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Thanks all for the moral support (Moosens) and technical suggestions. Stopped by a local shop today who got it up on a lift and showed those bolts who was boss. No way I could have wrenched them on my back. BTW Moose, 'twas Ferry Blvd Sunoco. Major hiccup with the Raysbestos 980354FZN rotors I had ordered from Amazon. After installed, the wheels were barely able to turn... even the side where nothing was done to the bearing, simply swapping out the rotor. Tech asked if I was sure they were the correct rotors. He was able to determine they were rubbing on the parking brake assembly, disassembled and put them on the lathe twice to take down this small but interfering ridge. Later, when calling Amazon to pitch a b&%tch, I came across the following 2 star review: "The rotor itself is fine seems to be built well. I installed these on my 2008 Subaru outback 2.5l non turbo manual 5 speed transmission. Install was easy and just like every other rotor. When the tires was installed and torqued down the rotor was pressing against the heat shield and rear knuckle so hard the tire would not spin. I spent about 10 minutes on each rotor grinding off the lip for the drum brakes in order for it to fit when the wheel was installed. Either I got lucky with a factory defect or these just are not designed to fit a 2008 Subaru outback like they say. All in all I got them to work but I'll be ordering a better fitting product since these do not fit as described." Amazon fully refunded me for the rotors (now working), said keep them and even tossed in a small gift card for the aggravation. I would have been so screwed, this being our only car right now, had I run into this in my dimly lit work area whilst slithering around on the ground.

We took my black 99 Outback and B's blue Forester out west the first week of October. Plan was to go back to Flaming Gorge and Dinosaur NM and slammo was going to lead us down part of the Rimrocker trail, a 140 mile route from Montrose, CO to Moab, UT. Also took the Massey book for UT and the gpx of those trails. They're generally fairly easy trails but it's nice to know that at least when the book was written 20 years ago they went through legally. At some point the Outback started sputtering like it was running out of fuel. Coasted off on the nearest exit and then they towed me behind a gas station and we started troubleshooting. At first it seemed like there was poor fuel flow to the engine. Tried switching gas hoses so it was pumping directly from the main tank to the engine bypassing the surge tank and still weak. Tried a bunch of things including swapping in the spare fuel pump. Eventually figured out the flow out of the main tank to the surge tank was minimal. Figured there must be some debris clogging up the pickup filter sock in the tank but didn't want to disassemble that. B came up with the idea of blowing into the pickup hose to clear the debris off and that solved the problem (for a while). We stopped at a farm supply store and auto parts store the next day in Cheyenne and bought some plumbing fittings, hose, and filters. We rigged up a tee in the pickup line and a ball valve so we could easily blow out the filter which we started doing at every gas stop or when needed. Met up with slammo and his friend A Sunday afternoon at the north end of Flaming Gorge. Hit some of the longest climbs of the week driving up to and along ridgelines with excellent views. There are a good variety of trails there from easy dirt and gravel roads to fairly crazy hill climbs. The one pictured below we did not try. Haven't hit many good jumps this year so I hit an uphill jump with slammo and then A, going faster each time. Hit it a little too fast with A. Had to bend the gas pedal back and adjust it to get the proper range of motion after landing in a rut. After some good trail riding and views we camped along the river for the night. Monday morning while I was wandering near the campsite I scared up a half dozen otters who playfully swam down the river. We kept driving generally south checking out various trails and overlooks. At some point B noticed the Outback had a fairly significant coolant leak. It was coming from the short ninety degree hose to the oil cooler. I was able to add a hose clamp which slowed the leak significantly. We kept topping that off the rest of the day. I tried a climb that was fairly steep but would have been alright if it hadn't been for the rock shelf/step near the top. Got some wheelspin there and broke the LR axle. Snapped the bar shaft at the inboard and the outer stub was also badly cracked. We swapped that out and took the bypass around the climb. We headed over to Massey trail #25 Brown's Park Trail and headed south on that to find a place to camp. We were disappointed by the swinging vehicle bridge, I think it's been upgraded since the book was written. The canyon we drove through was excellent though. We found a campsite off the southern end of the trail to spend the night. The coolant hose had started to leak pretty badly again. At night I swapped a spare hose I fortunately had. The old one was coming apart probably due to my constant oil leak in that area, the hose is only a few years old. Also replaced the LF CV axle on the Outback as the outer boot had come off. Tuesday morning we continued south. Our next stop was Dinosaur National Monument. Drove up to the quarry and checked that out since most of us hadn't seen it. Then we drove to Harper's Corner and hiked out to the end of that. Considered by some to be the best view in any national park or monument. It is an excellent view and most of the time there's no one else around. On the hike out there you can see the roads we planned on driving the rest of the day. Drove down the dugway to the bottom of the canyon and then along Yampa bench road which has a few great overlooks. Camped near there for the night. Wednesday morning we continued south along Massey trails #28 and 29 to check out some mines. The mining in this area appeared to consist of digging narrow vertical channels following seams. Some if not all of it was Gilsonite, looks similar to coal but found only in this part of the world and used to make black paint and asphalt. Our next route was the Rimrocker trail which slammo wanted us to see. That wooden structure is the Hanging Flume that transfered up to 80 million gallons of water per day through 10 miles of flume and ditch for placer mining. Camped at a site slammo had picked out during his trip there earlier this summer. Thursday morning I did a little wandering waiting for everyone else to wake up and found a few small mine shafts which we explored. Z had brought his geiger counter and found a few spicy spots. Then we continued along the rimrocker trail, checked out some other mining ruins and enjoyed the scenery. Early in the afternoon slammo bailed on us to meet with some of his friends at the Grand Canyon. Kept following rimrocker for the most part, more stereotypical mountain views and the main trail was fairly rocky – not difficult but kept our speeds down. Near the end of the route we stopped at an antenna tower with an excellent view and saw a deep narrow canyon we wanted to try to drive in. We got gas and groceries that night in Moab and headed out of town where Z found us a campsite. Friday morning we checked out the two arches next to where we camped – balcony arch and picture frame arch. We went down the trail the map showed went down into the narrow canyon. It started inconspicuously as a gap in the brush at the edge of a big gravel parking lot. We made it a ways down the trail but eventually came to a large deep pool of slowly flowing water on one branch and downhill grade with many large rocks on another branch. We climbed out on a third branch and got back to the highway to hit some other trails. Looked at the Massey trail book and decided we'd spend the next couple days looping around Arches NP. While we were driving back through Moab we bought front and rear brake pads for the Outback since we knew at least the one corner on the rear was getting thin when we did the axle and the front seemed to be making noise. Turned out to just need the rears on the corner we'd replaced the axle on. While we were at the parts store B swapped out his tire with a leaking valve stem. We got gas at a campground but they said they didn't have a spigot we could use to refill our water jugs because they were on a well and had to limit their water use. So we pulled into a couple of their tent campsites and refilled them with those spigots and left. On the way out we drove by their uncovered and unoccupied swimming pool. As we drove past the main entrance to Arches they were turning people away and dozens of cars were lined up waiting to get in. Hit Massey trail #26 Willow Flats. Lots of dispersed camping with portapotties (fee area) along the western half. Checked out the dino tracks, not the greatest but cool. Then we drove up #25 to the Eye of the Whale arch, a short hike and very cool. Went up #22 Salt Valley Road. Tried to get to tower arch but it was a fairly long hike from the easy trailhead so we decided to try to drive closer from the other end of #25. Got to the first steep rocky hillclimb where a late model Jeep and Land Cruiser were both parked and got out to walk it. Z and B thought we could do it so Z drove up it in the Outback in second gear low with surprisingly little drama. I tried it in the Forester but got wheelspin at the biggest step. Good demonstration of the locking center diff. I was able to back down about a car length and take a different line and made it to the top. The guys with the Land Cruiser got back in their car, turned around, and drove away. We never saw the Jeep guys try the climb. We kept climbing and then before we took the long descent a few people talked us out of continuing. Continued up #22 to #20 Yellow Cat trail. Checked out a few old mines. Then it was starting to get dark so we found a place to camp on one of the overlooks. There are a bunch of alcoves in this area I think it would be cool to hike to, didn't see any roads that