by Jessica A. Tucker

Created on: May 11, 2009   Last Updated: December 23, 2009

Short Wheels Vs. Long on BC's Back Roads

British Columbia's back roads are a wonderful place to learn how to drive. In a Volkswagen, a few different four wheel drives and one or two reputable heap piles, I learned how to rip around the maze of back roads that spider web the British Columbia and surrounding areas. One thing all these hunkers had in common was their relatively short wheel base, which is what you need when venturing through the tight brush, narrow roads, treed areas, and the rocky, mountain sides that are frequently found in BC.

I have been looking forward to the spring opening of my favorite adventure places especially much this year, being that this will be my first summer with my new truck.  On Friday night, I felt like getting outside for awhile after work and took the dog and the truck up the hill again. I was happy to find that another section of the road was finally rid of its last snow drifts and I was able to get into a road I hadn't been though in quite a few years. Catching it out of the corner of my eye as I was driving by, I thought why not, let's check it out and see how far we can get. So, all was well until I started winding up the top of the mountain and came to a very narrow section of the road that was cut into the side of a rather steep bank. Stopping for a moment of contemplation, I figured that going any further was pretty stupid when taking into consideration that spring run off was still 'running off' and that would be just too expensive of a mistake for me that day! No biggie, I thought I would just turn around and find a different way to go. Easier said than done.

Not noticing how far I had made it up this narrow little path, I realized that where I stopped was going to be the closest place to turn around but I wasn't going to make it. This in the past would not have been a problem. All I can say is that I am quickly becoming a pro at the fifty point turn thanks to my truck! Although, I fully agree that shorter wheel based vehicles are more necessary for meandering through the paths and valleys of BC's back country, I think I am just going to get used to watching for bigger turn around spots, learn how to finally use mirrors maybe and become a pro at driving backwards, downhill in the mud. Or maybe the solution is just to stay out of silly places in my shiny new truck, but what fun would that be?

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