2018 4WDrive Overland SE - June

closures during breeding season.
We continued along the FSR
surrounded by pristine mountains,
however none of the area seemed familiar.
We explored several of the side roads, and
in the distance, could see the mountains
cascading down into a valley, which I
was certain contained Molybdenite Lake.
Becoming confused I pulled out the GPS
to load fresh batteries, at which point
I realized the map chip was now likely
floating around in the bottom of the Jeep.
Taking the latitude and longitude, and
comparing it to the Backroads Mapbook, I
realized we were somewhat off.
We headed back taking the correct
turn off to Molybdenite Lake, with
further adventures in Murphy’s law
occurring. Shortly after it became
apparent that Adrian did not have 4WD,
and was attempting the climb in 2WD,
so they attached a tow rope to bring him
through the rockier sections. As this
comedy of errors was ensuing, another
one my tires seemed to be sinking below
the low tire pressure that I’d normally
suggest on this run. I’ve travelled 150,000
km on dirt roads and never had a single
tire issue. But today, I get two flat tires
within an hour of each other. As we
plugged my tire, the tell tale signs of
overheating struck Shaun’s Jeep, so he
had to leave it running so the fans would
keep working – and it didn’t help that his
e-brake wasn’t at its best when parking
uphill.
It was late and I made the executive
decision to create base camp for the night.
It was obvious that continuing to the lake
would push our luck to an unsafe level.
As I parked the Jeep, I could see that the
patch job on my tire was failing.
We started up the fire with the spare
wood I carried, as it turns out the
chainsaw I was given will need a bit of
work before it can be depended on. A few
stories were shared around the campfire,
as people got to know each other, and then
we retired under a perfect star filled sky.
The next morning, we got up to finish
the work we needed to continue our trip.
Shaun got his drone up and running,
however in the attempt to charge the
batteries the inverter had shorted out his
0 PSI.
Eternal H20.
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