This is the Island Run 2004 write up, as seen in the January/February 2005 issue of Bronco Driver Magazine.

Shawnigan Hills Vancouver Island, BC

Mist, tall trees, the smell of rain in the air, moss hanging from the trees like curtains:  this is the Coastal Rain Forest on Vancouver Island, the home of the first annual Broncoii.Org Island Run. 

The day started typically, drizzle mixed with rain with some cloudy breaks: ah, life on the Wet-Coast.  I was on my way to the campsite in Thing and because I had put the ½ doors on that morning, I was glad to have full rain gear.  I arrived on top of the mountain around 300 and found Ben Hart and towmonkey already there and setting up the tarps for our makeshift kitchen.  We set up camp and then towmonkey and myself drove out to meet the rest of our visitors to lead them into camp.    The first group arrived almost immediately but our lovely SnowExploder had missed one ferry and had caught the next.  After a brief discussion it was decided that we would wait for her.  So we sat at Tim Horton’s for 3 hours…later, rather than sooner, Snow and her friend showed up and we headed off into the bush.  We rolled into the campsite at around 1100 after a short mild 4wd trail to get in. We roused Ben and people set up camp, started a fire and said their various hellos.  Then the stress of the day finally settled in and most went to bed. 

Saturday morning dawned misty and overcast, surprise surprise.  Breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon along with coffee was being prepared as I stumbled around knocking on windows and rousing our crew.  Fidget and her man Craig rolled into camp as most of us were rising.  We ate breakfast and planned out our day as everyone warmed by the fire and ate breakfast.  The plan was to ride down the trail to the bottom of Huckleberry, a stocker trail, for everyone to warm up on and then continue on to a couple of harder trails. Myself, and Ben, in “Thing” were the trail leaders and everyone followed in behind after our moment of silence dedicated to all our troops around the world.  As expected “Thing” crawled straight up Huckleberry with no effort and we parked at the top to spot and assist others. A few people had some trouble negotiating the slippery, muddy incline but after some quick advice sessions and a few tries they made it up, until poor towmonkey.  He had stayed behind to help Nightkrawler who was having fuel issues.  He then proceeded up the hill and got caught at a relatively easy section.  Too much tire spin and not enough traction along with one bad line caused catastrophe.  There was a loud bang and all forward motion stopped.  A small pool of “blood” oozed from underneath his truck.  He rolled back until he was against a rock and we crawled underneath to see what had happened.   As we were walking down to him we picked up aluminum parts, which did not bode well.  He had exploded the output shaft to the front wheels of his transfer case.  A hole the size of a man’s fist was clearly visible…

Broncman and his V8, SAS equipped red monster was turned around and proceeded to winch towmonkey up the remainder of the trail and then towed him to the campsite, luckily only a few hundred yards away.  Nightkrawler, with some trail magic, had got his rig running and was slowly making his way up to camp via the easy road.  Everyone regrouped at camp and it was decided that Nightkrawler and towmonkey would head back into Victoria to grab a spare transfer case and a new fuel pump.  The rest of us headed off to attempt Gong Show and the Snake Pit…

After a fairly uneventful trail to Gong Show we arrived at the split to the top of the trail and the bypass.  The stockers were warned that this is not a friendly trail and body damage is likely.   A few took the short walk down the trail and decided to take the bypass.  A short shuffle and we were ready.  Thing took the steep descent into the abyss, slipping and sliding down the muddy slope, desperately avoiding the huge trees scattered along the first hundred yards of trail.  Then we wormed our way over roots and around huge cedars until we arrived at an off camber corner that drops off 15 feet over a 20-foot span.  I “weasled” the poor little truck around the stump at the head and let her slowly drop down into the mud in the middle.  A hard right turn and let the front right tire grab a few feet of air as the front left climbed a stump, then gently let it drop down onto the rest of the trail.  Continuing on, we came to a berm created by as huge stump.  With a quick power-slide to align and we started over.  Then we were hung up.  A quick yell for assistance, a three people lifted the tail enough to grab traction and we slid down the last 50 feet of trail.  Success!!  We parked off to the side and walked up the trail to spot Broncman, the only other truck to attempt Gong Show.  Except for some rubbing trees that dislocated his roof rack, the brawny B2 took on Gong Show with little trouble.  Everyone else proceeded down the bypass and we exited out onto the logging road only to make a quick turn back onto a trail known as the Snake Pit.

Snake Pit is a new trail carved by a stream coursing over rock and mud.  It is essentially a trench with exit and entrance.  We only attempted the first section.  In fact “Thing” was the only truck to attempt.  As there is lots of “spectator” parking close by and a secondary entrance halfway up the trail, people were able to watch the melee that was about to unfold.  With Ben Hart still safely buckled in, I dropped into the entrance and started the climb, bouncing and clawing at the wet, rocky, moss covered terrain.  After a couple of stops and starts we arrived at the finale.  A 4-foot waterfall with mud trenches bordering the edges.  The entry walls were nearly 6 feet deep and the exit is a hard right once you crest the top.  It took a few attempts and a couple of rearward pulls of the winch and we were ready for the final assault.  Hammer down and give ‘er!!  Thing was screaming and clawing, bouncing and grabbing but amazingly was getting traction and over she went!!  But the throttle was jammed wide open!  Desperately I jammed my feet to the floor but with wet shoes my feet slipped between the pedals against the floor.  As the front end came dropping down to terra firma I saw a tree dead ahead!  As fast as I could I reached for the key and shut it down.  About a half second too late as “Thing” hugged the tree.  Other than a mangled bumper there was no damage so I gently backed up and climbed out of the trail, still at ¾  throttle!  It was a scary ride back down to the rest of the folks.  A little bumping and banging under the hood and all seemed okay.  As it was nearing dinner-time it was decided that we would head back to camp for dinner.  We got onto the logging roads with Fidget in the lead and headed back to camp.  Ben and I were in the rear so we made a quick detour up Huckleberry to get ahead of the group so we could start dinner.  “Thing” was obviously in a hurry too and decided to stick at ¾ throttle again.  So it was a VERY fast ride up Huckleberry and into camp!!

The fire was stoked and brought to a nice bed of coals and our New York steaks were cooked to perfection by our chef Ben Hart along with the rest of our meal.  We waited anxiously for towmonkey and Nightkrawler’s return.  They finally returned with their parts late into the evening and we all (most of us) went to bed. 

Morning came misty and overcast, again.  We had decided that we would take everyone to Kaitlyn’s lookout, named for my daughter on its inaugural run a few months back.  It is a stock trail as long as attention is carefully paid to the trail.  Otherwise, you could be tumbling 400 ft down a mountainside.  We climbed the trail to its zenith, a large blast rock pile and had our lunch.  Towmonkey and I had started a cairn on our scouting trip and everyone added their rock to the pile along with those who couldn’t be there.  We started back down the trail thinking all was good.  We quickly noticed that there was an absence behind us… We stopped and walked back down the trail to find ncSteve perched precariously on the edge of the cliff.  Nightkrawler was turning around and preparing to attach his winch cable.  ncSteve had “tried to get into a better position for a picture” and had slid a little too close to the edge.  A quick tug back onto somewhat level ground and we continued back to camp for dinner. 

Being that it was Canadian Thanksgiving we had turkey, mashed potatoes, beans and onions, with pumpkin pie with real whipped cream for desert.  Everyone gladly ate too much and we all sat contented by the fire while towmonkey worked on his truck.

Members in attendance: