IXNAYXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wherever the next race is.
I know part of this was posted in another thread, but here's the full version, with name and dates in the title for easy search location in the future.
Jack Pass Snow Run; December 30th, 2006
Another great snow run, people. Thanks for putting it together Michael, and I agree that we should start a little earlier next time. It would have been fun to have been able to push on a little further and see where that road went eventually.
Frankly I'm amazed that we were able to go as far as we did in the time we had; that was a HUGE group with wildly different equipment levels to have on a snow run. There was everything from a bone stock ZJ Limited to a Land Rover Discovery Series I to a YJ running Dana 60s, 5.38s and 38" bias-ply Swampers, and every conceivable flavor of XJ in between. How's that for diversity?
My day started out meeting GI-John, Adam (adamusmc2002) and Jay (jay2000XJ) in Federal way and heading North.
We made our way carefully, taking our time as much as possible due to the overwhelming police presence on I-5. I think I counted 10 cruisers between Renton and Monroe. Bad news for us considering the dubious legality of most of our rigs. Anyway, we made it to the Dutch Cup and met part of the group there about 0940. After introductions were made there, and notes were compared about how terrible the DC really is, we headed out to meet Michael and the rest of the group.
At the trailhead we all aired down and waited for the last parts of the group to filter in. You can see the group through my windshield, which Lonnie thought made an artsy picture:
Around 1100 hrs the group finally got on it's way; with such a large collection of Jeeps, it made coordinating hard, but as usual, Michael did a great job of making sure vehicles were lined up in a sensible order and organized.
Very early we made a wrong turn (my fault, as I was leading and nobody had a clear recollection of the route we took last year) and started up the mountain side much sooner than last year. Rather than the gradual slow climb of the run last year, this was very quickly a steep grade. In the lead this made things a little tough, but my new tires were absolutely amazing. There were a few times when I couldn't believe I was still moving, albeit slowly, but I never got bogged down.
The vehicle tracks we were following on the road quickly gave way to sno-mobile tracks. Still we pushed on, my confidence in the Trxus's growing by the foot. Cody (GreenbeltXJ) on the trail:
The alternate route's steeper ascent meant two things; one the views from the trail were amazing, and two, the snow got deep, fast.
Here's the group climbing up through a clear-cut:
It took a little while to remember how to drive in the snow. At first I was leaving it in 3rd gear and low range and just spinning my way up the hills. This works with the Trxus's because they grab and bite so well, but the axle tramp was starting to worry me. Then I had a revelation: No wheel spin is better than lots.
It was a lesson I learned on our snow runs last season, which I seem to have forgotten. As the tires would lose traction, backing off the throttle momentarily allowed them to hook back up and climb on top of the snow. Even if I was in 1st gear barely crawling, those tires seemed to be fine just creeping along.
The first stuck of the day, Cody dug himself a hole. A little shoveling and a few people pushing and we were back on our way:
There was one instance where throttle was needed: There was one time where my nose got pointed toward a ditch, and by the time I slowed down and stopped, the tires had made a trough. I tried backing out of it and trying another line, but I kept sliding into the ditch. 3rd gear and about 4000 rpm made short work of the obstacle:
We were blessed with incredible weather which allowed us all to appreciate the beauty of the area:
The back half of the group, probably waiting for me to hurry up:
We stopped for lunch and sledding about 1:00 and let the kids stretch their legs and the adults throw snow balls. Our resident icicle slasher, XJLaredo:
Things were going great. Then, with no warning, the snow turned to crap and I sunk. Ryan (blkxjkrawler) tried to pull me out. He got stuck. Cody (GreenbeltXJ) tried to reach us. He got stuck. GI-John tried to pull Cody...he got stuck. See a pattern?
By this time it was getting late and the sun was receding behind the hills reminding us that the daylight disappears at 5:00 this time of year. The decision was made to turn around and make our way out. After getting all of us unstuck and turned around, one minor mechanical glitch fixed, we headed out.
Here's the group extracting me:
Here's the final group shot showing just haw large an undertaking it was: 17 vehicles.