went into the canyon. Saturday we explored some larger mines, some were blocked off, others were flooded, but we were able to get in a few. This is where Z got his highest Geiger counter readings of 20,000 counts/minute (ambient is 20-100). We took #24 and #27 and some side trails. Part of that was a fun sandy trail with lots of undulations, not quite jumps or whoops but entertaining. Went to another arch which was fairly easy to park near and climb to the top. At the western end of #27 was a view of a few of the large arches in the distance and a big smooth rock canyon with a pillar in the middle of it. This looks like it would be cool to hike to from the south and might not take too long if you could find a parking spot in Arches NP. Near the southeastern corner of #24 was one of the best views of the weekend over the Colorado river with mesas and mountains. At this point we had to head out to the highway and there were quite a few side trails so I headed northeast. We hit a few rocky grades that we didn't think were going to be time efficient routes so we headed back up #24. On the way we took a side trail that took us up a big slickrock hump. It was easy in low range but probably the biggest solid rock climb we've done. This picture is from the top, it was solid rock down to about where you can see two tracks. Took #20 out to the highway. Hit a few decent jumps on the way, the best one was a cattle guard. I got some good air in the Outback but it didn't bottom hard. At this point we had a little time buffer to get A to the airport in time but the Outback started cutting out. I had to pull off on a narrow shoulder and blowing out the pickup didn't immediately solve the issue. Then the battery started to die, still couldn't get it started with the jump pack. Z and A drove around the block in the Forester to get us, fortunately the last exit was only a few miles back. Towed us behind a gas station, left us with B's jump pack out of the Forester. Blew out the pickup again, made sure both fuel pumps were running, took the hose off the engine (post filter) and of course various pressurized gas sprayed everywhere. Hooked it back up and it started and ran fine the rest of the way home. Wondering if the fuel rail can just fill with air and popping that hose off allows it to then refill with fuel. Pressure regulators are on the top though I think so you'd think it'd be self bleeding. A made it to the airport just in time to catch his flight, if he'd taken the next tram he would have missed it. We camped at a campground along 76 at a dried up reservoir and drove the rest of the way home Sunday with no further incidents. Overall a great trip, excellent scenery, good trails, moderate mechanical difficulties. Every trip encourages me more and more to get my Impreza together, which I'm working on today.

Went up to the UP last weekend. Based on a previous trip I didn't think there were a lot of trails in the Keweenaw but we decided to check it out. I wanted to try a trail that supposedly went north from Bond Falls and A said he'd never seen the falls so we did that hike. Tried one trail that was fairly short and dead ended at a large dilapitated cabin owned by the US gov't right along a river. Hit the highway for a while and headed to the start of the Bill Nichols trail. Saw “Adventure Mountain” on the map and Z thought we should check it out. Took one dead end trail along some houses and then took another one that went to an awesome overlook with a great view of Mass City. Checked out the Adventure mine entrance (looked like copper and ice on the rocks) and some other mining ruins and a Pinzgauer parked by the visitor center. Hit the Bill Nichols trail and walked the Firesteel trestles and took some pictures before driving over them. Stayed at a state park along the trail not too far north of there. Tons of mosquitos but the people weren't super noisy and it was nice to have a bathroom with running water. Drove through Houghton and Hancock and went to the Quincy mine. Got there around 10AM and their next tour wasn't until 1:30PM so we figured we'd check out Gay beach in the meantime. On the way we hiked to Hungarian falls. Fairly short hike, less than a mile, uphill on the way there. Two big falls, smaller one much easier to see than the larger one. Got to Gay and went out on the tailings (crushed rock byproduct of copper mining, almost as fine as sand). 