My 2nd trip out to the Alberta Safari Park. Last time I was out was a couple years ago, and in the winter.. so this was a different experience for sure. We got into lots and lots of deep mud, everyone got stuck at least once, and it served as a great shake-down run for o-min’s new lift and my new locker (it performed amazingly!). The weather was scorchin’ around the 30’s (celsius), so we all got a bit sun burned I think.. I did for sure.

First off I’d like to thank Lee for having us at his park. It’s always a treat to chat with Lee. He’s always very accommodating to the wheelers on his land. He offered us a newly sharpened chain saw to cut up some fire wood, free camping for the weekend, leg of lamb for dinner, two canoes for putzing around on the big pond, and the thickest mud you can find in Alberta! He’s got a Unimog that he plays around with, but he hid it this time (how the hell do you hide a Unimog?) so Steve wouldn’t steal it again. Steve and Lee are good friends, so don’t take that “stealing” the wrong way. :P

Ian was the first to get himself in trouble. We went along the right-most path just past Bill’s Gate where the RTI ramp resides. Along side that there is a trail they not-so-appropriately named the Ant Hills. The hills are as big as a jeep, and the mud holes in between the hills are about 3-4 feet deep right now. They will change with the weather of course, and it’s very dry out at the park right now. He dropped off the ledge into the first hole and found himself stuck before he even got to level ground, headlight deep. I *really* encourage you to check out the recovery video of this one.. Octavian pulled way too hard on him and would have caused him to roll if he had not kept pulling. It was pretty funny to watch Ian’s face!!

We puttered around the park for a while on the green trails. Funny thing about that though, the “green” trails are so muddy right now that only a couple of the jeeps were able to get through them without winching. I guess that’s what happens when you get a little rain, lots of traffic and good shade from the surrounding trees to prevent drying. Kyle (Cyborg) made it through ok with a few attempts, but I didn’t have the same luck. I dove into the first hole and my skidplate and diffs brought me to a halt real quick. From there I couldn’t move forward of backward and was winched the rest of the way. This budget boost of mine simply is not tall enough for these well-worn trails. They are broken in by rigs on 33’s to 37’s and up all summer.

We followed the green trails all the around the park to the two toughest hills at the park. One is called Widow Hill, and the other much tougher one is Lee’s Loss. Widow hill is fairly steep, but it’s a straight shot right now, not chewed up and dry.. so our whole group made it up without recoveries. Lee’s Loss is a little different story however. It’s basically impassible right now due to the way it throws your rig off to the side. Eric (Brink_) did a real nasty backwards roll there a few months back on his custom linked/stretched TJ on 42’s. Check out that link to his summer upgrades thread. :P

A little later we came up to Rocky Canyon (I think that’s what it’s called). It’s a short technical wash-out section that has lots of off camber climbing. A spotter is a great help, and due to it’s dry nature right now I was able to crawl through it down and back up. The new locker performed amazing and really shines in this type of terrain. With one wheel off the ground quite often, it’s nice to know you will still move when you want to. The one low part of this section had a little bit of mud in it, and after quite a few of us taking this optional course it was worn down enough that Steve in spite of his 35″ boggers was not able to get out. He pulled a winch line and was out in a jiffy. There is a nice filming platform about 7 feet above the area that was built for Lee’s yearly Tough Trail Challenge (Not to be confused with the Top Truck Challenge put on by four wheeler mag each year). The platform netted me a few cool videos of the obstacle.

We headed back to camp for a bite to eat and a beer or two. A few of us got fired up about trying Bill’s Gate and headed out to give it a shot. Three of us ran it down first because that’s easier.. once we had got that out of the way we figured we needed to go the much more difficult way, up. Steve was first and got through the first flexy part, over the big logs, around the off camber turn, and up to the last obstacle. The last part is a huge jeep-wide, 12 foot high V with a little mud at the start to slick up your tires. I hopped in his jeep for this part and he immediately says with a grin on his face over the sound of the air conditioning running full blast “Just let me know if it’s to cold for you”. We had some troubles straddling the V because the entrance to the last hill is muddy and flexy. It wants to toss you to the right side, passenger side down. It puts the jeep basically on it’s side with the passenger side window a few inches from the ground. We tried a few times, and got the jeep to go the other way, with the same results on the driver’s side. We ended up winching out.

Travis tried and had the same troubles. He was real close to getting out and ended up pulling up mostly past the tough part but a tire dropped into the V near the top. This chucked the passenger front tire into the air and he was unable to move. We pulled him out from there. I decided I better give it a shot because Travis and Steve were open front/rear. I got into the same spot as Steve and Travis near the end and blew a bead on my first attempt at it. I started out the day 1t 8 PSI and lost a little somewhere and likely around 3-4. Definitely too low for obstacles that require a little ramming. It was a little disappointing because I really wanted to see if I would be able to get the right line with the locker in the rear. While being pulled out with my blown bead my passenger side dug in a little too much and it bent my passenger side fender downward. Not a real big deal I guess because I plan on flat fendering it later.. but it’s a cosmetic thing that kind of sucks for now. *shrug*

We headed back to camp and spent a few hours in the sun. We had a keg for the event, and cooked hotdogs. A few of us headed home that night (me included) and the rest stayed over night. There is guys from the club wheeling again out there tonight, but I figure a badly pushed up t-case skid plate, a bent fender, and a blown bead is enough for one weekend.

I heard tales of people going out onto the pond later in the canoes and tipping eachother over, but I won’t confirm those allegations. :) Thanks EJC for a great time, and thanks again Lee for having us! Travis just got back from the car wash as I write this.. he says he just spent $50 and the jeep is still not very clean. I told you it was the thickest mud in Alberta! Have a peek at the Alberta Safari site, and make a point of going out there if you live close enough and haven’t been yet. It’s well worth the small amount he charges.

Ian: Two blown beads (man you are a pro at that these days!)
Davin: Pushed up t-case skid, bent passenger fender, blown bead

-Davin (Raskull)