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2017 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day Two

A tradition at Classic Car Adventures is the parking lot party. At every event we do, it becomes a natural thing to enjoy stories with fellow enthusiasts at the end of a day of driving. Standing in the parking lot at 1am, with the party still in full swing, it was perhaps a little out of character…but with the day we had, and the location we were in, it seemed absolutely perfect.

Saturday morning in Gananoque began as any driving adventure does. There were classic cars being warmed up, trunks being packed, coffee and breakfast being searched out. Where yesterday’s roads were flowing and meandering, today’s would serve up the twisties. Our route began by heading north, towards cottage and lake country.

Within minutes of leaving our hotel, the pink and grey rocks of the Canadian Shield began to show itself in the rock cuts, river banks, and surrounding hills. Ancient glaciation stripped the shield of it’s soil, and cut its many lakes into the surface. In more recent times, the Canadian shield has proven challenging for road builders, who often choose to go around rather than through it’s many outcroppings. For drivers, this means many twists and turns, ups and downs, and wonderful motoring!

Following Phil’s Jaguar XK120 through the turns, with the red paint playing beautifully against the early changing leaves, you could see how suited the car was for today. We enjoyed an hour of touring with Phil and Linda, enjoying the curves and the lakeside scenery, before they pulled over and we reluctantly agreed to pass. I was a little sad to see such a wonderful car disappear in my rear view mirror, but then quickly realized who was now filling it!

The corner of my eye would catch the light blue or red in my rear view mirror, and I soon realized I was the 5.0L Mustang leading a gang of Porsche 356’s and 911’s! With cottaging season over, and our selected route through more remote locations, we could open up the throttle a little more than yesterday. Lakeside views were replaced by apexes and concentration, as the speed limits rarely dip for the twisty sections. The 5.0L barked at each use of the throttle, and I did my best to keep from slowing the Germans down.

We travelled north, and then south, and then north, and then south, and then…You get the picture. We zig-zagged on multiple highways and country roads as the route book took participants over the best the region had to offer.Gas stops and coffee stops were in tiny towns, with wonderful history. You would be filling up at a modern gas station, while gazing across the street at a general store or post office originally built in 1904.

Around mid day we pointed our cars west, and began to head through the Kawartha Highlands. With potential lunch spots sparce, the recommendation to pickup a picnic lunch was utilized by many. We saw folks stopped at lake side and river side parks, enjoying a period-correct lunch style not often used in today’s road trips.

The remainder of our route today took us through Bancroft, Kinmount and south-west to Beaverton. From there it was a quick dip to the southern shore of Lake Simcoe, where our group arrived at Jackson’s Point. Here we parked our cars lakeside, and began the post-drive parking lot party.

Perhaps it was our late arrival, or the beauty of our lakeside setting, but it seemed dinner time was suddenly upon us, before we could fully enjoy the socializing and winding down. Could it be that’s why the party continued after dinner?

Each of our rooms in the resort had a door that opened into our reserved parking area. As I made my way towards one of the many rooms I had been invited to for a “post dinner party”, I was expecting a small in-room gathering, and figured I’d make my way from one party to the next. Instead, I discovered the entire event was outside mingling in a big parking-lot social. Where we may have spent the day driving primarily in groups of Porsches, Mustangs or British cars…at night, the group becomes one of a single designation; great friends, new and old…

Today’s photos are once again provided by Ralph Saulnier

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2017 Hagerty Maple Mille – Day One

The classic car world is full of stereotypes; British cars have terrible electrical systems…Porsche enthusiasts won’t drive in the rain…Italian cars only come in red…Japanese cars aren’t really classics…the list is long, and usually ridiculous. The one stereotype that has held up over the years, however, is that American brand car owners “don’t drive their cars”.

The Hagerty Maple Mille began today, as with all our events, at the morning driver’s meeting. Route book instructions, driving styles, cautions and Hagerty road-side-assistance were highlighted, before the entire group set out to explore Northumberland and Prince Edward Counties.

