Running with the Z3's - Whiskey Jack Run 6-1-02

[atomic80]

This would be one of the first of a series of drives that I would be going on this summer! Little did I know what I would really be in for! I knew from the start that this would be one LONG drive but what I didn't realize was just how long it would be. This drive was officially designated as the "Whiskey Jack Run" by the organizer. Basically the run consists of taking a series of routes through not one, not two but three mountain passes in one day!

The starting point would be a local Park and Ride in a town just East of where I live over in Issaquah. The meeting time was set as being at 8 am with a departure time of 8:30 am sharp.

So, on a clear morning, all bleary eyed from a restless night, I headed over to the meeting site. I was the first one to arrive!


A bit later, others began to trickle in. We had a number of Z3's including this VERY nice M coupe. It barely broken in but it already had a number of modifications done to it. SSR GT3 wheels with a deep rear dish, Supersprint exhausts and tinted windows.


This would be one motley crew I thought! Here we had 4 Z3's, 1 M coupe, my M5, a 528iT wagon and even a Miata! I knew that I was in for something once I saw the route map. This would be one sweet run.

And so, it was time to head off! We started with a nice and brisk run through the countryside heading over to Enumclaw to meet another Z3'er. On the way there, the lead driver took us through a series of twisties which gave me a chance to really hammer out the beast! Or so at least I thought. These twisties were a bit too short I thought to myself but little did I know what was really to come! There would be more.

Just as we were approaching Enumclaw, Mt, Rainier was clearly visible in the horizon and I just couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures.


After picking up one additional gorgeous Estoril blue M roadster, we started heading to our next point which was a brief stop just before reaching Chinook Pass. It was such a nice day that I found myself driving slower than I usually do! Maybe it was because I was behind someone slower than myself.

Vantage point not too far from the top.


Snow covered Mt. Rainier.


Can you see my beast somewhere in the crowd?


That Estoril blue M roadster really does stand out.


And she came well equipped too!


Time to go.


I had an Oxford green M roadster on my tail during the first part of the trip. He kept up fairly well.


A omen of things to come.


At the top of Chinook Pass which had just opened the day before due to heavy snow having finally been cleared away. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of my beast with the picturesque snow covered mountains in the background.


And this would be only the second of many more photoshoots to come.


Heading down from Chinook Pass, I was awestruck. Here we had some amazing views of the valley of mountains.


And here we had rows after rows of gigantic trees. Our dutiful leader was in front.


It was shortly after this shot was taken when the roads started opening up and the pace was quickly picking up! At one point, the leader conceded defeat and graciously allowed me to pass him with the M coupe following closely! I put the beast through the paces through the twisties. One turn after another, with a blast through the straightaways, hammering the brakes, taking a hairpin curve and finally the fun was over when I realized that I'd left most of the others behind! Whoops...I better slow down. I slowed down a bit too fast as I pulled off the road and the M coupe went FLYING past me! I guess I hit the brakes a bit too hard.

Now everyone was together again, we all proceeded to the next checkpoint in the route which was Whiskey Jack. A majority of the folks voted to keep going a bit further to the Mexican restaurant instead over in Yakima.

I know I was HUNGRY! All that driving is hard work. hiha


A row of beauties waiting in the sun.


Now it was time to head to our next checkpoint. We were in a town called Yakima which surprisingly was not covered by the navigation system in my M5. I was basically wandering around in the middle of nowhere until we hit the freeways. Now we were back on track.

One of the best sections of this trip was the Canyon Road which basically is a shortcut between Yakima and Ellensburg bypassing the interstate highways altogether. Just before beginning our run, our fearless leader took the time to tell all of us what to expect. "The next road is 25 miles of unobstructed 2 lane highways with NO driveways, NO houses, NO buildings and NO adjoining roads. It would just be a series of wide open straightaways, sweeping curves, twisties with the occasional patches of other traffic." Whoo hoo! I knew I was in for some FUN! On the left side we had the river and on the right side the mountains! This would be one hairy run! Only the brave dared to stay in front and that would be me, a Z3 3.0 and the M coupe. The others chose to stay behind. I quickly tore through the twisties, hammering the stoptech's and pulling away from the others! At one point, one of the other Z3 with a 1.9 liter engine caught up! He was GOOD I thought to myself. I could clearly hear him approaching from the distance. Soon afterwards he was right up my tail with the M coupe in tow. The Z3 3.0 had a bit of a mishap. Nothing serious, the owner had thought he'd gotten a flat but it turned out to be nothing. I was having FUN! The stoptech's were giving me fade-free braking performance from triple digit velocities! What surprised me the most was how little brake dust they gave off despite all the hard braking.

And finally, I ran into a string of slow-moving trucks with five in all. The M coupe was in front of me having taken an opportunity earlier to pass me. Now it was my turn. As soon as I spotted an opening, I downshifted her into third and flew past everybody else! The Z3 1.9 was right behind me as I settled back into my lane barely missing two oncoming cars.

I was still ahead of the pack but the group was starting to REALLY thin out. I knew that something was up when my talkabout started squawking. Sure enough the Z3 came about in front of me and make an U-turn. Looks like everybody decided to make yet another impromptu photoshoot stop by the river.


At the end of the route, my V1 started going off, first as a series of short KA blips. It didn't take long for blips to become longer and longer until it was a constant beep. There was a cop coming in the opposite direction fast! I radioed everybody a warning. Fortunately, we were all going well within the speed limits. But as I drove on, the V1 started doing the same thing again! Turns out there was a second trooper waiting off the side of the highway. The cops were out in force that day! I must have seen at least eight cops that day.

From here we stopped for gas before heading to our next and my final stop. A vintage burger joint was the setting. Flying Red Horse was the name of the place. Everyone took the opportunity to take pictures of their cars by the vintage gas pump as stories were shared.

I took this chance to take a picture of the M coupe! She was almost broken in by now!


A couple of minutes later, the Z3 1.9 finally showed up. Apparently they had been pulled over by the first police cruiser that we'd encountered earlier! It turns out that they were out of range when I'd radioed the warning. He'd gotten a $295 ticket for doing 87 in a 60 zone!



The wheels still looked surprisingly clean to me! A stark contrast harking back to the old days of running with the old front brakes.


I was one of the first to bid my goodbyes and thank everyone for a great time! Time for me to head back home.

On the way back, I just couldn't resist taking a picture of the snow capped Cascade Mountains.


Since I was driving at the speed limit, the Miata driver quickly caught up with me. We played a bit of cat and mouse as I offered her the protection of my radar coverage.

Here I was being the cat.


Overall, I had a great time running with the Z3 crew and I'm already looking forward to the next run!

[Tessa]

Jason, nice pictures and the story

And what a beautiful drive!

Did u guys drive in a snow at all? How did the bmw handle it?

[95325is]

nice write up jason it looks like you had a hell of a time

[PJS]

wow~~ hehe what a write up man!! took me like 20 min to read!! haha not really....great pics too! i felt as if i was in the car with you as you described all the twisties and straights! hahaha....catch ya lata bro