StG58's 1999 Jeep Wrangler SE

Wife and I did a road trip to south central Washington this weekend...

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Out in the basalt fields...

That stuff has maximum traction. Think miles of cheese grater. You can't get your tires to slip if you wanted to. The down side is you have to be extremely careful of your sidewalls.

It's too cool to drive around all the out croppings and pits.
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Some of the holes are big enough to swallow a school bus whole. Tons of fun to be had. ...and No one in sight.

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Came across the biggest water meadow I've ever seen. Probably 3 by 5 miles in size. Grass, ponds, sparse trees and open sky. And bugs. We didn't get out of the Jeep there.

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Just some of my stuff leaning on a downed log while packing up.

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This was our base camp. About 3500 feet up in the Cascades, just west of the Pacific Crest Trail.
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The tarp and tent setup. Very comfy for a backwoods stay.

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The new rack in back absolutely rocks! Everything fits, including the chainsaw. Downed tree? No problem. Cup of hot coffee and a snack? No problem. Set up or pack up camp? No problem. Everything is easily accessible and nothing gets squished. Best mod ever.

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Many of the FSR's / trails in the area didn't come through the winter very well. Lots of washout, pot holes and boulders to navigate. Spent a lot of time aired down and disconnected. In and out of 4x and occasionally low range. Hooked up with a couple in a JK. They were having a surprisingly hard time of it. Lots of wheel spin and multiple attempts at obstacles. Gotta love the TJ. (Didn't tell them it was just an SE!) They made it to the high lakes though, so there is that.

Good time was had by all. The wife even enjoyed shooting my big lever gun.

We're going back this summer for more exploring.
 
Good to see you getting out there. Looks like beautiful country up there.

It is. It's been a fairly wet spring, so everything is really green right now. Flowers everywhere. All the streams are flowing well, and the fish are fat and sassy in the high lakes. We ran into a little snow in places. Nothing to cause issues though. It'll all be gone by the next trip up.