o N M 't
It was always going to be a long day, and as the weather turned to a typical winters day, it was going to be a wet one, too.
Ai
n
oun
Our plan was simple enough, I would drive the new Series 6 Mitsubishi L2oo up to junction 36 on the M6 to meet Andy in the new SsangYong Musso and his mate Alex in the Ford Raptor for a day of green-laning. Not only would we take these latest pickups along some iconic green-lanes, but the plan was to drive the highest green-lane in the UK. Choosing what was probably the wettest and windiest day of the year for any 4x4 adventure, we set off in convoy up the M6, and after turning left at Penrith we headed towards Keswick on the A66 until we turned left onto the B5322 heading towards the Old Coach Road.
Lane 1 (NY3123-02)
I’ve written about my mooches along the Old Coach Road many a time, it’s one of my favourites, but this was the first time for Andy and Alex. If you’re driving from west to east, there’s an incline that you need to be aware of, it isn’t gnarly in any way, just entertaining, though if you’re on small tyres, watch out for sharp protruding rocks. We got a few nice shots of the trucks, but as we climbed higher, that’s when the sleet and hail began to hammer down on us, it was fairly grim for the most part, though we did come across a group of walkers who stepped aside to let us by. They were all very cheery, and pleasantries were shared as we tootled past. For the majority of the Old Coach Road it can be driven in a smaller crossover as the surface is fairly solid, though nearing the eastern end I noticed a muddy hole beginning to form that could bury an off-side tyre. It wasn’t a problem for the L200 or Raptor, but Andy caused a bit of damage to the front splitter on the Musso - whoops. (Don’t worry Andy, I’ll edit that out later…) On the subject of limitations, although the Musso is a very capable 4x4, it doesn’t have the greatest approach angle, so I had to scrub a few severe lanes off the list. It was the same for the Raptor which is quite wide and wouldn’t get through some of the narrow gates, I ended up adjusting our route accordingly.
52
THE MUD LIFE MAGAZINE
h g i tain H
Eno
ug h
. ..
