OlympiaFJ60

We recently visited our favorite outdoor destination in Yakima County, the Ahtanum State Forest.  This time the destination was the first of the Grey Rock Trail, starting at Treephones Campground.  The trail heads over Whites Ridge, down to the North Fork (8 miles) then onto Louei Way Gap for a total of 23 miles.  Our journey took us 4 hours and was just to the top of the ridge and back.  Along the way we found many flowering plants, great vistas and voracious mosquitoes.

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A few posts back I introduced my “old” camping trailer and stated I was going to start to rebuild it. Here is the first installment of the rebuild process. It took some time to figure out how exactly I wanted to approach this. The old camp box was built on my M416A1 military trailer. While this would work again, I find I have use frequently for this little trailer as is. I decided a new, dedicated trailer was needed. The next step was to figure out whether it would be better to find a built trailer and make the box fit or build a new trailer to fit the box. I decided on the latter. After a few trips to Centralia Supply and Fabrication I had enough parts together to start the build. I decided on a simple ladder frame build from 2″x3″ tube steel. I chose to use a combination A frame draw bar that extends to the spring mounts. I had some old Land Cruiser springs and hangers so I used them.

For the axle I went to ABC Trailer Parts as recommended on the forum Ih8mud.com. Since it is going to be a little heavy fully loaded and for off-road use I opted for a 3500# axle with electric brakes. I think this will greatly improve the safety and drive ability of the trailer on the Highway and off-road.

I had the old fenders so I went ahead and used them. They are a little small for 31-33″ tires but I think they will work out fine.

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From: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Public lands patrol yields drug case

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Since we have started going to Yakima a few times a month for my wifes work, we have decided Chinook Pass is our favorite route. The road is slower but shorter than either Hwy 12 or Interstate 90. The actually are all about 3.5 hours from our house to Yakima. SR 410 is very scenic and we encounter much less traffic (generally).

From the DOT Flickr page (more…)

All pictures posted here are courtesy of Steve Bisig at PNW Backroad Adventures. Special thanks to Jerry at Backroads Drivers Northwest for leading this outing. For a detail trip report, visit Steve’s writeup.

It was the hottest day yet this spring and we were headed from Yakima to Kittitas, WA to meet up with the caravan of vehicles heading to the “trail head”. It was suppose to reach 90 deg so I stopped and filled up with cold drinks as well as fuel before heading off the black top. Just as we approached the Old Vantage Highway, I saw a long line of 4wheel drives heading east. We fell quickly in line as the 10th vehicle. Jerry, our intrepid leader turned off onto the Corral Whiskey Dick Road. This is the southern entry point into the Whiskey Dick Road Managment Area, managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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