23 million tons of mine tailings were dumped and less than 3 million are still there on the beach. They're reclaiming them to use as an aggregate in cement. The tailings are mostly soft and generally required full throttle in first or second gear. Looped around a bit and Forester was starting to run a little hot so we stopped by the trees where the ground is firmer and aired down. Did a little better with 20psi, eventually we wound up at the north end of the beach where there's pilings for an old pier. I decided to try driving up a steep but short hill/bank up to the level road. I asked A and he thought we should go for it. Just as we crested the top at an angle I backed off and we felt the ground fall out from under us. The car rolled on to the driver's side but fortunately stopped there. A said he saw the mirror fold in, shatter, then shatter the driver's window. We'd driven off a ~30” tall wall. First step was securing the car so it didn't roll farther. Took us about an hour and a half to get the car away from the wall and back on the tires. Here we're swinging the rear of the car away from the wall. Pushed on the car by hand and pulled with the Forester to roll it back down. We'd debeaded the LR tire and lost some fuel. We ate some PB&Js to let the fluids drain back where they're supposed to be. Got a little knocking when I first fired it up and shut it off. I remembered I've heard EZ30s make that noise before after major service (head gasket replacement) so I just cranked it for a minute or so and then started it up. No more knocking noises, seemed to run smooth. On the way out of town we fumigated the place but after a mile or so it cleared up, probably some oil drained past the rings into the exhaust and/or intake. Not too many fumes or rain inside the car with all the windows down so we did that and just put a tarp over the car when we parked for any significant duration. Got back to Quincy with about five minutes to spare before the tour started. Tour was great, biggest steam hoist/winch in the world, took about two hours. Tour was a couple hours long and definitely worth it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/photostoartbymike/33489192096 http://www.vintagemachinery.org/photoindex/detail.aspx?id=11161 Headed up 41 and along the north shore of Keweenaw. Drove some trails north of Cliff drive. Drove to the overlook on Brockway Mountain, maybe the best view in the UP. Got some beer and relish in Copper Harbor and continued up the Mandan loop. On the way to the rocket range we saw four Subarus on the trail, and it was a fairly rough dirt road with good sized water holes. Got to rocket range (small launchpad for rockets in the 60s, hasn't been used since 1971). It was getting late so we just camped there. LR seemed to have some positive camber so we adjusted it for max negative camber. Mosquito infested but otherwise a cool place to camp. Did more of the Mandan loop on Sunday wandering around on various side trails. At one point we did a couple narrow/overgrown trails that we eventually turned around and drove back out of, one of them seemed like we probably could have made it through to the end. Hit a sandy stunt area with some cool hill climbs. I looped one big one a couple times and then asked A if he wanted to ride along. First time I got stuck just before the peak and was able to back down. Second time I got stuck just past the peak and couldn't get unstuck. I was barely able to get out the driver's window. Hooked a couple of our longest straps together and Z pulled me down in the Forester. Eventually got back up by Cliff drive and did a bunch more trails there including at least one excellent trail to a clifftop view/campsite. Wound up driving to both ends of a road flooded by a beaver pond. Fairly steep climb with big rocks going up from that. Found some other mine ruins and the snow thermometer (27 feet last winter). Went back to Gay and bombed around some more on the tailings. We drove up and down the bank I'd driven over and one time A thought they were too close to the edge and started having flashbacks of our rollover. Didn't see the stamping presses I thought I'd seen there before but checked out some of the other ruins. Saw a wood(?) turtle crossing the road. Center diff was locked up by the end of the day and we weren't able to easily get it unlocked. Radar showed rain increasing all morning Monday so we packed up fairly early and headed south. Stopped at Ed's on the way and luckily they had a door and it wasn't raining too hard. Took us maybe twenty minutes to swap the doors. Ride home was fairly uneventful, rainy but good to have all the windows back in the Outback. Noisy and drafty without the door card, we hadn't bothered to swap that over. We moved some things around in the cars in Milwaukee and split up from there. About fifty miles from home the RR wheel bearing started to make noises and feel increasingly unstable. Got off the interstate and took back roads to A's mom's house. He had talked to his grandpa about meeting us there with a trailer but it didn't seem too bad at 40-50mph so I told him I'd just limp it home. I did make it home but it was getting increasingly smoky. Tire pressure sensor was beeping, peaked at 196F. Hub and CV temps exceeded 600F by the time I measured them. Overall a good trip, saw a lot of new trails and sights and came home with some stories. Definitely a good thing we had two low range cars although most of what you couldn't do with low range was at the end of a climb to a campsite/overlook and wasn't a long walk. I do have a complete spare RR knuckle, I think I'm going to just swap the whole thing out. Need to do that, do a little more painting on the door, properly patch the floor, and start working on the Impreza.