We began in Bowmanville, and quickly zipped down to the shores of Lake Ontario where we wound our way through the twisties and trees, crossing historic bridges and towns you’d never realize were just a stones-throw from Highway 401. We explored north to Warkworth, and down through the lakes of Glen Ross before stopping for lunch in Wellington (or Picton). From there it was the twisty and flowing roads of Prince Edward County, winding our way through the vineyards and farms before arriving at the Glenora Ferry. A quick ferry trip, which helped to gather the group and give a break for stories, before we were off to visit historic Kingston. Finally, a short 20km later, we were pulling into Gananoque for our overnight stay. The temperatures were quite warm all day, and it was either into the pool, dipping our feet, or parking lot beers that helped to cool us off.

Here in year three, you’d be hard pressed to figure out whether American Muscle, or European Sports Car is the predominate enthusiast. We’re almost split 50/50, with the American’s taking a sizeable (yuk yuk) portion of the parking lot. What is going on? I decided I must infiltrate the ranks to find out.

I started this morning as co-driver in Paul Hord’s 1966 Mustang Coupe. I can remember being 5 years old going for Ice-Cream in this particular Mustang, back when it was a 289 Automatic. So it was pretty exciting to ride with Paul in what has become a restored 302 5spd car with wonderfully throaty noise and a fantastic amounts of horsepower. In our driving group today were three other Mustangs, and a Ford Fairline 500. We toured flowing driving roads and wonderful small towns. We stopped for butter tarts, lunch in stone-mason building and even stopped to check out a church…turned brewery. Along the way we gathered a Datsun 1600, the Plymouth Fury and even an original Audi Quattro for part of the journey.

I set out today to discover what makes these particular Ford enthusiasts different, why they love driving their cars so much, and how I might encourage more American brand enthusiasts to try out the Classic Car Adventures brand of excitement…

What I discovered, however, is a group of die-hard driving enthusiasts, friends who are exactly like my driving friends back home. Their love of exploring, driving and road trips is what fuels their passion. The brand of car never came into question, just as my Mini and Italian friends back home don’t look down on me in my lowly Volkswagen. We’re car people, we’re driving people, we love the open road. My new group of Ford Mustang friends are exactly the same. Come to think of it, these Ford folks have done more miles today than 90% of my VW buddies back home have done all summer. Hmmmmmmmm….

Nine years ago, as Warwick and I set out to create the concept for Classic Car Adventures, one of our primary rules was “the type of car doesn’t matter”. Today I re-discovered how true that is. It’s about the people, the love of driving and a chance to get out and enjoy the roads together.

Our wonderful Hagerty Maple Mille Photographer Ralph Saulnier, was out chasing us down on his Motorcycle all day. A selection of his photographs are below.

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The 2017 Hagerty Fall Classic “Alternate”

Turning the corner at Spences Bridge towards Merritt, it dawned on me…this is the first time in about 8 years that Warwick and I have driven the back roads of BC together, each in our own cars, just the two of us. It was just another reminder of how incredible this weekend had turned out to be.

(Gallery of Photos at the Bottom of the page!)

Our original plan for the weekend was the Hagerty Fall Classic, departing from Troutdale Oregon. With just 8 days to go before the event, forest fires raging in the area of our route forced us to cancel the event. Suddenly we all found ourselves with a weekend free, and nothing to do. Well, shouldn’t we go driving?!

And with that, the “Hagerty Fall Classic Alternate” was created! An idea of what could be done for the weekend was emailed out to our original entrants. Despite having almost no specifics on timing, route, or even if hotels and meals would be available, the positive replies kept coming in. “Car #3 is in for the Alternate!”, “Michael and Don are in”, “are you kidding, we wouldn’t miss it!

And so there we were, Friday night, hanging out in Squamish nearly six hundred miles North of where we thought we’d be. But for this group, it simply didn’t matter. It was old-friends getting to see each other once again. It was new, never-before-entrants, becoming instant friends over dinner. It was excitement, friendship and anticipation…exactly the way the night before an event should be.

