US West A 3 Hour Tour turns into 12 - Snow wheeling in a Storm

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JCWages

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Launch Member

Pathfinder I

2,271
Grass Valley, CA, USA
First Name
Justin
Last Name
Wages
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18693

Northern California was about to get hit by a major storm and we wanted a part of it.

February 9th 11:40am

Jeni and I are shopping at Target when I get a text from Trevor. He wants to go snow wheeling before the storm really kicks in but he has a date with "golf cart girl" (don't ask) and wonders if we will make it back by 4:30pm. I figure if we went somewhere close we could probably make it work but I won't count on it I told him.

11:50am

Trevor texts back. F' it he says. Let's do it! He asks if I can be ready and meet him at the intersection of Hwy 174 and You Bet Road in Grass Valley at 1pm. We'll take You Bet Rd. to Chalk Bluff Road then out to Hwy 20. It should only take 3 hours or so..... and bring the walkie talkies!

1:15pm

We're at the beginning of You Bet Road airing down where the pavement ends. We assess our gear and decide we have what we need should one of us get stuck. We have 2 shovels, 2 air compressors, 6 traction boards, 2 30' tow straps, 4 shackles, 1 hitch receiver, rope and other misc supplies. Besides, there is not a huge amount of elevation gain and the snow currently falling is more like sleet. Let's roll!

We head up the trail and as usual we start snapping photos and posing for glamour shots.





After a couple of miles we start seeing actual snow


More photos happen


And Ellie gets in on the action


The snow is really coming down now and it's getting progressively deeper.




Deep enough that it's time for some donuts! Ok well they would have been donuts but the traction nannies had re-engaged when I switched out of 4h-Lo. :frown2:


There was plenty of traction on hand so other than steep off-camber sections of trail there wasn't much to fear. Even mud puddles were cake.

We plowed fresh tracks in the ever deepening snow, our confidence building with each mile.


But that would soon change. To be continued........
 
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JCWages

Rank V
Launch Member

Pathfinder I

2,271
Grass Valley, CA, USA
First Name
Justin
Last Name
Wages
Member #

18693

With traction and confidence levels high we pressed on while chatting away on the walkie talkies about how flipping cool this experience was. One of the nice things about snow wheeling vs. non-snow wheeling is overall comfort. The snow dampens impacts from ruts and rocks so the overall ride quality is very good. At times it feels like you're riding on fluffy clouds.

Your wheels and tires even start to resemble little round clouds as they pack with snow


As we glided along in near silence on our fluffy clouds of snowy goodness we suddenly came upon a pool of icy water in the middle of the trail. It looked to be about 60' long and stretched to either side of the cut-bank trail. The trail dropped about 2' to water level and there was no telling how deep it was. Trevor slowed down and gingerly dipped his front tires into the pool and then threw it in reverse and backed out. We stepped out of the rigs to better assess our options and started testing the depth with shovels. The ice was pretty thick at about 1/2"+ but broke fairly easily. The depth was around 1" to 20" from what I could tell with 2 wheel ruts and higher in the center. Hmmm to send or not to send......

Trevor made up his mind to take the go around and I was going to go full send. If I got stuck he could tug me out from the other side. With that plan in mind he pulled up into the go around and parked. He got his camera set up and gave me the thumbs up. I aimed for the right edge of the trail to avoid the deep ruts going in but promptly slid into them as I entered the pool. I kept on the throttle as I pushed through the ice and muck water and I could feel the truck slowing as started to exit the pool. This is where I made a mistake. The go around re-enters the trail 10' or so beyond the wet edge of the pool and the whole area is covered in deep snow. I wanted to let Trevor continue as lead rig so as I exit the pool and start up the little slope I stop so he can re-enter the trail. As soon as I stopped I knew I had made a grave mistake. I could feel the chassis sliding on the ground and it didn't require much brake to come to a stop. I'm going to high center I thought. I opened my door to take a look but I could't open it more than 6" before it hit the side of the trail. Ohh boy. I'm in deep!




I tried to move forward with minimal movement. I tried to back up and moved a few inches and then nothing but free spin. Uggg


Me: Hey Trev, wanna give me a tug?
Trev: Sure, let me pull in front of you.


