If you go up to Mt Prevost/Sicker be careful for surprise ice patches on the roads.
A couple of people have gotten nasty surprises up there in the last few days and ended up ditched due to ice.
If you goo up Mt Sicker Road there is a Jeep trail at N48°52'43.9" W123°47'07.6". Don't take the flat trail on the right, take the ugly one that looks washed out, it will take you to the are area just west of the mines and just north of the clay pit. You will have to drop down the shelf in my profile photo at the end of the trail to get on to the mine side, it looks scarier than it is, just take as straight a line as you can go slow, good luck getting back up it.. or you can just drive in to or out of that side from the Chemainus River Park Road off Hillcrest, the gate is usually open in the day. Oh, BTW, DO NOT go in the mud pit you pass on the way, no matter how tempting it looks. You WILL get stuck, if you're lucky, or completely buried if you're not.
If you try to go in from Mt Prevost Road, you can usually drive right up to the Tyee tailings pile (N48°51'56.5" W123°47'10.7") if you split off right on to Plantation and follow it all the way WNW. It's an easy drop-in off the road to get in and out and the "easy" way down is on the right once you're on it. There are lot's of trails and obstacles in the area to help you feel out the rig there, just watch out for ice patches. It's always good form and practice to go with at least one other rig though in case someone gets stuck or broke down but on any given day off there are usually at least half a dozen other people on the mountain from 11am to 3pm and the top and east sides of the mountain have cell service so there's a better than average chance of getting help if you do get in to some kind of jam, just don't go unprepared.
Weeks lake is gated at both ends according to the last report we had here from someone who was actually there.
There was a bad washout near the Shawnigan end if I recall correctly and the only people getting in that I know of were on trail bikes unless something has changed since summer...
If it casts a beam and it's mounted above headlamp height, it better have an opaque cover on it while driven on public roads.
Doesn't matter if it's incandescent or LED, how bright it is or if you have it disconnected. Cops can VI & IO you just on that if they want to.
That being said, I see trucks all the time with LED light bars driving around that are not covered.
"Marker lamps" with diffusers or tinted lenses can be used if they are are omnidirectional, do not cast a beam and don't create a visual hazard.
LED running lamps are permitted to use in place of stock beam lamps if they qualify as marker lamps and I guess there's some gray zone too.
This worries me too a bit since I am planning to upgrade to some really sweet COB LED front running lamps that I was able to order in bulk on the cheap. They are 2cmx15cm each and have 78 individual emitters in one array. They are mounted on an aluminum die with a slim bezel over the emitters which is backfilled with translucent phosphor bearing silicone that diffuses the light and makes it appear more uniformly distributed across the whole bezel instead of appearing as 78 tiny points of light. They can produce 1500-2000 lumen so they are much brighter than you standard marker lamps but they do not cast a beam and are not brighter than the stock headlamps and I plan to mount them just under the bowtie on the chromie plate of my grille, making them just below headlamp height. I'm hoping to be able to convince any inquiring RCMP officers that they are legit marker/running lamps because I have no intention of covering them.
If you go up to Mt Prevost/Sicker be careful for surprise ice patches on the roads.
A couple of people have gotten nasty surprises up there in the last few days and ended up ditched due to ice.
If you goo up Mt Sicker Road there is a Jeep trail at N48°52'43.9" W123°47'07.6". Don't take the flat trail on the right, take the ugly one that looks washed out, it will take you to the are area just west of the mines and just north of the clay pit. You will have to drop down the shelf in my profile photo at the end of the trail to get on to the mine side, it looks scarier than it is, just take as straight a line as you can go slow, good luck getting back up it.. or you can just drive in to or out of that side from the Chemainus River Park Road off Hillcrest, the gate is usually open in the day. Oh, BTW, DO NOT go in the mud pit you pass on the way, no matter how tempting it looks. You WILL get stuck, if you're lucky, or completely buried if you're not.
If you try to go in from Mt Prevost Road, you can usually drive right up to the Tyee tailings pile (N48°51'56.5" W123°47'10.7") if you split off right on to Plantation and follow it all the way WNW. It's an easy drop-in off the road to get in and out and the "easy" way down is on the right once you're on it. There are lot's of trails and obstacles in the area to help you feel out the rig there, just watch out for ice patches. It's always good form and practice to go with at least one other rig though in case someone gets stuck or broke down but on any given day off there are usually at least half a dozen other people on the mountain from 11am to 3pm and the top and east sides of the mountain have cell service so there's a better than average chance of getting help if you do get in to some kind of jam, just don't go unprepared.
Welcome!
Lot's of great people here to meet up and wheel with.
If you haven't already, you may want to join a couple of the island based clubs on social media as well.
Most of the planned runs are posted on FB.
Sticks n Stones 4x4 club - Nanaimo: https://www.facebook.com/groups/366020336937373/
642 Jeep Club - Sooke: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1915708401778680/
4WD Association of BC - Vancouver Island: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4wdabcvanisle/
Wow a Pajero! Don't see many of those here.
Looks too nice to offroad though!
Weeks lake is gated at both ends according to the last report we had here from someone who was actually there.
There was a bad washout near the Shawnigan end if I recall correctly and the only people getting in that I know of were on trail bikes unless something has changed since summer...
If it casts a beam and it's mounted above headlamp height, it better have an opaque cover on it while driven on public roads.
Doesn't matter if it's incandescent or LED, how bright it is or if you have it disconnected. Cops can VI & IO you just on that if they want to.
That being said, I see trucks all the time with LED light bars driving around that are not covered.
"Marker lamps" with diffusers or tinted lenses can be used if they are are omnidirectional, do not cast a beam and don't create a visual hazard.
LED running lamps are permitted to use in place of stock beam lamps if they qualify as marker lamps and I guess there's some gray zone too.
This worries me too a bit since I am planning to upgrade to some really sweet COB LED front running lamps that I was able to order in bulk on the cheap. They are 2cmx15cm each and have 78 individual emitters in one array. They are mounted on an aluminum die with a slim bezel over the emitters which is backfilled with translucent phosphor bearing silicone that diffuses the light and makes it appear more uniformly distributed across the whole bezel instead of appearing as 78 tiny points of light. They can produce 1500-2000 lumen so they are much brighter than you standard marker lamps but they do not cast a beam and are not brighter than the stock headlamps and I plan to mount them just under the bowtie on the chromie plate of my grille, making them just below headlamp height. I'm hoping to be able to convince any inquiring RCMP officers that they are legit marker/running lamps because I have no intention of covering them.