Anyway, great trip folks! Can't wait for the next one!
-----Matt-----
Jack Pass Snow Run; December 30th, 2006
Another great snow run, people. Thanks for putting it together Michael, and I agree that we should start a little earlier next time. It would have been fun to have been able to push on a little further and see where that road went eventually.
Frankly I'm amazed that we were able to go as far as we did in the time we had; that was a HUGE group with wildly different equipment levels to have on a snow run. There was everything from a bone stock ZJ Limited to a Land Rover Discovery Series I to a YJ running Dana 60s, 5.38s and 38" bias-ply Swampers, and every conceivable flavor of XJ in between. How's that for diversity?
My day started out meeting GI-John, Adam (adamusmc2002) and Jay (jay2000XJ) in Federal way and heading North.
We made our way carefully, taking our time as much as possible due to the overwhelming police presence on I-5. I think I counted 10 cruisers between Renton and Monroe. Bad news for us considering the dubious legality of most of our rigs. Anyway, we made it to the Dutch Cup and met part of the group there about 0940. After introductions were made there, and notes were compared about how terrible the DC really is, we headed out to meet Michael and the rest of the group.
At the trailhead we all aired down and waited for the last parts of the group to filter in. You can see the group through my windshield, which Lonnie thought made an artsy picture:
Around 1100 hrs the group finally got on it's way; with such a large collection of Jeeps, it made coordinating hard, but as usual, Michael did a great job of making sure vehicles were lined up in a sensible order and organized.
Very early we made a wrong turn (my fault, as I was leading and nobody had a clear recollection of the route we took last year) and started up the mountain side much sooner than last year. Rather than the gradual slow climb of the run last year, this was very quickly a steep grade. In the lead this made things a little tough, but my new tires were absolutely amazing. There were a few times when I couldn't believe I was still moving, albeit slowly, but I never got bogged down.
The vehicle tracks we were following on the road quickly gave way to sno-mobile tracks. Still we pushed on, my confidence in the Trxus's growing by the foot. Cody (GreenbeltXJ) on the trail:
The alternate route's steeper ascent meant two things; one the views from the trail were amazing, and two, the snow got deep, fast.
Here's the group climbing up through a clear-cut:
It took a little while to remember how to drive in the snow. At first I was leaving it in 3rd gear and low range and just spinning my way up the hills. This works with the Trxus's because they grab and bite so well, but the axle tramp was starting to worry me. Then I had a revelation: No wheel spin is better than lots.
It was a lesson I learned on our snow runs last season, which I seem to have forgotten. As the tires would lose traction, backing off the throttle momentarily allowed them to hook back up and climb on top of the snow. Even if I was in 1st gear barely crawling, those tires seemed to be fine just creeping along.
The first stuck of the day, Cody dug himself a hole. A little shoveling and a few people pushing and we were back on our way:
There was one instance where throttle was needed: There was one time where my nose got pointed toward a ditch, and by the time I slowed down and stopped, the tires had made a trough. I tried backing out of it and trying another line, but I kept sliding into the ditch. 3rd gear and about 4000 rpm made short work of the obstacle:
We were blessed with incredible weather which allowed us all to appreciate the beauty of the area:
The back half of the group, probably waiting for me to hurry up:
We stopped for lunch and sledding about 1:00 and let the kids stretch their legs and the adults throw snow balls. Our resident icicle slasher, XJLaredo:
Things were going great. Then, with no warning, the snow turned to crap and I sunk. Ryan (blkxjkrawler) tried to pull me out. He got stuck. Cody (GreenbeltXJ) tried to reach us. He got stuck. GI-John tried to pull Cody...he got stuck. See a pattern?
By this time it was getting late and the sun was receding behind the hills reminding us that the daylight disappears at 5:00 this time of year. The decision was made to turn around and make our way out. After getting all of us unstuck and turned around, one minor mechanical glitch fixed, we headed out.
Here's the group extracting me:
Here's the final group shot showing just haw large an undertaking it was: 17 vehicles.
Anyway, great trip folks! Can't wait for the next one!
-----Matt-----