At this point Trev's Taco starts spinning the tires and sliding around. We break out the traction boards and he just spins the tires on them. We try digging little holes under the tires to get more tire to board contact and that works slightly better but as he moves in reverse the front end slides off the trail into deeper softer snow and then stops. Damn it! At this point Trevor is not too happy. And I see an Instagram alert pop up on my phone. lol


We ignore my truck and start working on getting his truck free. We dig and dig and try all manner of traction board placement including jumping up and down in the bed to try and gain traction but nothing works. He has sunk and the tires sitting on what is essentially ice at this point. The snow is falling harder now and the wind is picking up and the large pines surrounding us are swaying in an alarming manner. Soon we are soaked and exhausted and the sun is now behind the tall trees. This change in lighting makes us acutely aware of our predicament and the thought of getting stranded out here all night doesn't sit well with us. Trevor decides to call for help. He has plenty of friends with capable rigs that would likely come help. While he calls for backup I get back to work trying to extract my truck in hopes I can flip around and pull him loose. My hands are so cold though and it's starting to get dark.


6:07pm

Cold and exhausted we retreat to my truck to warm up while Trevor helps our rescue squad navigate to us. Thankfully we both had topped off the gas tanks before hitting the trail. We can safely keep the truck and heater running through the night if we had to. . While he made calls I played on Instagram and tried to keep my mind off the severity of the situation.


Ellie wasn't too impressed with us.



We had half a pound of gummy bears, plenty of water and a Kind Bar. So we had food or at least energy supplies and 2 bars of cell reception. So we listened to Pandora and ate snacks while we talked of winches, bottle jacks, chainsaws and how stupid we are.


We send out our coordinates to the Rescue Squad and wait patiently.


It turns out Hwy80 and Hwy20 have been closed due to snow and whiteout conditions. We have 2 groups of rescuers coming for us from opposite ends of the trail. One group consisting of a heavily modified Jeep Cherokee on 40s and a stock Range Rover are coming in from Hwy 20 and another group made up of heavily modified Tacos and a 4Runner are coming in from Hwy174 taking the same route we did.


8:30pm

The rescue squad from Hwy174 reaches us!




Trevor and I hop to of the truck to meet with them and discuss our plan of action. The group immediately starts poking fun at how ridiculous we look and asking how in the world Trev got stuck where he did. Comments like his snorkel is turned the wrong way and that's why he is stuck began.


The new group's light hearted banter made me feel better and they obviously knew what they were doing so I felt at ease. Ultimately we decided that Dan, having the most capable rig, was going to pull around Trevor and get in front of me to tug me out. Then we would turn around and head back to the go around, extract Trevor and head home. Easy as pie. Or so we thought...

Dan's Taco immediately sinks into the deep ruts hidden by the snow and is full on stuck.


Ok no problem. We'll use Augustine's 3rd Gen Taco to tug Dan loose and we'll try again.


And this is when the sh#$ show really begins... lol

To be continued
 
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JCWages

Rank V
Launch Member

Pathfinder I

2,271
Grass Valley, CA, USA
First Name
Justin
Last Name
Wages
Member #

18693

As you can tell from the banter in the video above, the rescue squad still wasn't taking the situation very seriously. Augustine in the 3rd Gen realized he wasn't going to be able to pull Dan loose from the front of his truck so he decided to turn around and attempt a tug using his rear hitch. In his attempt to get the 3rd Gen turned around he figured he'd skip the more practical 3-point turn in the compacted trail and instead he mashed the throttle and tried to drive off the trail into fresh powder and make a u-turn. You can see where this is leading.....

He sunk. Deep!



We now have 4 trucks stuck in this tiny area and the wind continues to howl and snow falls. At this point I'm not entirely sure everyone in the rescue squad is sober. The goofing around is both amusing but also a little worrisome. Trevor and I are exhausted and just want to go home. The group abandons the work to free Trevor and Dan and start digging to free Augustine's 3rd Gen. Dan goes back to his rig and continues to tree and extract himself from the deep ruts. The Maxsa and Treds traction boards are useless in this situation. No matter how we place them the tires just spin on the knobby surface or sling the boards out from under the tire. Augustine's truck make incremental progress back onto the trail but keeps sliding back off the trail. The 35" mud tires may as well be racing slicks for what little traction they can manage on the slick snow/ice. At one point I saw my bright orange Maxsa traction board shoot out from under his passenger side rear tire and disappear into the snow under the truck. I quickly ran over to retrieve the board and place it back under the tire but when I looked under the rear of the truck I observed a huge deep hole under the axle. I swear I could have stood up half way if I had crawled into the hole before my head would hit the rear diff! This is getting crazy and where the hell did my Maxsa board go?

