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Waiparous, Canada Forest 4Wheeling - Exploring The Wild WaipararousMild To Wild In Amazing Alberta From the February, 2006 issue of 4Wheel & Off-Road By Fred Williams Photography by Fred Williams
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Not far from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, there is a section of forest known as the Waiparous (why-prus), and it is one of those few amazing sections of wild that off-roaders are still allowed to explore. This section of forest is used by loggers, ranchers, and off-roaders on quads, bikes, and 4x4s. The trails are mostly steep climbs and descents along laser-straight "cutlines" which were cleared by logging companies for seismic purposes.
Cory Hanson's '89 Toyota rolls... Cory Hanson's '89 Toyota rolls around on 42-inch Irok tires and Unimog 404 Portal axles. Even in Canada these high-clearance axles are a bit hard to track down and have a 50/50 record of breakage. If you can find them and keep them together, they offer a clear advantage in deep ruts and over diff-grabbing rocks. We spent two days on the trails of Waiparous-one on the Cow Lake and Owl Creek trails, which are rated for milder built rigs; and the next on Killer Cutline, where a steep rutted uphill climb sorted the big dogs from the puppies. We flew up for a three-day weekend and a welcome reprieve from the concrete jungles of Southern California, and were amazed at the awesome scenery of the surroundings, but also bummed-out to hear rumors of possible future closures of this area. Even with the enormous Banff wilderness area adjoining it, environmentalists believe only their select few should get access to all the land, and only by certain means. Hopefully all the parties will be able to discuss their respective uses of the land, and those in power will see that everyone is entitled to have a place to enjoy some wilderness whether by foot, hoof, handlebar, or steering wheel. We would hate to see it closed before we were able to return with our own 4x4 for another long weekend. Our friends at www.whiteknight.ca arranged this group run and they have online maps of the Waiparous area if you want to go.  Dave Lindsey brought his '78...  Dave Lindsey brought his '78 Chevy Blazer out and gave his new rear coil-sprung suspension a workout. Dave shows the proper way to do a stream crossing by going perpendicular to the flow, keeping an even pace and not throttling through with water spraying, which can stir up silt and disturb the downstream flow.  Rob Wilson's daily driver...  Rob Wilson's daily driver '94 Grand Cherokee came home from the Cow Lake trail with a few new trail boo-boos but nothing to cry about. The 3-inch Skyjacker lift and 31-inch TrXus MTs help a fair bit, as does removing the factory Command-Trac transfer case and replacing it with a Selec-Trac for better gearing selection. We wouldn't be surprised if a couple of lockers are in the future for this dirty grocery-getter.  Another great example of a...  Another great example of a fullsize trail rig is Ryan Archer's '87 K5. The recipe is common 'cause it works. He has a TBI 350 for power, an automatic TH700R4 with overdrive for highway cruising, and the lower First gear, 203/205 Doubler for low-down grunt. The K5 also has a front Dana 60 with an ARB, a rear Dana 70 with a Detroit, 5.86 gears, and 44-inch Swampers. Front springs are 54-inchers from an '85 truck, and the rears are 63-inchers from a '90 GM truck.  Paul Warman and Emile Larochelle...  Paul Warman and Emile Larochelle had a wee bit o' trouble on the Killer Cutline before they figured out that the twin-stick 205 in their coil-sprung '89 Jeep YJ was still in high range. Once they had the low-range cogs spinning, they made a full-tilt attack with 39.5 Boggers clawing and the TBI 350 V-8 from a cop car growling. If their front Dana 44 had a locker to go with its 4.10 gears, they would have been unstoppable. Clearance duties are done by 4-inch-lift Jeep TJ coils up front and stock Cherokee coils above the rear Ford 9-inch axle.  Mark Cymbaluk brought his...  Mark Cymbaluk brought his lightweight Vortec V-6-powered tube buggy from Red Deere, Alberta, where he runs Rocky Mountain Off-Road. The super-simple rig runs an SM465 transmission mated to a Jeep Rubicon 241J transfer case. Bead-locked rims and 38-inch Baja Claws dug their way up the Killer Cutline thanks to 4.88 gears, a Yukon Birfield eliminator kit up front, and spools all around. Tube buggies are not as common in Canada due to the cold winters, but we saw a few that were being built at local shops.  Tom Kelly may get some razzing...  Tom Kelly may get some razzing for driving a Jeep Rubicon, but it's hard to argue that they aren't one of the most-if not the most-capable out-of-the-box wheelers. His '03 is fitted with a 5-inch Rubicon Express long-arm suspension, a 1-inch body lift, 1-inch motor-mount lifts, and Superior axleshafts in the front and rear Dana 44s. The inner cage was done by Evolution Machine, but we really liked how the exo cage done by Rocky Mountain Off-Road is tucked up under the rear fender flares so that this Rubi doesn't look like a rolling jungle gym.
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