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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Mo ended up trying the same things as the others and in the end needed the winch to do the slimy mud and large rocks in the mud pit.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
There will be mud!
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Never one to be left out, Al hit the ground to find a branch had lodged itself into the undercarriage.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Most of the time it was bumpy with rocks and mud, which made for challenging slow progress in first gear and low range
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Next up was Ryan in the Anniversary edition Rubicon.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Even Ryan’s well-built Rubicon required a helping hand from the winch.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Lunchtime entertainment on the trail.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Sunny warm weather with deep mud gets two thumbs up.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
George passing through one of the many water crossings.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Some of Ontario’s finest slop.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
As always, there was plenty of time to get out and give advice or take some pictures.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
When in doubt, stop and talk about it.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
After numerous forward and backward attempts along with plenty of advice from others, 10 minutes later, the CJ was through.
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Quinton Neufeldt, Ken Whiteway, Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 Club - Gravenhurst mud
Brian likes to look out the open doors and feel the fresh mud in his beard!
Story & photos by Quinton Neufeldt, additional photos by Ken Whiteway & Natalia Weiss
CO4x4 finds blue skies and deep mud near Gravenhurst, ON
It was a warm sunny day in Gravenhurst, Ontario, the perfect day to head out onto the trail with 18 of our like-minded friends, split between 10 4WD’s of varying brands and capabilities. The sky hinted at a relaxing day in the wilderness, however once we found our way onto the trails, Ontario’s infamous mud would supply us with quite the opposite, a day full of adventure and a worthy challenge for the participants.
In attendance were club regulars John and Janet in a Toyota 4Runner, Cyril, Val and Antonio in a Toyota Tacoma TRD, Brian with a Jeep YJ, George with a Toyota 4Runner, Fern piloting a Toyota 4Runner, Ken and Angela in a Jeep JKU, Mo and Nat with a Jeep JK and finally Al and your author working the controls of a Jeep CJ. Visiting and along for the fun were Ryan and Aiden in a Jeep JK Rubicon, and Denis and Dolly in a Toyota FJ Cruiser.
Ryan’s Jeep Rubicon had a number of cool modifications and had been on some of the most well know trails in North America. Ryan was visiting relatives and thought he would come out for the day with us to sample the regions’ trails.
The day started with a short drivers meeting where we discussed the planned route and addressed any questions. Since all were experienced “wheelers” aside from Denis, the decision was made to place the FJ second in the vehicle order. They also did not have a CB radio so keeping in touch would be more difficult.
First timers always need a warning that Ontario trail conditions include rocks, with mud and tight trees. Not to mention low hanging branches and plenty of mosquitoes and black flies as well. Getting stuck somewhere would most likely happen and tow points front and rear along with a tow strap are mandatory. All were in agreement that this sounded like fun, so with that we headed out through Gravenhurst and entered highway 11 North, then exited on #118 east to the Black River Road area.
Various forestry operations take place here during the week but on a Saturday it’s pretty quiet. Weather conditions were sunny, dry and warm, perfect late spring conditions. This area has quite a variety of trails, along with fishing, boating, hiking and canoeing. Different user groups including ATV’s and snowmobiles mark some of the trails. The Backroad Mapbook shows quite a number of trails, as well as rivers, lakes and camping spots. Our plan however was not to relax, but to go to Cinder Lake, then across and down to Anson Lake and end up back on the #118. However not everything went according to plan.
Once out on the graded gravel road we noticed an ‘HATVA’ marked side trail that we hadn’t tried before. Since it looked to head in the same direction we wanted to go, we decided to give it a try. After a short distance of slow travel along the rock strewn trail, Denis pulled over and got out to see what was making a banging noise from under his FJ Cruiser.
Never one to be left out, Al also hit the ground as well to see what was going on. Somehow a large tree branch had wedged itself under the skidplates and between the driveshaft and vehicle. Luckily Denis had a hand saw and Al was able to cut it into several smaller pieces to remove it, thanks Al.
Many of the difficult spots or mud holes on the trail had alternate dry routes (that were often easier). Those who wanted more of a challenge could opt to go straight through if they chose.
Since we hadn’t taken this trail before we didn’t know what to expect, however we could see on the GPS that it met up with our planned route just a few kilometres down the trail. Most of the time it was bumpy with rocks and mud, which made for a challenging and slow progress in first gear and low range.
After about two hours we came to a fairly muddy spot that had a large tree on one side, a high bank on the other, a decent sized rock in the middle, and a large log at the far end. There was a clear route around the log and our lead vehicle decided to give it a go. Several others took a chance at the stubborn mud hole, and most would fail. The usual outcome would see numerous attempts going back and forth, and then out came the winch. The combination of slimy mud plus the large rock right in the middle made it difficult to get across.
Cyril had left his vehicle at the trailhead (due to a tire leak) and he had been traveling with Brian, however they and the remaining vehicles decided to take the bypass. After this the GPS showed about two kilometres further to get to the trail junction and our planned to stop for lunch.
This portion of the trail was very slow with numerous water holes, large rocks and muddy stretches along with tight trees, and it proved to be fairly challenging. By the time we reached the trail junction it was 2 pm, just in time to take a break in a clearing not far from the junction. This would prove to be the end of the trail however, as a downed tree brought the tour to a stop.
After a long and much needed break we started to work our way back to the trailhead since there was no way to get past the downed tree. Here are just a few photos from our time playing in the mud.