At this point others in the group had went back to work on Trevor's truck. The 4Runner had come up behind Trevor and was working on yanking him free. After a few tugs Trevor was unstuck so both he and the 4Runner backed up on the trail to stay away from the now slick and icy patch of trail which was turning out to be a "death trap" much like the La Brea Tar Pits was to the Pleistocene mega-fauna. :serious:

After another hour or so of work on Augustine's truck it is close enough to the trail that they want to attempt hooking Trevor's front bumper to Augustine's rear bumper and try and pull Augustine's truck out of the hole he is stuck in. Unfortunately they are almost at right angles to each other. So with every tug the rear of Augustine's truck slams into the tall snow drift on his drivers side and halts progress. We continue to dig on that side to allow for more movement in hopes he can be pulled out of the hole and the truck will swing around inline with Trevor's truck and parallel on the trail. I wish I had taken photos of this because it is difficult to try and explain but if you are reading this and everything sounds F'd up and confusing then you are getting the picture.

With every tug the shovelers run away to safety to avoid the danger zone between the trucks and straps. Some seek refuge under snow when they realize they can't run fast enough to get out of the way before a tug is initiated. Communication is obviously breaking down.


Meanwhile, Dan has free'd himself and had proceeded further up the trail to pack it down. Until he got stuck again somewhere out of our sight. Through radio contact we learn that he is using his winch and snatch blocks to free himself. We also hear back from the 2nd rescue squad who had been attempting to get to use from the Hwy20 side. They are also stuck in 4' drifts but they are pretty sure they can free themselves. Turns out one of the rigs in that group is a newer Range Rover on OEM all-season tires....... Seriously??? If the heaviliy modified Jeep on 40s is getting stuck what in the hell is a stock Range Rover doing out in this storm?

I am freezing and thoroughly exhausted so I retreat back to my rig to try and warm up with the heater blasting. Ellie is sleeping in the back seat and I don't want her to freeze either. After awhile I hear Dan on the radio and see his headlight appear in front of me. He is packing the snow down as much as possible at a slight bend in the trail. He is going to tug me free and I am to work my way to that area and attempt a 3-point turn. If I get stuck he will just tug me from the rear. It sounds like a good plan so I hop out and put a shackle on my front recovery hook on the passenger side and then a post on Coloradofans and Overland Bounds pops into my head. The "recovery hooks" on the front of our trucks are listed as recovery hooks by GM but supposedly they are not RATED recovery hooks and are instead TOW hooks. I.e. you can be towed by them but you should not be snatched by them. This is complicated by the fact none of us have a snatch strap or kinetic rope. All we have are static tow straps. The hard jolt created by tugging with a tow strap puts an incredible amount of stress on the latch points but what choice do I have?

We hook Dan's truck to mine and before I can get it out of park the crew outside the truck hollers OK for him to tug. Shit no!!! Bang!!!! Damn it. I wasn't clear. I quickly radio Dan to wait for my OK and no one else. As I slide the shifter into low I peer as far as I can over my hood to ensure my front bumper is still in place. It is so I give the ok. Dan floors it and I apply a moderate amount of throttle and with a much less intense bang I am free. I floor it to keep up with him and we both slip, slide and bounce our way up the trail for 100' or so until it appears we both have traction. We stop to unhook the trucks and I begin my 3-point turn. I make it 90% around but then lose traction again so we hook up the rear of my truck to his front end and with a quick gentle tug I am free. We both are. Augustine is also free. So now we are faced with the choice of how were are going to get back to the other rigs. We can take the go around and risk getting stuck in the ruts or on the icy slick platform just beyond or mudbog it through the puddle again. My confidence with the puddle is higher than the ruts and icy platform so I choose the former.

A view of the puddle for a refresher.


With everyone clear I proceed towards the puddle, applying as much throttle as possible while maintaining some semblance of traction. As the front of the truck enters the puddle I floor it and over the sound of ice cracking and watery slush flying into the air I can hear the rescue squad cheering. So far my truck hasn't had a bad showing. I mean yes I got stuck a couple of times but so did these much more capable rigs and I'm looking pretty damn good overall for a "Colorado" as everyone kept calling the rig. :grin2: But I forgot about the deep ruts on the other side..... :surprise: and just like that, the cheering turns to awwwwwwws. I'm stuck again. I'm fully high centered again but on the other side of the puddle.

