Theres a creek crossing (rinker creek) on the south side of concrete sauk valley rd. One side is really steep but the crossing itself isnt bad. Dude was with his girl in an 80s land cruiser trying to winch out of the middle of the creek. Was scratching my head because Ive crossed it with ease. I had come up on them from the steep side and and was looking down. Was debating on helping but decided to. I coulda turned around and left and they'd never known I was there, but I have a hard time being a dick. If it was a heavy assed bro dozer though, you can bet your ass I'd of left for sure!
Finally got him out and he was trying to back up the easy side and was just sitting there spinning. I looked under his rig and his front tires wern't doing a damn thing! I told him what was going on and he said he was in 4wd. His hubs were either broke or siezed? Had my rig in 4lo and lockers in, but it was like trying to pull dead weight, no wonder. Had to get a good running start to yank him out.

Over all it was a nice day out for exploring. Tried to get all the way up to iron mountian but got stopped by shitty snow


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A while back, I pulled some Navy guys out of a water hole after they'd swamped their new Jeep Cherokee. This was in the Tahuya State Forest, towed them out to the county road, waited with them for the tow truck and gave them a ride back to Bremereton.

They were fucked, still on the clock in their silly blue cammies and the drivers wife had told him not to go four wheeling.

Is that picture from Round Mountain? Being somewhat new to the area I've been trying to get out and explore. Its a bit of a pain as I drive the base model Brodozer (3/4 ton diesel), so some places I'm not comfortable pushing in to. 

Round Mountain is definitely high up on the list, most likely it will be my next spot to go check out. Alger is locked up at the moment (timber lease I guess), and last time I was up Sauk mountain there was enough snow I decided to wait till it warmed up a bit. 

Those coordinates is where I took the pic, bout half way up iron mtn. Round mountain is SE from there. Circled in red is where I accessed it; forrest service road 17. From there you can go all the way to darrington if the road still isnt washed out. Think you can access round mtn from there too. All that area between iron/coal/north/round mountain is a lot of itersecting trails. Some are over grown and some are newly opened up due to logging. Always take my chainsaw and machetes with me just in case. Ive had to use them several times especially after wind storms.


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Are we talking a new to them XJ or that new abomination bearing the cherokee name.

Holy hell man, thats far more revealing than you realize! I've been looking for that NF17 entrance for months. I've drove that highway twice and spent too long staring at Google Maps trying to find that forest road 17 entrance! Google Maps listed no entrance on the north side, so I assumed to get into that forest land I had to come in through the south or east. In the back of my mind I always thought that seemed pretty damned odd though!

Which map is that that you are using? Google Maps lists nothing and the Android app "BackCountry Navigator" using the "USA Topo Map" doesnt show that NF17 entrance either!

I'm hoping to get in there and find a nice place to shoot but the missing link was always where the hell forest road 17 was! That pic alone is worth a beer, now to go actually see it with my own eyes! 


EDIT: Found it! Had to load the US Forest Service maps in the app. Fucking bingo man, thanks so much! 

Yep, your welcome!
I use the "US Topo Maps" app, its the only one Ive found with the FS maps already loaded

I used to go out in my TJ whenever we had heavy snow and find people to help - back when no kids, had all that free time.

One time I ran into a guy in a lifted F-250 stuck off the side of the road, just spinning his tires and slowly drifting further off of the road. Stopped and asked if he needed help or a tug out, and he continued spinning the tires. I noticed only the rears were spinning. I asked if he was in 4WD, he said Yes. Then I noticed the hubs were not locked. I told him to hold on, I went around and locked both hubs, told him that they needed to be locked but they weren't, and said he should try again.

He gassed it, immediately pulled out of the ditch, and just sped off down the slick road without so much as a wave or a thumbs up. What an ass, and he had clearly never ever used his 4WD before despite driving a huge bro truck.

17/18 is closed due to snow and a slide.



They are working on it.

Where abouts?


ETA: got stopped right here late last year, bridge washed out

(48.419279 ° N 121.885851 ° W
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=48.419279104,-121.88585098

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Went for a drive over lunch. Man I feel like a goober. NF-17? Last time I tried to find that road that is the exact road I pulled over on so my dog could run around a bit. I didnt see any signs so assumed it was some guys driveway or something, and just kept going.

Well, now I know. The road I parked on last time, thats NF-17. 

There is a house and a driveway right there connected to nf17 as you pull off the road, so I could see how you'd of thunk it.

Iron Mountain is a great spot. In September the Marine layer forms with the temperature change and it's a pretty surreal place.

I'm pretty sure I live a few blocks away from you.

You should go put a bolt face logo on the back of the jeep. If the owner comes out and gets angry with you, its not him. 

Sweet, I need another one! Last one I had went with the trade-in I did few weeks ago.

Any of you guys test your rigs at Walker Valley? I don't think I'd want to be there for the crowds on a weekend but the few times i've hit the trails were weekdays and almost empty. My stock height JKU makes it through the easier gatekeeper with just a little bit of rubbing on the skid plates. I have had to use my winch a couple of times when i didn't quite have the clearance to make it all the way over a high point.