Farther 2019. Paddy Peak

My off road adventures have continued on the epic road to Paddy Peak. This is exactly what I was looking for: a crazy road with crazy views. Technically this one is in BC, just a bit below the Yukon Border.

The road gets serious quickly. For most, this is a hiking trail, but it is drivable…though not for the faint of heart. It was narrow with lots of medium sized rocks and steep uphills. There’s even a creek crossing. I’ve had enough practice now that roads like this are just plain fun.

I caught up with a pickup truck. He stopped before the hill. The Hill…

I knew from research that the road opened up to a great flat area, but first I had to conquer The Hill. The photos don’t do it justice. It’s not the steepest hill I’ve driven, but it’s close. It was also kind of long for a steep hill. The real kicker was that it was filled with loose rock. I stopped and considered The Hill. I couldn’t turn back now. I set out in 4-low. Usually the Jeep and its mud tires feels quite stable on hills…not this one. Most of the way up the wheels were slipping and kicking against rocks. I kept it moving because I didn’t want to stop in the middle…

And I made it!

I still had a bit of climbing to get to the top of the plateau, and the road up top was rough…but after The Hill, this was easy.

The views up top were amazing. Surrounded by mountains. I went for a short hike up to get a better view and to see the small glacial lake. The ice from the glacier was crackling loudly. I sat in a few spots for a while and just took in this wondrous bit of God’s glorious creation. It was nice and quiet too. Just a light breeze blowing and the sun shining. A perfect day…and here I was driving in the mountains with the top down. What a blessing.

As I started driving back down the edge of the plateau, I met a couple on an ATV. They were turning around because the road was too rough. They had come up The Hill and were surprised that I had managed to get a full sized vehicle up it. It turns out they live in the area, so we chatted about other trails I could try out. It’s always a good sign to me that I’m on a great trail/road when the other traffic is ATVs…in this case it was an extra step: the people on the ATV thought it was rough. I must be a true Jeeper now. Somehow I’ve managed to do these roads in order of smoothest to roughest and also good to best. It has worked out in ways that I just couldn’t plan, especially considering I had originally thought this road would be easy.

I made my way down The Hill without trouble…although as I was nearing the bottom there was a spot where the rear wheels kicked out a little and slid along on an angle. After The Hill the rest of the ride was just plain fun. I should mention, on the weekend the Jeep was in the shop to get new front axle seals. While they were doing those they discovered that one of my front wheel bearings had a lot of play in it. I now realize that I had been experiencing some rattling and front end shakes on rough roads that wasn’t normal. I’m so glad I had a leaky axle…otherwise the bearing would have gotten quite a bit worse before getting fixed. Also, warranty is awesome. God is looking out for me in small ways…even when those ways seem hard.