Dan took the go around and didn't have a problem. :serious: So they start jockeying rigs around to allow room for Trevor to try and tug me free, again from the front "recovery" hooks. :frown2: They tether Trevor and I together and Trevor begins trying to tug me free. The first 4 attempts yield no forward movement so I try digging out the front of the truck to make a more gradual slope and we try a few more times. Still nothing. The tugging is violent to say the least and I'm really fearful my front bumper is going to come apart. Trevor's windshield wiper arm is partially broken from earlier tugging and now it is flopping around and he's asking for duct tape. I hear Dan say all we need to get our crap together and get out of here. He is getting really concerned we may not make it out. They decide to get Trevor out of way and hook Dan's 2nd gen up to my truck. The rest of the group moves further down the trail and out of sight and Dan proceeds to tug me free after a couple of tries. We stop to unhook the rigs and toss gear into the back of his truck. I notice one of Trevor's Treds embedded deep into a rut and I remembered my Maxsa is still under deep snow somewhere in the icy platform. We are not out of danger yet though. The trail is in worse shape and under much more snow than when we traveled on it earlier in the day so the next 7 miles or so could be trying. I decide it's not worth trying to recover the Maxsa board or Trevor's Tred, especially since he has stated numerous times this today the he is done with those useless pieces of excrement.

Dan and I hop in our rigs and radio the group that we are free and are right behind them. Roll out! That's when I notice my windshield wipers are not working. :serious: It's dark, windy and the snow is falling hard making visibility extremely poor without the benefit of wipers.


After around 1/2 mile of driving like this I notice there is quite a bit of snow built up on the ends of the wiper blades and that the weight may be causing the wipers to fail. I radio to Dan that I have to stop and remove the burden from the wipers. I hop out into the deep powder and wipe the snow off the wiper blades and hop back in. I turn on the wiper and viola! They work again. So much nicer to be able to see.


We drive along for a couple of miles without too much trouble. There are a lot of deep dips in the trail that are filled with slush and if you don't keep up momentum you can easily get stuck in them. In these cases I give it a bit of extra throttle and mash through. The front end bounces around pointing the HID headlights first into the trough then high up into the trees as I exit the dip. Trevor miscalculates his speed and he stops in the dip. He's stuck again.....


He tries to rock it free and that doesn't work. He then hops out of the truck cursing and slams his door then opens it again and starts inspecting it. I think he just broke his door. He doesn't have his radio on him so I tell the group that Trev is stuck and to hold for us. Trev hops back in the truck and tries to rock it again and this time it works. He is free and we resume travel. I radio the group to proceed. Over the next few miles we communicate trail conditions across the group. Where to take it slow, where to keep up momentum. And then I hear, "we've got a problem". A newer Tundra with a leveling kit and decent sized all-terrain tires is stuck, sideways on a mild sloping part of the trail ahead of us. I throw it in park and walk down the trail to see what the group is up to. The Tundra owner lives a few miles back the way we came from and lost traction climbing this slope. In an effort to keep going his rear end slid towards the downhill side of the trail and is only a few feet from going off the edge which would dump his truck into the ravine. He had the sense to stop trying and was going to leave it there and walk home, 3 miles in a snow storm, uphill at 12am...

The Tundra was stuck just beyond this bend.


We decided we could try and tug him straight and back on the trail so he can move out of the way and all of us could proceed in our opposing directions. I walked back to my truck to warm up while one of our group tugged him free and off we went, again. Lucky guy.

Onward....



We're getting closer.




1:00am


And without further drama we hit the paved road and are safe. We pulled over near the river to air up and redistribute gear to its rightful owner. Once the they were all aired up, the rescue squad left Trevor and I to finish airing up our rigs and hit the gas station. Mission completed.


Trevor and I finished airing up and checked in with the 2nd rescue squad to see if they wanted help. There wasn't much we could do with Hwy 20 being closed now but we felt bad just leaving them up there. They assured us they are fine and we should just head home so Trev and I parted ways. In the morning I shot Trevor a text to inquire about the other team of rescuers coming in from Hwy20. He said they got the Jeep free and continued to try and winch the Range Rover free but ultimately gave up at 5am and left it on the trail. They returned later in the day and my around 5pm they got it free and off the trail, using ropes tied around the all-season tires. I guess even chains didn't work.



That next day I washed as much of the mud and ice off the truck as possible in the still freezing temps and inspected the truck for damage. I couldn't find any despite the thrashing it took. My 30' tow strap suffered some abrasion and is no longer suitable for towing use so it will be replaced. The shackles are scratched up but are in good condition otherwise.


Trevor had pulled his front bumper cover loose during one of the tugging episodes but smashing through the dips on the way back down the hill must have pushed it back into place. Win! He needs a new windshield though. He had some small cracks in his windshield before the trip but the hard tugging on my truck caused the cracks to lengthen to illegal and unsafe levels. Other than that he is damage free.

We learned some lessons on this trip one of which is we both need winches and kinetic ropes as well as a satellite phone or Garmin InReach! Having my chainsaw with me probably would have done the trick as well. Despite the shenanigans early on I am super grateful these guys (and girl) dropped what they were doing to come help us. They have my sincere gratitude and respect.
 
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