IXNAYXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wherever the next race is.
Driving for hours up a mountain in the snow with the express purpose of sleeping outdoors in freezing temperatures sounds like lunacy to most people. Nearly everybody I mentioned it to, in fact. In the end there were only three people crazy (or dumb) enough to do it; myself, Ian (Slacker87XJ) and Michael (2xtreme). Ian and I had never done any true "snow camping" before so we were very grateful to have Miachel along with us. He's so hardcore he even manufactured his own snow saw. Really.
On the morning of Saturday the 27th the three of us met at the offramp to Tinkham Road, exit 47, the last exit before the Snoqualmie Pass, and aired down. Well, I should say that Michael met at 9:00 and had 30 minutes of waiting to talk about what a slacker Ian is.
The road was hard and icy, presenting a whole other challenge. There were also quite a few cross-country skiers making their way up the road. One time I came up on a group of three of them without them hearing me until I was pretty close. I downshifted into first, blipping the throttle to match the revs. The sudden and loud noise of a barely muffled 4.0 turning 3000 rpm sent them jumping into the ditch. Of course, I was only doing 2 mph and was still a ways away from them, but it gave them quite a start.
Luckily they were pretty cool about it; they were all grinning sheepishly as the brushed them selves off and we went on past them. Here's the group crossing under the Ironhorse trail RR trestle:
The snow had a VERY thick crust, but under that it was like really fine sand. You could scoop up some in your hand and watch it sift through your fingers. The trick was staying on the top layer. A couple times I had to stop and work at it a few times to get back on top; drive forward, sink in. Reverse. Drive forward, sink in. Reverse. Repeat as many times as necessary.
We were blessed with incredible weather, mostly clear skies and a bright sun. The temp during the day was only in the 30's, but it felt warmer with the sun on our faces.
Only a scattering of clouds crossed the sky:
We made great time up the road, covering the same distance that took us hours last time in just minutes. We all shared the hopes that we would be able to get to the top, usually not possible until the snow melts in June. When we got to the place we stopped last time, our hopes were dashed; the hole I made playing around on video had been expanded by other rig that had followed our tracks. Now it was as deep as our Jeeps, and nobody thought we'd be able to make it through.
I decided to give it a shot, though:
Amazingly, the snow was perfect and I made it through with no problem, as did Ian behind me. Then Michael got stuck half-way out of the hole. Ian and I went back to investigate and help and quickly discovered the front wheels were not contributing to the cause.
"Try 4-wheel drive, Michael," we both said, chuckling.
Pause.
"Uh, it is in 4-wheel drive," replied Michael with grim realization.
First task was to get the Jeep on level ground so we could figure out exactly what was wrong. It took a few good tugs to get Michael out of the hole. You can even see the strap snapping taut in this pic:
After a few minutes, we discovered the vacuum-disco line had been torn off when he dropped into the hole. Easily fixed, we were back on the trail after only a few minutes delay.
We were now on totally virgin snow; no vehicles had been up here since before Christmas, and a month of hard snow had all but erased their tracks. All I had as a guide were cross-country skiers' shuffle marks and a scattering of foot prints to guide the way.
It was very slow going, just creeping along in first gear. A couple times I stopped and talked with my fellow adventurers. I kinda wanted one of them to say "ah, let's just stop here." I was going so slow it was beginning to get tedious for me. Luckily, both Michael and Ian were keen to see how far we could get.
Here's the pace I was making:
Around 11:00 we broke out of the trees into the huge clearing/rock quarry that we refer to as "the Lower Shooting Spot" because of it's popularity with teenagers drinking and shooting their daddy's shotgun at abandoned cars. Some may also remember the last first run up to Tinkham of the year when the road had been plowed, allowing any and every kind of vehicle imaginable to get up there, from Land Rovers to Chrysler minivans.
Not so today:
More to come!
On the morning of Saturday the 27th the three of us met at the offramp to Tinkham Road, exit 47, the last exit before the Snoqualmie Pass, and aired down. Well, I should say that Michael met at 9:00 and had 30 minutes of waiting to talk about what a slacker Ian is.
The road was hard and icy, presenting a whole other challenge. There were also quite a few cross-country skiers making their way up the road. One time I came up on a group of three of them without them hearing me until I was pretty close. I downshifted into first, blipping the throttle to match the revs. The sudden and loud noise of a barely muffled 4.0 turning 3000 rpm sent them jumping into the ditch. Of course, I was only doing 2 mph and was still a ways away from them, but it gave them quite a start.
Luckily they were pretty cool about it; they were all grinning sheepishly as the brushed them selves off and we went on past them. Here's the group crossing under the Ironhorse trail RR trestle:
The snow had a VERY thick crust, but under that it was like really fine sand. You could scoop up some in your hand and watch it sift through your fingers. The trick was staying on the top layer. A couple times I had to stop and work at it a few times to get back on top; drive forward, sink in. Reverse. Drive forward, sink in. Reverse. Repeat as many times as necessary.
We were blessed with incredible weather, mostly clear skies and a bright sun. The temp during the day was only in the 30's, but it felt warmer with the sun on our faces.
Only a scattering of clouds crossed the sky:
We made great time up the road, covering the same distance that took us hours last time in just minutes. We all shared the hopes that we would be able to get to the top, usually not possible until the snow melts in June. When we got to the place we stopped last time, our hopes were dashed; the hole I made playing around on video had been expanded by other rig that had followed our tracks. Now it was as deep as our Jeeps, and nobody thought we'd be able to make it through.
I decided to give it a shot, though:
Amazingly, the snow was perfect and I made it through with no problem, as did Ian behind me. Then Michael got stuck half-way out of the hole. Ian and I went back to investigate and help and quickly discovered the front wheels were not contributing to the cause.
"Try 4-wheel drive, Michael," we both said, chuckling.
Pause.
"Uh, it is in 4-wheel drive," replied Michael with grim realization.
First task was to get the Jeep on level ground so we could figure out exactly what was wrong. It took a few good tugs to get Michael out of the hole. You can even see the strap snapping taut in this pic:
After a few minutes, we discovered the vacuum-disco line had been torn off when he dropped into the hole. Easily fixed, we were back on the trail after only a few minutes delay.
We were now on totally virgin snow; no vehicles had been up here since before Christmas, and a month of hard snow had all but erased their tracks. All I had as a guide were cross-country skiers' shuffle marks and a scattering of foot prints to guide the way.
It was very slow going, just creeping along in first gear. A couple times I stopped and talked with my fellow adventurers. I kinda wanted one of them to say "ah, let's just stop here." I was going so slow it was beginning to get tedious for me. Luckily, both Michael and Ian were keen to see how far we could get.
Here's the pace I was making:
Around 11:00 we broke out of the trees into the huge clearing/rock quarry that we refer to as "the Lower Shooting Spot" because of it's popularity with teenagers drinking and shooting their daddy's shotgun at abandoned cars. Some may also remember the last first run up to Tinkham of the year when the road had been plowed, allowing any and every kind of vehicle imaginable to get up there, from Land Rovers to Chrysler minivans.
Not so today:
More to come!