We started the next day heading North through Whistler and Pemberton, and then up the Duffy Lake road to Lillooet. Initially the Duffy Lake road was pretty frustrating, as we cruised behind an RV for nearly 25kilometers. I had been following the RV with Michael and Don in the Alfa Romeo, and John and Marci in the BMW. Once we passed him, however, we discovered something wonderful. He’d been holding up traffic for so long, the road was empty all the way to Lillooet!

Our entire group filled up together in Lillooet, before heading off for Lunch in Cache Creek. I joined in with the Mini pack, as they made their way Horsting’s Farmers Market, a personal favourite of theirs. Soon other entrants who had heard Deanna and Nolan’s praise of the place started filtering in. Anyone who hadn’t made it to Horsting’s was dining just up the road at Hungry Herbies Drive-In, a personal road-trip favourite of mine. I must say, after our lunch in Horsting’s, you simply must meet the Mini crew. It would appear Nolan, Deanna, Larry, Anne, Martin and Cori have a knack for finding the best treats and eats in all of BC. With the afternoon in full swing, and a cinnamon bun coma on it’s way, we really needed to hit the road!

As we turned the corner at Spences Bridge, I began to think back to 2008, when we were still forming the idea of what would become Classic Car Adventures. Warwick and I were discussing the way a good event “should be”, and Warwick brought up Highway 8 to Merritt. At that time, Warwick was “the road guy”, and I can still remember the way he described the corners, the elevation changes, the scenery…as though he had just driven it. In many ways, “Highway 8”, was one of the roads which helped us to figure out what we should do.

Driving with a good friend is something we both enjoy. When Warwick is driving, and I’m co-piloting, I never have to worry. I don’t hit the imaginary brake pedal, or find myself grabbing hold of anything in the car (unless it’s out of excitement!). Similarly, when I’m driving, Warwick has never told me to slow down, or tensed up as though I should be. Driving with Warwick is fun…but driving with Warwick, when we’re each in our own car, is even more fun. The beetle and the mini are equally matched in many ways, and yet so very different. We setup for corners in a totally different style. I typically brake, moving weight to the front and power though. Where I’m heavy handed, Warwick, is smooth. Rarely do you see the brake lights come on, he sets the line and drives through in a way that doesn’t seem possible. And here I was, following him through on one of his favourite roads, studying his line and trying to ‘smooth out’ the Rally Beetle to match.

As we filled up in Merritt, a whole crew of other cars met us. The Staffords, the Shepards, the McLagans, the Hollidays and Robert & Jaclyn from RWM had all followed a short bit behind us. “Did you see the herd of Mountain Goats!?!”, they asked us. “How about the momma bear and cubs?!” Warwick and I sheepishly admitted we hadn’t…the only thing I saw was the pavement and Warwick’s Mini!

A short trip up to Kamloops via the 5A, and we met the rest of the group who had already checked into the Hotel 540. A wonderful dinner, drinks and fantastic stories rounded out the rest of our evening before bed. Only one yellow-card was handed out on day one, it would seem the Rally Beetle has a burnt out tail-light!

Sunday morning started bright and early (who plans these driver’s meetings at 8:45am?!), and with the sun shining. Our weather forecast was suggesting rain, but we’d enjoy as much as we could before it started. My goal for today was to try and drive a section of road with each of our participants.

I missed Michael and Don in the Alfa, and John and Marci in the BMW…but I figured that was okay, as we had enjoyed much of the Duffy Lake road together the day previous. Similarly the Mini’s passed me as I was at the gas station with Robert and his Aston, and Ron & Lars in the 2002. The three of us headed down highway 5A together, but not before a very brief uphill run with Malcolm and Geraldine in their MG TC. As the 2002, Aston DB4 and I enjoyed the lakeside curves of highway 5A, I began to think about how perfect the weekend was turning out. I could have stayed all day with those two, but I had other cars to try and experience! Onwards to Merritt!

