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Lower Mainland ATV Club Poker Run 2004Larson Hill (Coquihalla area)September 11/04 Written by Greg Photographs by Greg and Paul Mitchell This was the first LMATV Club event for me, and also the first time I'd been to the Larson Hill area. Got to meet lots of new people plus a bunch of Quads.ca members, and handed out a small pile of stickers. I was originally going to head out Friday night. The rain was coming down extremely hard. After everything was packed, I started out by sliding down my steep, slippery driveway in reverse, getting my trailer sideways, and taking out my right trailer light on a tree. Since it was dark and visibility was very poor, I knew I had to fix the light before heading out. I got pretty soaked fixing it; all I can say is "thanks!" to whoever invented duct tape. I had to wait until 22:00h to pick up the communications gear, and was finally on the road at 22:30h. I got as far as 232 St in Langley, where I pulled into the Triple-O's for dinner. I was feeling quite tired, and after some thought I decided to turn around and get some sleep at home, then head out first thing in the morning. My Gore-Tex jacket was soaked; so I hung it up to dry behind my entry door. Okay, lets try that again! I awoke to sunshine on Saturday morning, and after a leisurely drive, I arrived at the Larson Hill campground. Lots of campers and RVs; the campground was a sea of white. And quads everywhere, of course. Some of the event sponsors had their displays up; I checked out Hub Sports' GPS display. Sea to Sky Motorsports had an impressive lineup of eight brand new Polaris quads, including the new EFI unit. Doh, my Gore-Tex jacket was still hanging up behind the door at home. I phoned Dave, who hadn't left his house in Kelowna yet, and got him to bring a spare rain jacket. Thanks, Dave! Paul, Bruce, Canucklehead, and others who had arrived the night before were out on a day run, so I went on a short ride on the trails around camp by myself, and met up with Al, one of the founding members of the LMATV Club. Once Dave arrived in the afternoon, we rode to the top of Shovelnose Mtn to install the repeater which ended up not working properly. Found some neat trails. 
Then we had a potluck dinner (thanks Paul and everyone else), followed by a night run with mostly Quads.ca members to the top of Thynne Mtn, where it was cold, foggy, and windy. I was glad I had my heated grips installed. Sunday was the Poker Ride, which went off pretty well (only one injury I believe). My poker hands sucked; oh well, better luck next year! There were 105 registered quads when I checked; everyone I spoke with said they enjoyed themselves. Numerous kids and even a couple of dogs were along for the ride. John Blinston, the president of ATV/BC, tore a hole in a sidewall but got going after a liberal application of plugs. It rained for most of the event; Dave and I were stationed just past Checkpoint 2 at a cattle gate. I ended up walking a couple of km's in each direction, taking photos of the quads passing by. Once the chase quads arrived, Dave and I took off and rode the course, which was pretty neat. There's lots of photos of Checkpoint 2, because that's where Paul was stationed, and that's one of the places I walked to. 
Back at camp, I purchased a couple of hotdogs from the concession run by Ricky's All-Day Grill (Chilliwack). Nice having that option, as I was being lazy and didn't want to make and pack lunch. After lunch, Dave and I went for a blast with Aaron and Blair from Rocky Mountain Motorsports, and one other guy I didn't get a name for, and found some old trails, narrower trails, and mud. Back at camp, I took a video of Aaron pulling a "catwalk" on an Arctic Cat 650 4x4; he made it look really easy. Disclaimer: "Professional rider on closed course; do not attempt." We caught the tail end of the prize give-away; I won a $25 gift certificate from Rocky Mountain Motorsports! Thanks, guys. After dinner, Dave and I went for another ride on the trails in the immediate area, then rode south down the gas pipeline road as far as we could go. Dave figures he put on about 400 kms during the weekend. 
 Aaron pulling a catwalk with a 2005 Arctic Cat 650 4x4 Download the video (2MB .avi) There are tons of trails in the area for all levels of riders, and we'll definitely be going back to do some more exploring. On the way home, it started to rain. Then my truck stopped charging the batteries. I troubleshot it by the light of a flashlight at the side of the Coquihalla just north of the toll-booth; it turned out to be blown diodes in the battery isolator. Oops, maybe I should have installed a heavier-duty isolator after installing my high-output alternator. I bolted both battery cables to the alternator cable post, bypassing the isolator, and it started charging again. Whoo! Thanks to the LMATV Club for putting the event on, and a big thanks to the sponsors for donating all the prizes. |
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