Words by Quinton Neufeldt
It was a beautiful day and a great relief to be out wheeling a spring day after what felt like such a long winter. 17 people and 7 vehicles met at McDonald’s on Hwy 7 and 62 near Madoc, Ontario on a Saturday morning for a Central Ontario 4x4 trail ride. We drove up Cooper Road to (you guessed it) Cooper, then turned right on Lingham Lake Rd, this leads to (again you guessed it!) the Lingham Lake Conservation Area.
This provides not only convenient access to the conservation area, but also the power line corridor.
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Today’s cast and crew of wheelers included Paul and Colin - Jeep Sahara JKU, Sean and Joshua – Jeep Willys JKU, Brian and Jessica – Jeep Rubicon JK, Jeremy Ella Ophelia and Cleo – Jeep LJ, Justin Jennifer and Amelia – Toyota Landcruiser, James and Matt – Jeep Rubicon JKU, Al and myself – Jeep CJ7
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The road up to this point had been plowed as evidenced by the snow ridges at the sides for access to the dwellings that reside along this part of the route. This was the last we saw of a maintained road.
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Due to the cool spring there was still quite a bit of ice and snow around. We decided to venture in a little ways toward Lingham Lake but got turned around at the River. There is a bridge for crossing but not big enough for vehicles.
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We stopped and took pictures at any given opportunity and this proved to be a real hit with some of the passengers (and drivers).
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After this we toured along the corridor road and challenged ourselves by driving up a hill where we stopped for a lunch break. The snow and ice provided a small challenge to the group but none needed assistance to make the climb!
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Paul powering up with his new Mickey Thompsons!
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Brian’s 07 Rubicon
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Nice view along here. Due to the time of year we didn’t see many others but did meet several small groups driving ATV’s, UTV’s and a pickup truck. This area has quite a few cabins and hunt camps along the way. We stopped in at one Camp to look around and then got back on our way.
By the time we got to the bridge, Al and I recalled another hill that was fun to drive up but thought we had passed it. So we decided to go back 15 minutes or so. We couldn’t see what we were looking for but found another small hill to try our vehicles on. This resulted in a few good photo opportunities watching the vehicles flex over the terrain.
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Sean’s ‘Willys’ gets crossed up!
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Justin’s well equipped Landcruiser made short work of the hill climbs.
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A wet boggy area was at the base of the hill, where I promptly sunk in and got stuck!
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Pulling out the vehicle from the rear would have been the easy choice right?
Instead we looked for a rock or tree to attach the winch to.
When none was found Jeremy offered to drive around back where there was an easy way up. This was in order to provide an anchor point at the top.
Should have been a quick winch up and done right?
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Paul Marsh
Nope!
Part way up the hill the CJ7 stalled and wouldn’t start, so Jeremy used his winch to start pulling up the dead CJ, however then his vehicle stalled and the battery was depleted!
Luckily by this time the Green jeep was at the top so we used a ‘booster pack’ to start Jeremy’s LJ. Then we pulled the fuel line off the carb on the CJ, and cranked until fuel came out again. Suspicion was ‘vapor lock’ or the pump had picked up air - either way both vehicles were going again!
By this time it was around 4:30 pm so we travelled at a good rate to get back out the hwy.
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By 5:30 pm we were back on the road and ready to head for home!
See you next time!