In Merritt I caught up with Sue and Charlie (Alfa Duetto), Curt and Helaine (Caterham), Robert and Jacyln (BMW Z4), Jim and Sue (E-Type) and then suddenly Warwick pulled in with his Mini. Together we formed a pack, and headed our way down to Princeton. Warwick led, with the rest of us in tow, as we slalomed our way through one of the best driving roads of the province. Upon reaching Princeton, we turned West towards Tulameen, and it was my turn to lead.

The road to Tulameen is the closest thing BC has to Colorado driving. It’s an almost un-ending collection of curves, dips, climbs and descents that roller coaster you from Princeton all the way to Tulameen. It rewards precision driving, and the drop-offs ensure that you remember to keep it responsible! Coming into a corner close to Tulameen we finally caught the Porsche 911’s! Funny enough, Klaus, Joe and Wendy were all parked at the side of the road ready to take pictures of us. (You know, it seems you never see a 911 moving…only “arrived at destination” or waiting for you at the side of the road! I really must get one; they must be a phenomenal car to drive…)

In Tulameen we stopped for coffee, enjoying a quick break with the Mini’s, and the Porsches, before turning around for the drive to Princeton. From there it was onto Manning Park where we finished once again at the Manning Park Lodge. As I stood up to thank everyone, and take care of my usual end-of-event announcements I realized I hadn’t prepared anything at all.

Before the Hagerty Fall Alternate began, I would have said most (if not all) our entrants were friends of mine. But it wasn’t until about halfway through the event that I realized just how good these friends really are. We’re all wired for a love of driving, for a love of getting out there with others. I didn’t set out to create the “Fall Alternate” because I felt I had to offer a replacement for the Fall Classic, I simply still wanted to drive great roads with great people. Similarly, everyone on the event was emailing or calling to join the replacement event even before there were any plans in place. It wasn’t about the destination, or the particular roads. They simply wanted to have a fun weekend with other classic car nuts.

We hadn’t explored new roads in Oregon, but we had run great roads in BC, with great friends. We hadn’t just made the best of a cancelled weekend, we made the weekend into one of best I’ve had all year. The “Hagerty Fall Classic Alternate” sticker will be one of my favourites on the Rally Bug’s side window for many years to come.

A very special thank you to Andrew and Kristen Holliday for all the wonderful photos featured here. We’ll post a full gallery of the Fall Classic Photos as soon as they’re available. http://aholliday.com/

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2017 Hagerty Silver Summit – Day One

If you haven’t spent much time in Colorado, a snow storm in May could seem like a bizarre and crazy occurrence. 36” of snow fell in Boulder over the last 48 hours, our start location of Golden was actually white, and here in Colorado they actually named the storm “Valerie”. That’s right, just like a Hurricane, this winter storm had a name. It wasn’t exactly the ideal lead up to a Classic Car Driving event.

So it was with a little trepidation that I walked into the room for our Thursday night “unofficial” pre-event dinner, hosted by Hagerty Collector Car Insurance in their new Colorado office. In just a few short hours we’d be lining up our classic cars for registration, in a parking lot that was currently blanketed by snow. “Right,” I thought, “I should probably address the situation…” So with that thought in mind, I spoke about our pending event. I highlighted alternate route preparations, I suggested the storm appeared to be moving on, I added the usual CCA flourish where a downpour becomes a slight misting of rain. But outside, it was white. It’s kind of hard to hide the white.

We awoke this morning to black roads, and white gardens. The snow was still falling, lightly, but with rising temperatures it wasn’t sticking. Perhaps my luck would change after all! I peered over weather reports, scrutinized highway conditions and highway cameras, and then packed up the final items for registration. Checking each car in this morning, it was nothing but smiles and positive thoughts. Our Colorado guests reaffirmed that this sort of thing can happen, and how they were sure the weather was turning. Our Oklahoma guests, used to extreme weather of another kind, were perhaps a little less enthusiastic of the snow, but still very enthusiastic about the event. Our other out-of-towners were equally excited to start…except, perhaps, the Canadians who joked that they came south to leave this winter weather behind! With warning triangles and registration forms checked, the driver’s meeting began.

