After a couple of weeks of phone calls, we managed to get eight trucks out for what turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day, which meant of course,that the doors were coming off the jeep. We arranged to meet part of the group at the automall in Richmond, and the remaining vehicles enroute at the Cypress Bowl exit. After we said our "hellos" and checked out the other rigs, we were off to Jane Lake first and later Starvation Lake, both in theWhistler area, but not before we had some grease, courtesy of McDees.

We arrived at the turnoff for Jane at around 11:30. To get to Jane, you want to turn right when you hit "Function Junction" or Cheakamous Road (I think that's what it's called), which is approximately 15km south of Whistler. You will cross a one-lane log bridge and then keep right at the fork which will take you to the garbage dump. Be forewarned that there is a gate at the dump and is open from 7a.m. till 5p.m. Don't quote me on this, but next time I go I'll check. Once you go through the dump and check out a few bears if you're lucky, take the second right, the first right will take you into the dump. At the first main fork, keep left and take the highroad. Follow this for awhile and you will come to another fork in the road, go straight and you will soon come up to three large boulders in the way. A few kind souls winched them enough for all of our group to squeeze through, although I don't think Ray in the Suzuki even noticed them. I don't believe a full- size will fit through these rocks, unless you don't mind a couple of more scrapes. After squeezing through the rocks, the rest of the trail mainly consists of negotiating washouts, which were quite large, and provided a challenge for the stock longer wheelbases. Jason showed how much difference it made by disconnecting the front swaybar on the Cherokee. He made it up one of the obstacles that Chris' couldn't, although I'm sure he could of, but he decided to park it since it was his first time with the rig off-road and he just wanted to get a feel for it. This trail is well-suited for short wheelbases, as the YJ's and Suzuki demonstrated, but the Cherokee and Pathfinder did really well for basically stock vehicles.

Chris negotiates a washout

Jason's Cherokee handled all the obstacles with ease

Andrew plays in the mud hole before Jane lake

After negotiating the washouts , and getting out the tow strap a couple of times, we reached Jane Lake at around 1:00p.m., about an hour later than I expected which meant the float tube was staying in the Jeep since the majority of the group still wanted to go to Starvation. We have had some good luck in the float tubes at Jane, and there are some reasonable size rainbows in the lake for the Whistler area(our largest being 15-16" or was it 20" or maybe24", you know how those stories go), once you figure out what they're hitting on. Keep in mind that this is a high altitude lake and is only free of snow for 4 months. We hit snow there last year in June. It is a beautiful lake with Black Tusk in the background. There is one good size camping area that would probably fit around three or so tents. We had three up last year with enough room to spare. It is a steep, 100 foot climb down to the lake, and trust me, you don't want to do it after a couple of Soda's. It's just like trying to take a leak in your float tube after you've had a few, not an easy thing to do.

After a few brave souls went for a dip, and the rest of us wimps had lunch, we headed down the trail which wasn't really a problem although the pathfinder needed one tug after getting crossed up in one of the washouts. When we hit the end of the trail, Chris decided he had had enough and went to Whistler with Kelly while Chris and Wolfie in the Pathfinder headed back to Vancouver.

Starvation Lake

Starvation is approximately 13km north of the Alice Lake turnoff. You will see an old roadhouse site on the right, this is where you want to pull in. To get to Starvation, you will see a trail through the bushes on the other side of the highway. This means crossing highway 99 which can be dangerous, so a spotter is a must when you come back up this way, as you can't really see if cars are coming and it is not worth the risk. They already tried closing this entrance a couple of years ago but leave it to winches and some grunt work, and someone had them removed. There is another way in, which to me is more challenging, but I'm not going to explain how to get there simply because I don't remember the exact roads to take. I'll get to this route later.

Jeff just squeezes by

Bill tries a climb the side hill approach.

It's a tight one

The remaining six of us all made it safely across the highway as we began our journey to Starvation. It is quite easy going down to the lake, although the mudhole in the beginning can be very deep in the fall and spring and have seen a few trucks get swallowed up . The final descent to the lake requires low gears as it is quite steep and rough at the end of it. After you get down, the lake is yours, and is one of my favourite camping spots as there is rarely anyone there. Fishing kind of sucks unless you're into 6-10 inchers, well at least most girls probably are.

Jason wisely decided to park his Cherokee at the top of the final descent which was probably a smart move considering it was basically stock. Andrew and myself (Phil) had been to the other side of the lake before, which to me is the funnest part. So we decided to break in a couple of new club members on this route. To get there, just drive around to the opposite side of the lake and you will start heading south. Keep going down a rocky section, cross the tracks, and head down another rocky section with some big rocks. As we were driving across the lake, I ran into a buddy, Raphael and is wife Mel, in yet another YJ, whom I had met here a year ago and is joining our club. He runs 31's, t-case eliminator kit, cv-shaft, L/S rear and recently installed a 4"national spring lift. They were suntanning so we let them be. A couple rigs slid across the track, but all got over unscathed, until we reached the Squeeze. There is a vertical rock wall on your left, and a big boulder on your right. It was a tight squeeze for the YJ's, but we all made it through, with the rock just kissing the side steps, but not mangling them. Once again, Ray's suzuki flew right through with about a foot on each side. Andrew and myself had a good laugh when Jeff and Ray got down and said "Is that it?" I think their chins dropped when they saw us turning around at the bottom to head back up. If you were to keep going straight, it would eventually hit pavement again, which takes you right by the turnoff for Evans Lake which would take you to Upper Hut which is my favourite trail around.

Bill climbing his way out

T.B.as usual

The Suzuki finally got beat

Andrew was the first to go back up with his rear locker making it look fairly easy. Bill was next in line, and after a couple of laughs as he was bouncing up, he was up and over, with the sidestep almost claiming victim to the boulder. It was now my turn, and as much as I missed my rear lockright, my jeep surprised me as it went up easier than I thought it would without the locker. Jeff gave us some good air in his front end as he just put in the add-a-leafs and he had never done this kind of wheelin' before. I tried to convince him to lose those track bar thingies as Andrew, Raphael and myself lost them years ago, and yes, they do make a big difference in wheel travel. Jeff was worried that his 4cyl. wouldn't cut it, but it was fine. After throwing a couple of rocks around, Jeff made it up and I think his Jeep surprised himself. Ray's suzuki was stock, and after placing a few more rocks in some holes and revving up that little 4 banger he too was up. As we were heading back up to the lake, I heard a clang come out of my rearend. I recognized the sound, and sure enough another one of those shitty McCoy leafs had snapped in half. I think this made my Jeep more flexible than usual as both rear leafs were running 3.5 springs instead of 4. All the Jeeps made it up the rock ledge quite well, but Ray's suzuki just couldn't get up it. After he started cursing and taking runs at it and was on the way to possible damage, we called off his attempt and brought out the tow strap, courtesy of Andrew. It's really a shitty place to tug someone up because it's so steep and there is loose rock, but you know how much suzukis weigh. There were no real problems after this as we got a spotter out and crossed the highway. We'll start to get out more now, and have a few more trip reports coming. Hope this one wasn't too long for ya...........................Until next time, happy wheelin!