Snow Camp 2008

Home Up Blanket Cr.2005 2005 Moab Jeep Safari MaGrew Run Red Mtn Creek Run Senteney Rock 2007 South Fork Run 2009 Titlow Hill 2005 Snow Camp 2006 Fordyce 2009 Horse Mt. 2010 Picketts Peak 2010 Beach Day 2010 Hull Mt. Cleanup Rubicon 2009 Magrew Run 2009 Snow Camp 2008 Rubicon 2007 Dusy Trouble 35th Bronco Anniversary Easter Jeep Safari

SNOW CAMP RUN

February 24, 2008

 Webmaster Notes-Photos of the run are below story!

“It was a dark and stormy night.  Suddenly a shot rang out!”  Hold it!  I’m not lost in a Charles Schultz cartoon!   ….well, actually it was a very dark and stormy morning!  So dark and stormy that I didn’t want to get up early and get wet loading my Bronco on my trailer.  So, I decided that Snow Camp was close enough that I would actually drive my Bronco there.  This worked out well because I was able to stay dry and get another hour of sleep on Sunday morning.

 As usual, the meeting place was the Chevron station on Guintoli Lane.  I arrived a few minutes before 9:00 a.m. and Steve Mello, Steve Freeman, Tom Vallee, and Mike LaFaunce were already there.  Also present was Steve Mello’s friend, Don Chapman who drives a Jeep CJ7.  We waited a few more minutes and no one else showed up.  I was last to leave and everybody left me in the dust.  Well, “left me in the water” would be a better description since it was starting to rain again.  And it was cold!  (I forgot to say that at the beginning of the story.)  I took my time traveling on Route 299 about 50 mph. 

 I was just about a quarter mile from the top of Lord Ellis summit when I saw Don heading back down the hill.  When I arrived at the summit I learned that he had developed lifter noise coming up the hill and decided not to risk taking it out on the trail. (Fortunately it held together until he made it back home.)  We all aired down while The Griz unloaded his rig.  At this point I must say that The Griz is extremely tough, or stubborn, or maybe a little of both.  As usual his 1942 Ford GPW was completely open, except for a piece of plywood that he had attached to his roll bar.  I suggested that he may want to invest in a good canvas top and some doors, but evidently he likes to be wet and cold when he wheels!

 Our new “fearless leader” (Tom) led the way.  It was very windy and quite a bit of rain, so I had my doubts on whether there would be any snow left.  It took us quite a bit of traveling, but we did get into snow – lots of it!  Tom broke trail for some time, but we came to a fairly steep spot and he gave it a number of tries, but couldn’t quite make it over the hump.  Being the impatient person I am, I offered to take the lead and break trail.  Actually, I believe I asked Freeman if he wanted to, but he declined, so I took over at trail leader.  This was the second time I’ve had my rig out in the snow since I’ve installed my Goodyear MTRs and I must say that they are the best snow tire I’ve every had on my rig.  And that is saying a lot because my Bronco has always done well in the snow.  But back to the run!

 As we climbed in elevation, the snow got deeper.  I estimated that there were places where the drifts were up to 4-feet thick.  At times I found myself pushing a wall of snow.  It would eventually get so big as to stop my rig and I would have to back up and “blast” through it and repeat this procedure every few minutes.  On one particularly bit drift, I actually went over it (instead of blasting through it) and found myself high-centered where I couldn’t go back or forward.  I broke out the shovel and started digging.  I was about 70% dug out when Tom arrived and I had him give me a couple of tugs with my strap to get me going again.  I think it was at this point that I decided to lower my air pressure down to 7 psi.  Tom was kind enough to lend me his Curry tire deflator.  I really liked the fact that you can easily deflate your tires to any pressure rather than my Staun or the Oasis deflators that are preset to one specific pressure.  Tom, don’t forget to buy me one at the EJS in Moab!

 We continued on and came to a particularly steep portion of the trail.  It was very rough going and it took me a lot of tries to get to the top.  I found a wide place and asked Steve Freemen if he wanted to take over as trail leader.  Steve took the challenge and we continued climbing.  At this point I must say that Steve is an extremely good driver and has perfect technique wheeling in snow.  However, the trail got steeper and the snow got deeper and it wasn’t too long before he needed a strap.  By this time, the others still hadn’t made it up the steep section of trail that Steve and I had maneuvered and they were ready to turn around and call it a day. 

 By the time Steve and I caught up to the others, they were pulling Tom out of the ditch.  I’m not sure how he got stuck there, because it was quite a ways off the road.  He been telling us all day how he’d driven log trucks on the road numerous times, so I would have thought he’d know the road better!!  (Sorry Tom, but I have to give you a bad time!)  And speaking of giving people a bad time, I think Steve Mello gets the distinction of being the only one to get stuck going downhill.  Seriously, I believe everyone in the group had to have a strap at least a couple of times during the day.

 We all got back to Route 299 without any other mishaps.  We all had a great time and there was plenty of snow so the trail was very challenging.  All I can say is that the rest of the members missed a great run!

 Happy Trails,

Mike Eagan   

 

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