2017 seems to be the “year of the re-route due to weather” for Classic Car Adventures, and today was no different. After studying the maps, I selected a route which I believed would give us the best mix of twisty roads, while keeping the group low enough to avoid the potential snow squalls and snow storms. With directions confirmed, it was time to embark on our mission like early explorers.

We started from Golden amongst the snow, and quickly found dense fog along S. Turkey Creek Road. Navigating through the soupy fog, I wondered how Andrew and Dan could possibly shoot photos today…or if we’d see the sun at all on the event. And yet, by 11am the fog was behind us, and by noon the sun was shining. We enjoyed a repeat of some 2016 roads, some of the best on the event, before turning west on highway 24. An hour later we met up with the original route planned in the route book, and headed south towards the Monarch Pass.

The driver’s meeting auxiliary map had split the route into two options at this point. We were to check in at Buena Vista to confirm the pass conditions, and make a decision for ourselves. Those willing to risk possible snow would to head up over the Monarch Pass, while those wishing to avoid it would go on the longer around route though Sagauche.

Climbing up towards the Summit, I was sure we had made the wrong choice. The cars coming in the opposite direction had snow covered front bumpers and license plates. Still, it was just flakes falling and not sticking to the road…so surely it would be okay? “Just another mile then,” we said to ourselves, “we can turn around if it gets bad.” Up we climbed, the weather staying steady, and suddenly there we were on the summit. Sunshine, and dry roads meeting us on the other side. It was a welcome twist from our expectations.

Twenty minutes later, arriving in the hotel parking lot, it was sunny and folks were washing the day’s grime off their cars. One thing you couldn’t wash off, however, were the smiles on our faces. We started the day in Golden expecting the worse, expecting to just bear with it and try and make it to the finish. And yet, here we were. Not only had we made it, but it had been an incredibly fine day of driving. Lucky? Perhaps. Well planned? Well, perhaps ‘well saved’ is a better descriptor. Adventurous? Absolutely.

And, ultimately, that’s why we’re all here. For the Adventure.

Special thanks to Andrew Snucins and Dan Evans for braving the snow and cold to bring us these stunning images from today’s adventure.

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2017 Hagerty Spring Thaw – Day Two

We awoke this morning to sunshine, and the promise of fantastic road ahead. The driver’s meeting covered the usual items; yellow-cards, lunch options, and (new for 2017 it seems) the alternate route which had been prepared for the washed-out highway. Our original plan was to take the group along a CCA favourite, highway 8 from Merritt to Spences Bridge, but a highway closure necessitated a re-route.

Our new route would take us first along Highway 5A, before turning north on highway 97C towards Logan Lake. Here, we turned left and enjoyed a section of yesterday’s route in reverse, this time running down the hill into Ashcroft instead of up it. Our group of 95 cars basically dined together, in one of two places. Half of the group descended upon Cache Creek, where we enjoyed Herbies Drive-in…a famous burger joint which has been in operation since the 1950’s. The other half of the group continued on to Clinton, where I suspect the restaurant of choice was the Cariboo Lodge, famous for it’s country fare. I had just settled into my Herbie’s Milkshake when the first text arrived…

“Flooding on highway 97”, it read from living near by, “barely got my truck through” was the next text. A phone call quickly followed, and I pulled Warwick and Andrew in for a speakerphone conversation and a roads consult. Between the three of us, (Andrew Snucins, Warwick, and I) we quickly determined that my route book was no longer going to work, that two of the main options for getting to our evening hotel were closed, and an emergency plan would need to take place.

