NW WA Meet / BS Thread

Trip report:

Went with NWOL to get a xmas tree ($10 permit) either at haller pass or continue up to Lonesome Lake or the look out point.

Aired down to 12 here:


Ended up meeting up diesels that were fully aired up and rolling chains (read as inexperienced and chewing up the trail).


A little farther up the road, yet another group of diesels doing the exact same thing. BUT there was a lone Tacoma with his tires at what he guessed at 65psi! WTF!?!? They were all in the ditch or very close! Traction was superior with 12 psi, and everyone in the group just floated right on by.

Right after that, we were plowing fresh tracks at points +3' deep. Well the guy behind me was having trouble as he was high-centering and losing control. (note the type of vehicle and that little yellow strap to the left of my rear tire)


I ended up towing him to the top of Haller Pass.

It started dumping snow while enjoying a fire and lunch. There was no way to continue on the trail as we didn't have a supercharged Jeep with 40" bead locks. That meant hiking down the trail 1/2 mile, down a ravine, in waist deep snow and then return.

At 3PM, we headed out. After having to tow the Volvo out of the pass and then down the pass to where he wouldn't high center, the trail became extremely slick. There were times where I wasn't able to stop nor steer. 1/2 down, the Volvo decided to chain up as he was in front of me. Then another 1/4 he nearly spins out and decides to switch chains to the rear wheels.
We finally made it down to 2 hrs later for a total of 8 miles. It was an agreed CF.

 

Now you know why I don't hang out with them anymore.. only 2 other people from that forum I'd go with, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about. Lucky though you got into deep stuff, we hit 2ft and I aired down to 3psi thinking it would get deeper.. also pulled 7 cars out of the ditch

 

Haha I'm fully aware you can buy military vehicles at a surplus. I just asked hoping some unit was dumb enough to get stuck out somewhere. I'd never buy a military vehicle.. too much maintenance

Wow man you lucked out. As everyone else said, glad you're ok!

 

I went up FS-24 out in Darrington today.

24 was pretty wet and slippery. Maybe 6" of snow. Once we split off onto 2421 (or 2420, whichever it is) it was untouched and 12" or so, getting deeper as we pushed up further. When we turned around my 33" tire was swallowed and I could not open my door.

DSC_0052 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

DSC_0063 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

DSC_0080 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

 

Gah, all these awesome snow wheeling pics has me jealous! Hopefully work will slow down a bit in January and I'll be able to tag along/get stuck. Love snow!

 

Awesome

 

Buying recovery gear time. Anybody have a brand preference on D-ring shackles, tow straps, traction boards, and a hi lift?

 

Just to be clear:

I am not indicating that I am better than others in off roading or recovery.
But a man must know his limitations especially when your family is involved.
Granted that people get stuck and vehicles slide around, no outing is perfect.
I also think that if you aren't prepared, you either go with someone that will unquestionably help you or you are really prepared.
Both Jon and Phil were on the trip, I know how you're talking about.

 

Damn, I wish I had gone out today instead of shopping . All these snow pictures are making me super jealous.

 

Plus you can't tell me you think a Volvo or Porsche is going to do well in deep snow..

 

For shackles I like Van Beest. Netherlands made rigging shackles. cost a bit more than others but are a lot stronger and you can trust their ratings. I have 4 or 6 (can't remember) that I use for primary recovery (IE hooking the winch to the recovery strap or holding the snatch block to the anchor point). I also have a couple arb shackles I keep around that I use mostly when just anchoring a vehicle to a tree type thing.

For straps pretty much all of mine are wheelers off-road ones. haven't had an issue with them. Cheaper than name brand but just as good imo.

Traction boards I have tred ones. Haven't really used them to have an opinion on them yet but when I've seen other people use them they have die just fine.

Hi lift....I bought the hi lift brand one in 60". thankfully haven't used it but it's there if I do.

 

Others will likely disagree with me, but go to a local hardware store or feed store with tractor supply type stuff for shackles. Get 3/4 inch shackles and look at the molded in load rating. They should be at least 4 ton rated, commonly 4-3/4 ton, and about $10-15 each. For tow straps, watch for specials from feed stores for 30' 20k # rated for about $10-15 each. Hi lift, look at pawn shops. You can sometimes find real hi lift brand, but one place near me has some off brand "farm jacks" that are the same thing except the release to lower it back down for about $55 new.

Just remember that on the shackles, they are designed to screw in snug, then back off about 1/4 turn, then have a load on them. Tightening all the way, then putting the load on makes it so you need tools to get it to release when done.

 

Thanks again everyone for the well wishes. Here's the replacement. 17 DBLCB SB TRD OR with Premium and Tech packages. So far I really like it!

 

It looks so plain right now...

 

By the way... Someone subscribed to this page should have a gift arriving at their place today... Whenever UPS shows up at your place.

 

You could have just brought it by man, I'm right down the street.

 

It's over the snowy pass. And I didn't feel like grabbing chains this weekend.

 

Well that doesn't narrow it down at all lol

 

You are correct. But you already know the person. At least its from 150 of us, down to about 25...

 

I have no idea what you guys are talking about