I had great plans for this holiday weekend, a short trip to the Gifford Pinchot Forest. I would get some great night photos and perhaps see a few late spring forest wildflowers. Well things didn’t quite go as planned.
The first adverse indicator was the weather forecast. A minor snow storm was forecast for Saturday night–enough already, it’s nearly June. The good part was that the storm was not expected to drop more than an inch of snow. I figured I could handle that much.
When I arrived. the gate at the turn-off was unlocked and open. Judging by the tree across the road, nobody had driven very far up it this year. I’ve been the first to drive it in previous years. The process required me to cut a couple trees and plow through a few snow banks. Those times were in early April, just after the gate opening date. I thought that 2 months after the gate was opened someone would have tried to get to the top–no such luck, and with the visible snow this was going to be a lot of work.
I pulled up to the two-foot diameter log across the road and assessed the situation. The log was too big for me to pull aside with my truck. Happily it was broken in two places. To reduce the weight my truck would need to pull, I cut the log at the breaks. Then I wrapped a strap around a stub branch and pulled the pieces apart just enough to sneak my truck around it.
It wasn’t long until I came on places where the snow hadn’t yet melted. This was kind of cool as this offered a safe project on which to practice the use of my recovery equipment. Unless something were to break, I could drive out, if I could drive in.
Here is a view of the road blocked by small trees. I ended up cutting and pulling about 20 trees from the road. Someone has to do it.
In the picture you can see there is a snow bank under the fallen trees. The downed tree protects the snow from sun and rain, reducing the amount of melting. Also many times, multiple trees would tangle together in each fall. When possible, I would cut the stem near the edge of the road and then hand pull the top to the side. However when the branches from multiple were entwined or buried too far under the snow top move by hand. Out comes the strap. If the truck is mired in the snow, then I connect the strap to the winch, if not I pull the tree with the truck.
When I reached the snow line, I dropped the air pressure in my tires to about 18#’s and drove on in 4WD, when that wasn’t enough, I engaged my rear differential locker. This allowed me to get into snow deep enough to belly the truck, lifting the tries off the road. At this point it’s on to the recovery boards. Recovery boards are plastic surfaces with traction nubbins that give something for the tires to grip onto as well as spreading the down-force over a larger area. This allows the truck to make three to four feet of progress with each lay. Finally, when the snow gets deeper, there is a winch on the truck’s front bumper.
I only made it a mile and a half up the road before I was exhausted. It took over 2 hours to get that far. So, I just found a place on the side of the road to camp. Unless the weather turned bad, I could continue the next day.
Not the best campsite I’ve had up there, but it worked. I spent the evening sheltering under the tarp, listening to the wind and rain. I had hoped for some photo opportunities, but I was camped inside a cloud. In the morning it started to snow and after listening to the adjusted weather advisory on my Ham radio–4 to 6 inches of snow expected to fall Saturday, with another few inches on Sunday. With the damp cold, I decided I had enough–so I returned home.
Here is the only photo I took on this trip that I think has some promise. It needs some work on brightness and contrast. But it does have a dark stormy look. I like the look of the clouds, but there are still some compositional failings.
On this trip, I learned I need more practice with the winch. On one pull, I wound the protective sheath into the spool, jamming the rope until tension was released. That would have been inconvenient if I was in a more precarious position.
I also learned that the B.F. Goodrich KO2’s aren’t that good in handling snow. They need a very high rotational speed to clear the treads. I realize that they are not specifically made for snow driving, but I had my expectations and they didn’t live up to them. When they wear, I’ll likely replace them with mud-terrains.
I could also use another pair of traction boards. It would have been better to support both the front and rear tires. In this case it made little difference, but if the truck was mired in softer mud, it would flow back into the ruts requiring that the rear tires also climb up to the surface.
This was a confidence building exercise. I am more comfortable with the equipment; not yet expert by any means. This was just another step along that path.
Whatever equipment you have, use it. The last thing you want to do is to learn how to operate it in a crisis.