sun over two mountain peaks.

When the dialog box opens, just copy and paste the URL where your photo is posted.]]> Dr. Paul Bordovsky Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 06:20:53 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259419#msg-259419 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259419#msg-259419
Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:46:28 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259418#msg-259418 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259418#msg-259418
Continuing the auto theme, a car spotted in the Kalahari, fortunately not from a trip run by yours truly!

Bob]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:41:13 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259417#msg-259417 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259417#msg-259417 Andrew Johns Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:32:30 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259414#msg-259414 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259414#msg-259414
Can someone please instruct me on how to post an image in which the image appeara in-line with the post?

It will be worth it to the group.

Bob, you could probably exceed me on this topic.

Bart]]> Bart Cannon Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:09:32 +0000 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259411#msg-259411 http://www.mindat.org/forum.php?read,17,259411,259411#msg-259411 4WD sticker on the truck ... only when they are all on the ground! Cinnabar Hill, CA, 1997.

[attachment 38086 ChucksTruckAdv97.jpg]]]> Bob Jackson Scrapbook Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:31:08 +0000