Skiing and Snowshoeing at White Pass!! OK, Not Really...

Heidi and I dreamt up a grandiose plan to finally escape from the kids for a day. We like them and all, but everybody needs a break. We rented snowshoes, cross country skis and all the trimmings. We even bought freeze dried dinners to cook in our Jet Boil for a meal on a snowy trail somewhere. In my mind, this was shaping up to be a great day full of adventure, scenery, and time alone with my wife. The forecast was holding up well so I figured weather wouldn't be a problem. I still elected to take the Jeep because I have chains for it, just in case. Five miles from the top of White Pass the wind began to HOWL. By the time we reached the top the wind was gusting in excess of 40 mph...and it started dumping snow.

Standing outside the Alpine Center, which could be confused with a flimsy yurt, we took some pictures of our rapidly deteriorating day away from reality.


We passed some woman who could barely remain upright on her cross country skis as we made our way to the yurt. Now that's funny, except we have that problem without any wind. The yurt master, evidently the resident head cheese, eye-balled us warily. He seemed to think that we looked like newbies, which we are, and figured we were about ready to do something stupid and venture out, which we most definitely were not. He gravely advised us that snow bombs were falling out of the trees that were still standing up. Many of the trees had evidently succumbed to the wind and were blocking the trails. Oh, and the ski patrol is calling it a day too, so if we go out we will be on our own. Oh, and the power is out all across the mountain, which we didn't notice because, you guessed it, we're standing in a yurt. I blankly accepted his diatribe, not that I needed ANY convincing, and thanked him very much. It seemed funny to me that the ski patrol was packing it in. Isn't this the very time that idiots get themselves in to Darwinesque situations and require the AID of the ski patrol? We looked around the yurt, confirmed that it was, in fact, a yurt, and headed for the Jeep.

One last picture of our plight was taken because, on some later date, it will be hilarious that we drove for a couple of hours, rented a small fortune in gear, had no physical activity whatsoever, bought warm socks, and managed to pick the one day to go skiing for the first time in 11 years that we couldn't go skiing.

And we're driving again, trying to beat everyone else off of the mountain...yippee! All joking aside, Heidi and I had a great time. We always do!

Tahuya Pictures and a Couple of Videos

I took Daniel to do some wheelin' in Tahuya again. Joining us was Jeff with his familiar 2008 JK Rubicon. Jeff's pal Jay, who was joining us for the first time, brought his 1996(?) Jeep Cherokee XJ with a Rubicon Express 4.5" lift and 33" tires.

Here is Daniel and I at the beginning.

Jeff and his passengers

Jay and his XJ

I keep forgetting to fix the transfer case linkage that "broke" after my clutch job. A few more times lying in the dirt on the trail will bolster my motivation for sure. Jay eats a snack and prepares to pull the transfer case lever.

Jeff couldn't resist living up to his nickname of "Korvettenkapitan", or U-boat Captain.

A short video of one of the many "puddles" at Tahuya.

Courtesy of Jay, here is some video of a short descent by Daniel and I in the XJ. As usual, it's steeper than it looks in the video.

Jeff's turn. Notice he is still steaming from the multiple water crossings.

More Tahuya water, although not very deep...my running gear silently thanks me.


This is a new section of the Tahuya 4x4 trail. I wasn't so sure I wanted to venture into this area because I figured we would just get stuck. With plenty of recovery vehicles around and A LOT of prodding by Daniel, I decided to give it a try. My XJ only stopped once on the way through, but I got hung up a few times on the way back and ended up destroying my right rear bumper cap...$5 at the junkyard...big deal!





A quick push for the open differentials





Jeff did this section without the swaybar disconnected. Lockers sure simplify these situations! When I lift tires, I STOP MOVING!









This hill climb was very steep. I didn't even try it. Jeff gave it a valiant effort but was unable to get his Jeep up the hill. We ended up winching his Jeep up the hill just for fun. I decided to turn around and go back through the "whoop-di-do's" as Daniel called it. That is when I pranged the bumper end cap.









Planning to head back soon!

Rubber boots...no, not the kind for your feet.

When I first removed my transmission for the clutch replacement and conversion, I found this:


The small boot fits directly over the shift tower of the transmission and the large boot bolts to the transmission tunnel above the smaller boot. The third boot, not pictured, is the one seen on top of the other two in plain view from the driver's seat.

The small shift tower boot is readily available from various suppliers, but requires that the shift lever be removed from the shifter shaft that comes out of the housing attached to the transmission. In the picture below, the black shifter, barely visible at the top, would have to be separated from the lower shaft that goes in to the housing.

Initially, I purchased the OEM boot but was unable to remove the shift lever. I suppose I wasn't doing it right, even after reading about how others did it. I tried to stretch the OEM boot over the bottom of the shift lever but ended up splitting it wide open. It was, unfortunately, now useless.

After some pondering, I visited a local tire shop and raided their trash bin. They allowed me to take a punctured inner tube meant for a large truck. Here is my score!

I cut a section out and used a socket and a hammer to punch a perfect little hole for the shifter. The inner tube material was much thicker, yet just as pliable as the OEM material, so I was hoping to stretch this over the shifter handle without it tearing.

I then cut the outer diameter slightly larger than the shifter opening it was meant to cover.

With a little help from a glob of grease, the boot slipped over the shift lever without tearing!

I then fastened the outside edge to the shift tower with a zip tie to seal it and keep it in place.

It looked good until I moved the shift lever. As you can see, an unacceptable gap formed when the shifter was moved in to various gears. This won't keep muddy water out!

To fix the issue, I attempted to simulate an accordion design to give it some room to flex. With an accordion design, I figured that there would be enough give to prevent the hole around the shifter from opening up and letting foreign objects into the shift tower. These are the two peices I used to build the accordion, sticking them together with rubber cement.

I then put some rubber cement on the boot that was already installed...

...and stuck the accordion peice on top of that, ending up with a boot that provided a good seal around the shifter. No muddy water in the transmission now!


With that done, it was on to the next boot that seals the transmission tunnel and keeps debris from slinging up onto the carpet inside. After what I had learned by doing the small boot, I planned on making another accordion-like contraption to aid in keeping a tight seal on the shifter. First, I cut away the ruined boot from it's frame and used the frame as a base for my homebrew boot.

I then made a series of pieces to stick together and form the accordion.

The accordion was then attached to the original frame and bolted to the transmission tunnel to form a water tight seal around the shifter. I don't have a picture of the finished product, but it works great and keeps the carpet dry when I'm wheelin'. Even better, it didn't cost me much at all...if you ignore the torn OEM boot, of course!