16th Annual Oregon Creek n' Trail 1997
by Gil Meacham

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The Klamath Four Runners and Caveman Four Wheelers of Grant's Pass jointly adopted the McGrew Trail several years ago. Each club takes turns putting on the Oregon Creek n' Trail run. For 1997, the Klamath Rour Runners were the host club. The Creek n' Trail covers about 14 miles of the old MacGrew trail, then ends at the Sourdough Campground on the beautiful Smith's River. Entries were limited to 110 vehicles (I got a pretty good reaction when I put my sticker on upside down, turning 109 into 601!)

With over 100 vehicles running the trail, the organizers released us in groups of about 10 starting just after daybreak. Folks who wanted to get out early were in line waiting to go by 5:30 am!!! We're talkin' dark! The Four Runners set up a few checkpoints along the trail to make sure everyone made it ok.

Shortly after the start of the trail, you start hitting switchbacks climbing up from the Illinois Valley to the ridges above. The trail is mainly composed of rock, with a few washouts and sluices. It was obvious the adopting clubs put in a lot of work building water bars across the trail to prevent losing the trail to slides. Although the trail probably rates a good 3, there are several difficult obstacles to challenge the stock rigs and a couple of optional obstacles that might rate a 4. Even though the trail is in Oregon, it has only rained three of the sixteen years the run has been held. This year was the third! The rain only lasted a few hours on Saturday, though.

One of the optional obstacles was a couple of large rocks that checked out the articulation. Without lockers, this one would have been tough!

There are two optional sluices (also referred to as "short wheelbase obstacles")on the MacGrew Trail. The first one is downhill, and is quite easy. It does have a couple of narrow spots between trees with rocks to tilt you into the trees.

The second sluice is the most difficult obstacle on the trail. It is optional, with the bypass running parallel up it. Jason Ball bounced and dragged his stock Cherokee half way up, then wisely bailed out onto the bypass before a large step through a narrow gap.

Jeff Bronson tried adding a little challenge to his TJ with Terraflex lift and 32" tires by attempting to climb the big rocks along the side of the trail. I found the sluice quite challenging just climbing up the middle with the fresh rain on the rocks!

After climbing through the second sluice, the trail started winding down from the 5,000 level to the valley below at less than 2,000 feet. The trail officially ends at the forest service road. To reach Sourdough campground, you continue to drop down on the entrance road until you reach a beautiful meadow along the Smith River. This is the end destination for Saturday.

The rain let up Saturday afternoon just in time for folks to set up camp and get ready for the steak dinner provided by the organizers. After dinner, there was the raffel with a lot of prizes.

The next morning we all woke up to the smell of breakfast on the grill and coffee on the pot! The Four Runnders had been up early preparing a great breakfast of sausage, eggs, and hotcakes. They even had fresh strawberries for the cakes! After breakfast, we broke camp and headed back to civilization. Just about everyone took the forest road back to O'Brien, but 3 rigs (Randy Nowell in a custom tube framed CJ7, Ron Meyers in a classic Bronco, and me in my CJ5) decided it would be nice to take the McGrew trail back to O'Brien. The weather was beautiful, and we could enjoy all the views we missed in the rain on Saturday.

Going through the trail backwards presented a whole new perspective. The sluice was at least as tough when you dropped off the rocks going downhill. Gentle throttle, brake, and clutch control was required to ease through the tough sections. At least the rocks were dry on Sunday! Here Ron makes it look like a Sunday drive.....Oh!....I guess it was!

Randy chose a huge rock on the side of the road to show off the abilities of the custom tube frame he designed. Driving with hand controls only, he crawls the rocks with the best of 'em!
Ron took the Early Bronco up some steep loose hills with BIG rocks on them. He recently went from a Ranger to the Bronco, and this was a shake down run. I stood behind him here to show just how big the rock was he was climbing here.
Coming down the last hill, Randy found one more optional challenge.

He really tested his clearance and articulation getting over this huge boulder. Other than a few more scratches on the transfer case skid plate, no problems!

The Oregon Creek n' Trail is a well organized event. You get free camping, two fine meals, and a guided trip on a very well developed trail that challenges stock vehicles with a few optionals to test out modified ones. And the scenery is simply fantastic. I'll be back!

Happy Trails!

Meach

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