February 25th, Snow run II, Yankee Hill

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Update

I've been working with Kevin on a few details.

We plan to meet him and any other northern folks in Central City at the cemetery at 9:30.

Our northern meet location is the McDonald's at 83 and Academy. Is it still there?
According to Google maps from that meeting location it is an hour and 40 minutes to Central City. Considering we will top off gas tanks I suggest we depart from our meeting location at 7:30am.

There is gas on the road to Blackhawk but it is very expensive, so top off in the Springs to minimize the top off up there.

Please make sure there are no bald tires, unless you have chains ;)

There can be significant wind so be prepared with more than a hoodie and tennis shoes.

Kevin offered to pre-run and report back, thanks Kevin :clap:

Any other thoughts? I'll update post one, once we have settled on these details.
 
CO_Hunter said:
I've been working with Kevin on a few details.

We plan to meet him and any other northern folks in Central City at the cemetery at 9:30.

Our northern meet location is the McDonald's at 83 and Academy. Is it still there?
According to Google maps from that meeting location it is an hour and 40 minutes to Central City. Considering we will top off gas tanks I suggest we depart from our meeting location at 7:30am.

There is gas on the road to Blackhawk but it is very expensive, so top off in the Springs to minimize the top off up there.

Please make sure there are no bald tires, unless you have chains ;)

There can be significant wind so be prepared with more than a hoodie and tennis shoes.

Kevin offered to pre-run and report back, thanks Kevin :clap:

Any other thoughts? I'll update post one, once we have settled on these details.
Click to expand...

Yes, the McDonalds is still there. There's a gas station right next to it as well - Shell I think.
 
Here is the pre-run report form Kevin:

Pre run went well! Snow is not that deep but the drifts are plentiful. The wind swept crust on the drifts requires momentum and really put up a fight. The snow under the crust is crystaline up higher so very little traction and ice under it to boot. Gonna be a great day! :-)

See the first post for the updated list and let me know if there are any changes for who will be going.
 
The last gas station you guys will pass on the way to Blackhawk will be Bullwhackers. It's 1.5 miles from the Highway 6 and 119 junction. This wind we are having up here is doing huge amounts of major damage. I might be cutting trees on Sat if I can't get things done tomorrow and Friday.
 
BTW....not sure how your local LEO's are playing but be careful up here! Must have to fill some quotas because they are out in force and hungry!
 
Cool, we'll see you up there and thanks for the heads up on LEOs. Will you all be on a repeater heading out tot he TH? What simplex do you want to be on when we get there?

Luke, Do you think we will be able to hit a common repeater on the way up?

Trevor, are you still wanting to go and need a ride with somebody?
 
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I dont have a dual bander in WR. I'll be listening to 146.460 Loaded and ready to head out! :bounce:

ready to go!.webp
 
Sweet rig, can't wait to see it in action.

Talked to Luke we'll try to hook up on CRA repeaters on the drive.
 
He broke a drive shaft playing with some jeepers...
 
Agreed Kevin, it was great meeting you guys as well. Hopefully next time it's more of a wheeling trip than a winch fest! Anybody get pics they can post?

Our group got to the meet location about a half hour late and didn't head out on the trail until about 11:00. There were about 5 rigs from RS there, all but one vehicle in the whole group had HAM radios. We made the first mile pretty easily then got to the first hill. We spent the next 5 hours trying to get every one up that darn hill but gave up when it was getting close to 4 pm. Kevin and Chuck were the only ones to get up the hill without winching or straps. The rest of those that did make it required significant and multiple winching and strap pulls. Lots of digging as well. Even with all the wheel digging and shoveling we never got down to dirt, well except one small spot near the top and I think that came from the side hill. The snow had an amazingly hard crust in places. I got home a little before 7pm to a nice hot pot of elk and wild pork chili :D
 
MMMMMMM Elk Chili! Not a bad way to end the day at all! I went through the GoPro pics and deleted over 180 redundant pics from sitting still and helping others get up the hill. I have a couple but none of the back of the pack....

GOPR0272.webp


GOPR0387.webp


GOPR0465.webp
 
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how i fixed the winch cable after it pulled out of the lug. a bit of sticky sandpaper on the drum, a longer bolt through the cable and a 6" long tail run under the lowest wraps

you can see how much the snow was packing up everything it touched

as soon as you started to climb on top of it, you'd drop through

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if you look under the front, you can see why winches were struggling....we were pushing a lot of snow

if the 60 looks low to the ground, you've just dropped through a deep layer

makes checking under the hood easy...heck you can see everything from your knees

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It was a very interesting day. Looking at that snow on arrival, I knew we were going to have trouble, but that snow was flat out evil. We sure got our fill of winches and straps. I learned a lot that day, about tire choices, and synthetic winch cables, and what it's like to have everyone on the trail with a HAM radio. Pretty cool, lots of new call signs.

It was nice to get a refresher course in vehicle recovery. In the end, I was glad I left the Tricycle at home and rode shotgun in the FJ60.

Thanks to the Rising Sun clan for showing the southern Colorado guys a good time :clap: You guys (and girls!) are a class act. :D
 
It would have been a lot more frustrating on actual Yankee Hill! Up there the trail is steeper and narrower! I'm afraid there would have been quite a few more tree contacts. Chains rarely work on deeper drifts unless they can dig down to something. Taller aggressive tires combined with wheel speed and momentum will take you further up the mountain. However, doing that just gets you in tougher recovery situations! It's all fun and if you guys want revenge on that hill give a shout. Once it warms a bit the snow will change and support the vehicles better.
 
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