SmokingRocks
hopelessly addicted to Cruisers
Hey guys, Today's trail was epic, a day of chains, studs and getting un-stuck! Here is a short breakdown of the events.
The ride in from the back was mild, although it didn't sound that way for those up front based on the FRS/GMRS radio chatter. The trail started with mild snow which tricked some of us into the false sense that this may be an easy trail.
Polly decided wisely to leave here 4 runner at a clearing early in the trail to be safe and Jeremy, my co worker did not have the appropriate tires for the situation so he turned around before things got really heavy. At this point Bob advised everyone to hook up the their tow straps to the rear of their rigs in anticipation needing to be pulled in or out of banks.
We lined our heavy hitters up front to bust the banks; Bob, Shane (with wicked 35" studded chunky tires), and Allen. Allen did a bunch of up front work most of the time on the way in. And Shane helped us get back.
Fast forward and
We blew two tires off their beads on two separate rigs (Shane and Eric's) about a 1/2 mile apart from each other at the same time near the end of the trail (had to be at the most difficult spots to repair, of course!). Shane had a 37" spare that would only work on the front of his rig and the flat was on the rear, so it was easier to attempt a reseat. Once reseated we realized the rubber valve stem was leaking. Luckily Jonathan had a spare and the right tool to insert it! -Way to be prepare!-
Eric's flat was similar in that his spare would only work on the rear but the flat was in the front. So we shuffled tires around then realized there was a clearance issue with the spare and the leaf spring bracket. So the spare went back in the bed of the truck and we had to reseat that beat as well! Eric was prepared with starting fluid and a ratchet strap which helped us get the tires back on.
Ben's truck, for the first time ever, had been chained up up on the front, because of this he was thrust into the trail lead position on the way back. This worked well until the main hill where wind blown drifts were halting the progress of even Bens chain'ed and locked truck. With everyone jammed on the hill we had to get Shane to the front with his awesome studded snow tires to pull everyone up. Which involved some trail tetris as we shuffled him up the order. Once up and over there was relatively little drama getting back to the air up area.
We debriefed with dinner and beers at Ryan's and reminisced about the days activities.
Over all we spent about 11 hours behind the wheel today, the trail was rough and drifted over and overall a great challenge. So happy we did it.
Thanks again everyone, glad we all made it home!
The ride in from the back was mild, although it didn't sound that way for those up front based on the FRS/GMRS radio chatter. The trail started with mild snow which tricked some of us into the false sense that this may be an easy trail.
Polly decided wisely to leave here 4 runner at a clearing early in the trail to be safe and Jeremy, my co worker did not have the appropriate tires for the situation so he turned around before things got really heavy. At this point Bob advised everyone to hook up the their tow straps to the rear of their rigs in anticipation needing to be pulled in or out of banks.
We lined our heavy hitters up front to bust the banks; Bob, Shane (with wicked 35" studded chunky tires), and Allen. Allen did a bunch of up front work most of the time on the way in. And Shane helped us get back.
Fast forward and
We blew two tires off their beads on two separate rigs (Shane and Eric's) about a 1/2 mile apart from each other at the same time near the end of the trail (had to be at the most difficult spots to repair, of course!). Shane had a 37" spare that would only work on the front of his rig and the flat was on the rear, so it was easier to attempt a reseat. Once reseated we realized the rubber valve stem was leaking. Luckily Jonathan had a spare and the right tool to insert it! -Way to be prepare!-
Eric's flat was similar in that his spare would only work on the rear but the flat was in the front. So we shuffled tires around then realized there was a clearance issue with the spare and the leaf spring bracket. So the spare went back in the bed of the truck and we had to reseat that beat as well! Eric was prepared with starting fluid and a ratchet strap which helped us get the tires back on.
Ben's truck, for the first time ever, had been chained up up on the front, because of this he was thrust into the trail lead position on the way back. This worked well until the main hill where wind blown drifts were halting the progress of even Bens chain'ed and locked truck. With everyone jammed on the hill we had to get Shane to the front with his awesome studded snow tires to pull everyone up. Which involved some trail tetris as we shuffled him up the order. Once up and over there was relatively little drama getting back to the air up area.
We debriefed with dinner and beers at Ryan's and reminisced about the days activities.
Over all we spent about 11 hours behind the wheel today, the trail was rough and drifted over and overall a great challenge. So happy we did it.
Thanks again everyone, glad we all made it home!
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