All photos by Brett Storey
All photos copyrighted
There is an area in Central Ontario that has become one of our favourite locations and now warrants several trips each year. Midway between Toronto and Ottawa, just south of the small town of Calabogie, is an area littered with old logging trails, new logging trails and all manner of nanny goat tracks.
The area is heavily forested, but extremely rocky, making for some excellent off-roading. Visits in the fall are spectacular with the trees a kaleidoscope of colours, and with the falling leaves the trails are considerably more challenging. As an added bonus, with fall temperatures comfortable during the day and near freezing at night, the dreaded Canadian Mozzie has headed south for the winter.
The following photos were taken over several trips to this area and the majority of our ventures were smashing successes… with one notable exception. On that occasion, Tom Tollefson, suffering from a rare, but for him recurring, case of "getting wet-itis"; slightly exceeded the recommended wading depth of the 101.
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With that true Lowe flair, Dave demonstrates the proven technique of using a "bit of Wellie" to get through. And in typical Lowe fashion, it takes Dave several attempts to beat this mud hole.
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Shortly after acquiring his 88, Larry Berti set out with us on his first real Land Rover adventure and as you can see in these two photos, wastes no time trying to fit in. He's one of us now and has the dents and high water marks to prove it.
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Oh no! Not again! Tom Tollefson scrambles to higher ground after sinking his Land Rover yet again. When will he learn, look before you dive. This was early one Sunday morning. As the rest of us were breaking camp, Tom got restless and went for a short drive. He had been into the lake once and when I showed up, he said to watch this, and proceeded to take another run. Unfortunately, Tom took a slightly different line this time around and found a spot that was slightly deeper, resulting in the sinking of the 101 and Tom's scramble to try and keep his kit dry and from floating away.
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Nigel Howard throws a rope towards the stricken 101 so that Tom can pull Dave's winch cable over.
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Dave winches Tom's extremely waterlogged 101 out of the icy depths of Granite Lake and back on to drier ground.
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Just how many gallons of water will a 101 hold anyway? Well, at least Tom's vehicle has had a full wash, including the full interior. After an hour or so of draining water from the engine, gearbox, transfer box and the axles, we attempted to restart the truck. Unfortunately, this is when we discovered that two connecting rods had been bent and that the engine was effectively kaput, necessitating a three-hour tow home on the end of a kinetic recovery rope. Two days later, with the bent con rods replaced, the 101 was running fine once more.
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Dave Lowe's 101 demonstrates it's ample (hardly) axle articulation by lifting a rear wheel while traversing the rocky and very uneven terrain.
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Mid October, usually around Thanksgiving, is one of our favourite times for off-roading in Ontario.
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Tom winches himself up the infamous Gas Tank Hill, named for the fuel tank piercing rock half way up. The rock caught my 88 out on a previous trip punching a nice sized hole in my tank.
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Concentration and careful wheel placement are the order of the day on this trail where a smooth comfortable ride is definitely out of the question.
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Tom Tollefson guides his 101 over a log bridge spanning this picturesque waterfall.
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Dave Lowe gets one of his 101's rear wheels several feet in the air while attempting a tricky down hill section with a shape turn at the bottom thrown in for good measure.