Warwick and I went car to car and table to table in Cache Creek to give the best information we could on the “new route option”. I suggest that in quotes, as at this stage it consisted of “drive the route book to this town, and then google your way to this other town.” While we gave Cache Creek lunch guests these vague directions, Andrew was dispatched to Clinton to provide the same for those folks. The group would still be following the route book for a good 2-3 hour loop, which would buy me time to determine a solution.

While the classic cars headed North, my co-driver Greg and I headed back to Kamloops to find a spot the cars would cross on their way to Kelowna. Greg drove, while I scoured road reports, closure reports and the maps to try and give our guests the best option possible. We parked on the road-side, created the best “CCA STOP” sign we could muster with the supplies we had, and I hand-wrote two copies of the new route instructions.

As each car came into our impromptu checkpoint, we handed the sheet over and asked them to take a photo of the notes on their cellphones. Directions were confirmed as understood, and guests were waved off with a laugh and hopes they’d find the hotel without too much trouble.

Despite three major route re-routes, pulling off in a somewhat-questionable checkpoint location, and having to drive off with only a small cellphone photo of the route instructions…every one of our guests, to a tee, was smiling and laughing and having a great time. Flooded roads, questionable new directions and roadside re-routing just didn’t seem to matter. Sometimes “getting there” is the adventure, and today our guests were living it…and loving it.

Our previous loop through highway 24 from Green Lake to Little Fort had proven to be a favourite of the weekend. Little traffic, phenomenal curves, exceptional elevation changes. By the time cars rolled into the re-route checkpoint they’d had a wonderful sunny drive. Our re-route allowed them to skip some of Highway 1 and Highway 97, and instead sent them south on the twisty Salmon River Road. If you’re going to re-route your entire event, you can do a whole lot worse than a twisty road which would make a great trip on it’s own!

All 95 cars made it to Kelowna for dinner, and while certainly exhausted from the day, everyone was clearly enjoying themselves. Behind me at dinner was a prize and give-away table literally stuffed and overflowing with gifts. Thanks to Dave Koszegi, Ted Wilkinson and RWM&Co, almost every car will be heading home with a new automotive related item in the trunk tomorrow.

The day may have been an organizing challenge, but as one guest suggested to me at dinner; I don’t even have to worry about a route for next year, we’ve barely used this one that was printed in the route book!

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2017 Hagerty Spring Thaw – Day One

Gathering in Squamish this morning, the air was filled with anticipation, the joy of seeing old friends again and the excitement for the start of the 2017 Hagerty Spring Thaw. Usually the organizers are greeting our guests, enjoying a coffee and checking out the wonderful cars that appear in the parking lot. This year, however, I’ve been told I was looking slightly more stressed…typing away on my laptop.

You may think the weather, slightly raining in Squamish was to blame, but no. I was on the phone and laptop checking weather reports, avalanche reports and road closure reports. Our main road for the day, Duffy Lake Road, was closed the night before by an Avalanche. By 7:30am it was open, and avalanche dangers were lowered from high to moderate. Perhaps the event could travel as planned? At 7:45am, however, the text messages started coming in. “Mud slide closes highway 99”, “Have you heard…Duffy’s closed.” Where I would normally spend the morning greeting and catching up with guests, instead I was typing out new instructions to replace almost the entire day in the route book.

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2017 Hagerty Spring Thaw – Registration Info!

Wahoo! The 2017 Hagerty Spring Thaw supp-regs document has been uploaded! Inside you’ll find all the information you need for the 2017 Hagerty Spring Thaw, which will be held from May 5th to 7th 2017. Head to the event information page to download the 2017 documents.

As per previous years, applications are accepted via mail, courier and in-person at the CCA Squamish office. A number of spots have been reserved for guests using mail or courier to submit their application.

The Hagerty Spring Thaw sells out every year, so we definitely encourage applying early. So far, in eight years, we’ve almost managed to get every guest on the waiting list an open space…so don’t be scared to enter if you see things filling up. It’s never surprising to hear a restoration isn’t going as quickly as planned, and a space subsequently becomes available.