The Great Divide Loop Part 2

If you haven’t already, give part 1 of the Great Divide Loop a read!

Doubt slowly started to creep into my mind as I stared up at the next set of rock shelves. The more I looked, the bigger they seemed to become. I was still optimistic about getting up and over but I was becoming increasingly worried about doing damage to the underside of the 4Runner. Sherman is equipped with a radiator, an oil pan skid plate, and a good set of rock sliders, but nothing to protect the transmission and driveshaft from taking a hit. We did our best to plan a proper line… All that’s left to do is go.

Just as I had done with the previous shelves, I lined up, engaged the rear locker, shifted into first gear low, then slowly started inching forward until my front tires were bumped up against the first boulder. I keep my foot firm but light on the gas peddle, doing my best not to start jerking the vehicle around. The old saying “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” really applies to this situation. My front tires were now creeping up to the forth set of steps as my rear tires were bumping the first set. My field of vision now almost exclusively consisting of blue sky, I could no longer see the trail ahead because the vehicle was on such a severe upward angle.

Just as I though I might be able to escape this obstacle unscathed, the 4Runner lost momentum as the front tires started to spin without forward motion. The rear tires had become wedged in a hole and would not allow any more progress. I decided to give it another try before breaking out the winch so I selected reverse gear and backed down to the beginning of the shelves. This time, I realized that the only way up, would be with momentum. Momentum is a tricky thing to master, too much and you will almost definitely break something. Too little and you will not achieve your goal. First gear low was selected once again and this time, I gave it some good right boot power. The 4Runner jostled and bumped its way up and beyond where it had become stuck on the previous attempt. Things were going better than last time as the end of the shelves came into sight, when all of a sudden I heard RRRR SCRAPE, BANG as the vehicle came to an abrupt halt.

Just as I felt my heart sink to my knees, I heard Haakon yell from outside “rock slider, it’s just your rock slider!” I pushed the door of the 4Runner open and jumped out to see the vehicle bottomed out on the left rock slider on the steepest part of the climb. What a relief! The rock slider did its job perfectly, protecting the door sill and frame of the vehicle from being subjected to the sharp, unforgiving rock.

I got back in the car, backed up a foot or so off of the rock I was stuck on, then selected drive and gave it a good bump of the gas pedal to get up and over to the top. Job well done, no winching required!

Haakon was next to make the climb. Unfortunately for the Gladiator, its breakover angle is its weak point. Scraping could be heard from under the vehicle from the very first small shelf. I was questioning how the rest of the climb would go.

Slowly, the Gladiator jammed its way up the steep rock shelves. It was doing very well and holding its own with only one readjustment required until the very top, the same place where the 4Runner had become stuck. Looking at the situation from outside the vehicle, it was very clear that the Jeep would not make it up under its own steam. Not wanting to risk further damage, we attached a kinetic recovery rope to the back of the 4Runner and the front of the Gladiator to pull it the rest of the way up.

Thankfully, the recovery went smoothly with little drama. Now having both vehicles up and over the top of the ledges, we could press further along into the unknown parts of the trail.

Elevation continued to rise as we advanced through the trail. I could tell we must be reaching the top of the pass as the trees began to thin out. One more short rock scramble up a steep section and we were there, at the top of North Fork Pass! It wasn’t by any means the most spectacular view I had ever seen, or even fully above the tree line. There were no signs or other markings to greet us as we reached the top and the only reason we knew we were at the top was because of our maps. But the reasons making this moment special was because 1. crossing this pass marked the Alberta and British Columbia boarder and 2. now we know that it is possible to cross this boarder on a dirt trail. There was some question of whether or not this trail would be open and doable.

After a quick lunch stop, we fired the vehicles back up and began the several hour decent further into British Columbia. We were hoping to be able to do the entire trail in one day and camp at the end, but the sun was getting low on the horizon so we decided to drive to the base of our next mountain pass, which would lead us back into Alberta, and set up camp for the evening. Tomorrow would be another long day in the saddle, but the best views had yet to come.