Whatcom County 4×4 group promotes responsible off-roading

GLACIER — It’s early on a Sunday morning in January, and nine vehicles are parked by the Coal Pad skatepark.  

People of all ages tumble out of their 4x4s, from small children to retirees. They all begin deflating their tires.

This group is part of the Rainier Ridge Rams, a 60-year-old club of off-roading enthusiasts mostly based in Whatcom and Skagit counties.

Their outdoor recreation activity of choice is taking a vehicle into the wilderness. This particular day, they’re heading off in search of snow.  

Hopping back in their vehicles, now with heavily deflated tires for better grip, they drive up forest service roads until the snow starts to blanket the surface — starting with just an inch, and then suddenly, feet.  

One by one, the vehicles follow snow-covered roads toward more snow and hopefully a view. It’s not a straightforward drive: With varying experience levels and types of vehicles, club members take turns pulling each other out of snow drifts and tough spots. They say that’s part of the fun. It’s start and stop, but eventually the group makes it to where the trees part and a vast snowy landscape spreads out below them.

“Overlanding,” sometimes derided in the outdoor recreation community, is a curious sport to some. But enthusiasts say it has its benefits. 

On this day, the Rainier Ridge Rams quickly found themselves at more than 3,000 feet. With no one else around, it was a special place to see the beauty of the outdoors on a cold winter day.

The club is one of dozens across Washington, Oregon and Idaho under the Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association, a nonprofit that aims to better “vehicle-oriented outdoor recreation while preserving the environment.” The Rainier Ridge Rams in particular promote responsible off-roading, and community contributions through trail maintenance and clean-up.

Why members join

Marilyn and Steven Foster of Anacortes joined the Rams a year ago. Marilyn had polio as a child, leaving her unable to hike in the way she’d like to. By joining the Rams, she’s now able to access beautiful views she wouldn’t be able to see otherwise.   

“Now we’re just having a heck of a good time,” she said. On this outing, their little white dog, Piper, jumped and rolled in the snow with abandon, wearing a pink sweater. 

Every year, the club commits 1,000 volunteer hours of trail maintenance and repairs, and 250 hours of education and enforcement to Department of Natural Resources, former president Kevin Vanderhorst said.

Their biggest event is the Walker Valley Hefty Haul-out in April. That’s when the Rainier Ridge Rams, and any community members that want to join, take part in a massive trash collection effort in Walker Valley, an off-roading park in Mount Vernon.  

“We pulled out almost 6,000 pounds of trash in the first year,” Vanderhorst said.

Ten years later, in 2023, he said they pulled out 1,300 pounds. “It’s becoming less and less [trash], which to me is a success.”

The Rams are also connected with Whatcom County Search and Rescue, and are sometimes called to pull vehicles out of risky situations. 

In December, the Rams were called to help a family who had driven up near Canyon Creek in search of a Christmas tree and slipped off the road. Vanderhorst and others brought their vehicles to the scene and pulled the car out.  

The frequency of calls depends on the weather. Vanderhorst said they get contacted directly on their website half a dozen times during the winter.  

Community and education, combined  

The Rainier Ridge Rams aren’t a new club; they’ve been around since the 1960s. Kyle Farrar, the club’s new president as of January, has a direct family connection: His aunt and uncle were two of the founders.

Farrar joined in 1998, when he was 16. For him, it was “family tradition”…