Hi Pete,
Thanks for the tip. Over the bonnet sounds scary to me since that deeper than the air intake. If you can power through quickly enough I guess it can work but what really concerned me was the big rock right in the middle of the exit. Just the place you don't want to power through for fear it will do something nasty to your vitals.

I might try it again home from the fall Rally X although I think i'd prefer some company since it does get a bit remote.

I only saw one local on my journey. An old guy in an old truck coming down Ivory Mill Rd. I didn't have alot of chance to **** him off but you never know with these ornary back country folks There were a couple of 4X4s at the bear creek crossing but its near the camp site so I suspect they were campers. My 4X4 family were from Santa Rosa so not really a local.

I'm guessing the deep crossing is Rice Creek. Obviously I should get a Forestry map. Do you know where I can get one locally? Does REI carry them?

Tim
PS: Just for jollies here's a pic of Pete with Neil (who is pretending to be Petter Solberg) at Rim.

 

I crossed through a creek near Quincy, CA when I was totally stock. I learned a couple of things -

1. Don't stop, once you commit to do it, from the downslope all the way over the other side upslope, don't stop.

2. Lots of gas, you don't want to stop, see point #1.

3. Don't take the upslope at an angle, go as perpendicular as possible, or you may slide down and stop, see point #1. Even worse, come to be parallel with the far bank.

4. Even if the water is higher than the door frames, it doesn't leak in if you just hurry across.

5. Don't open the door if the water is above the bottom of the door frame.

6. Water higher than the axles can move you down stream, keep going though, you don't want to stop and you really don't want to get out of your car with water higher than the door frame.

 

QUINCY??! I used to live in Quincy! I used to ford a creek near Oakland Camp in my old Vanagon.

Went to Feather River College in 1993-94. Awesome school, Quincy is cool. Lots o' snow.

See ya around,
Jim

 

I'm thinking of setting my car up for Mendocino Nat'l Forest. Cutting tires seems to be a MNF-Subaru tradition. I'm trying to figure out what tire/wheel combo will work best for sturdy dirt road running -and- long miles on the freeway (gotta get there first).
Underbody armor is already in the budget.
(I'll start thinking about snorkles in the winter )

Any ideas?

 

Done that one over by clear lake too. Wide roads snoth roads. i've been talkin to the wife about driving up there again soon. Hopefully she'll be up for it soon.

rich (gavin-5)

 

I Believe the one by Clear Lake is South Cow Mountain. I haven't been to Cow Mountain- yet.

http://www.ca.blm.gov/ukiah/cowmtn.html

Knoxvillie is amusing, but relatively small.

 

I don't think there is anything that meets both criteria.

I broke down and bought some real gravel tires:

 

Pete,
WOW! What tires are those? They appear to be on the stock wheels! It would be great not to have to buy 15in wheels if I dont have to.

I kind of thought there wouldn't be a tire that could do both, but it was worth asking. What do you do when running fire/logging roads a ways from home? Should I plan on carrying a set of wheels and tires in back all day? I could live with that if there's a way to secure them in back.

 

For next weekend, I'll be packing them in back for the drive from here to Vancouver Island, then changing out of the 17s for 2 days of TSD on the island, then swapping back for the return trip.

I'm thinking that for Mendo forest adventures that it might be wise to have a base of operation someplace where the tarmac shoes can be safely stashed, there might be a way to secure them in back or on a roof rack, but it really is a hassle dealing with the changeover.

Maybe if enough of us make enough noise at the tire manufacturers, someone might make us a tire that does what we need it to.

We aren't really asking too much are we? an aggressive tread patterned/reinforced sidewall/Z rated 55-16", I think whoever made such a tire would have a lot of immediate customers.

 

oh yeah, they are Michelin competition Rally tires, and yes they are on stock rims, there is one size in 16", they definetly have a taller profile then stock, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't hit the spring trays.
You get a choice of hard or intermediate compound, and they aren't cheap.....

from www.subesports.com

 

What kind of Michelins are those and how much do they cost? I think I'm in love. It would be sweet if there were a tire that could do double duty, but right now I'm just excited that a 16in rally tire exists. I hadn't been able to find any before you showed me these.

I could deal with carrying the other set around if thats what it came down to. Something could be fabricated to hold things in place. This would allow for exiting the forest a different way from entering.