Great White Climbs Yellow Jacket Pass at Tahuya on 5 June 2010

[Adrian00702]

Wow! Thank you very much VMX540fan! It seems like you know the area like the back of your hand. Id like to try yellow jacket pass, and maybe some of the rock gardens. If your up there when Im passing through Im sure my dad and I would love to chat.

[Adrian00702]

im coming down from BC next wednesday to check this place out for the first time. My XJ has a 6.5" LA kit and 33's with a posi rear end. Any good ideas on trails that would be do able, but still somewhat challenging?

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Park at Elfendahl Pass staging area and air down and use the toilet. It is the only one open in the winter.

Read the notices posted in the parking lot. These are oriented to all users (mostly ATVs and bikes).

Cross the paved road and read the signs on the other side of the road (these are mostly for trucks.

Take the right at the Y. About 1/4 mile take the right at the T. There are two hills here that get a lot of air time on YouTube. Look at "windshield flop" for a preview.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

If you don't go down go back to the T and go West. If you do go down, go West. About 300 yard west are two more hills. Look at Anarchy. It will scare you. There have been a lot of rolls there. The next hill is just west of Anarchy. It is called "The Bypass" because it is the only easy way up or down the hill there. Another 200 yards West is "yellow jacket pass". I have seen people make it over on 33's but most use the winch for the last 100 feet.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

You will want to be at the bottom of "The Bypass" to continue your tour.

About 300 yards west of "yellow jacket pass" is "Kiddie pond". We pulled a slightly lifted ZJ out of there today. He had water in the cab up to his shifter. This section of trail has six hills that go up the hill and then tie together at the top. This is where you will probably have the most fun without risking breaking something early in the day. You can make six loops up and down the hill to experience them.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

After the loops, you will want to continue west along the base of the hill to a place called "twin Rocks". It is named after the two rock piles in the clearing. Stay out of the last puddle on the left. It eats stock height trucks. The other puddles are safe. You will need to go up the hill from here. There are about 7 lines up the hill and it would be a good place to play for 15 minutes to take all the lines both up and down the hill.

When you get done playing, go southwest on "JBX"

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

JBX was just opened after a timber sale and had to be "rocked" again yesterday to keep people from getting stuck on the main loop trail. About 1/4 mile you will come to a "T" intersection with a lot of water on the trail. It is safe for stock vehicles, but looks scary. You want to take a right to go to "Mud Lake". This is a pair of ponds with no outlet. It is made for washing your U-joints, Brakes and Wheels. Stay within 10 feet of the left side as you go in.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Don't go around the right of the first stump, it is about 30 inches deep on the right side and about 15 on the left side. The middle of both ponds are about four feet deep this time of year. The west side of both ponds are rutted and hard to steer through. Crawl around on the bumps and stumps. This is where most still pictures are taken. Use it as a photo op for the trip. When you leave, don't turn right on JBX, but go another 100 yards east and turn right on "RIFF RAFF".

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

"Riff Raff" winds through the trees about a half mile to another fresh clear cut. Follow the trail markers south until you connect to the fire road. The trail splits just before the fire road, don't take the left. Stay right and turn right on the road. The trail dives into the brush about 100 feet on the left. About 300 yards up the trail splits. The right goes up "south loop hill" or "washout hill' as it is sometimes called. The left is the bypass.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Washout hill is another place that lots of video is shot and Still pictures are taken. The hill trail makes a short loop and comes back down to meet the bypass near the bottom of the hill. The trail proceeds south zig zagging along the ridge. One small clearing has a smooth knee high rock in it that is good for snapping photos. We call it "poser rock". Just past that is a braid in the trail that was named for going northbound. It is called "righty tighty, Lefty loosey".

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Going southbound, the left is the tight way and the right is loose. Walk it before you drive it. The furthest left exit did not exist when it was named. The center exit is the proper way to exit the feature. The trail again meanders south along the ridge. The trail gets rough just before the next "T" intersection. The left cuts off about 3/4 mile of trail. You should go right to take the long loop. It is a good trail for anything shorter than a four door pickup or Suburban.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Long wheelbase trucks get caught in the "squeeze tree" about 1/4 mile into the loop. Stay to the left and you will be fine. The trail meanders back to the wide trail near the last "T" I mentioned. When you meet the wide road again. you want to turn right at the "T" so you are going east. You will cross a stream about 300 yards down the trail. This is controversial because DNR keeps changing the stream designation and we need to keep changing the bridge, culvert, etc.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

The trail climbs back up a ridge and there is a large turn around area there. It is a good place to park and let others go by.

The trail turns north at this point. 200 yards into the woods, you will want to go right at the "Y" and do the first of three horseshoe trails. The left goes straight through and the right goes down the hill and back to the top of the ridge. Take all three horseshoe trails. They are currently in good shape and pose no problems to stock rigs.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

After the third horseshoe, you will be back on the "straight down the ridge" trail. It goes left off the ridge and right at the bottom of the hill. The puddle on the left is deep enough to get your carpet wet in a stock rig, but you will be fine as long as you don't stop and open the door. The puddle has a nice grippy and smooth bottom. The loop continues north along the base of the hill and over some roots and between some tight trees and then out into a clearcut.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

The puddle at the edge of the clearcut has been a problem for stock vehicles in the past, but it seemed OK today. It's you call if you want to "go deep" or "bypass" it. It is not deep enough to kill the engine, but it can be slick enough to make it hard to exit.

As the trail meanders up the clearcut, you will notice the rocks scattered in the road. They are there to play on. I get high centered on them with 38s, so you need to use good lines to not get hung up. Continue northbound.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

At the north end of the rock garden, there is a fire road running east- west. You want to go east about half a mile and take a left at the purple diamond on the tree. It will sneak up on you. If you find the blue gate, you went too far and will need to turn around and turn right on the trail. This is a nice fast trail that follows an old fire road. When the trail drops down the hill, the fast part is over. When you get to the logging road, go diagonally across it and up the hill.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Go north on the trail to the "Y" and take the left. The right is just bumpy, the left is cool. When you enter the trees, take the left and go up the hill. Turn around at the top and come back down. That has been my favorite hill for over 25 years. When you get to the bottom of the hill, turn left and follow the valley. The trail turns right and goes up "three hills". This is another place you will find interesting and possibly challenging under certain weather conditions.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

Turn left at the top of "three hills" and continue north. The trail will drop off the ridge to the east taking you back to the staging area where you aired down.

Quadrapaws takes Newbies around this loop every first Saturday of the month for the last 20 years or so. You can download an old trail map from the quadrapaws web page. The clearcuts have moved the trails since the map was published.

Check out my channel. About a third of my video was shot at Tahuya.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

"Tahuya Deep Water JK" was shot at Mud Lake and shows a JK going through the middle of the north pond.

"Tahuya Water JK" was shot at Kiddie Pond where we pulled the stock ZJ out today.

"Bad Ass Buggy Tahuya ORV" was shot at mud lake in June when the water level was down about a foot below normal winter level.

"Jeep on 34s Stuck in Tahuya" is what I expect it to be like this week in the south pond.

[VMX540fan]

@Adrian00702

"It's Just Tahuya!" by CivSAR is edited in the same order as I described the loop to you. It was shot at a) the entry sign, b) twin rocks, c) Mud Lake, d) south rock garden, and then e) three hills.