It was around this point we noticed the snow conditions changing as the heat of the day was starting to bring more grip to the snow. It was transitioning from cold, light, fluffy powder to a more wet "snowball" mix. The light power is awesome, but it doesnt allow much for grip.
20120210-IMG_0743.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
David's FJ looking pretty sh***y in comparison to the two 4Runners... hahah
20120210-IMG_0748.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
Our destination for lunch requires us to cross a ditch that rises into a medium sized berm. Again, sounds easy but the light snow won't pack and the ditch is about 3 feet deep. I give it a few tries to no avail. I ask the 4.88 gears, f/r air lockers, and Hutchinson Beadlocks wrapped in 35" MTZ's @ 5 PSI to give it a shot.... no dice. It's time to break out the recovery gear. We run the FJ's winch to a solid nearby tree. Using the Warn's 9000 lbs of pulling strength, the FJ is up and over in no time with just a minor scrape of the rear bumper as he climbs out of the ditch and up the berm. Now that we have an anchor on the destination-side, the two 4Runner's step up to the plate. We run a recovery strap from my frame-mounted tow points to the FJ's rear recovery points. We "plan" that I will slightly drag at an angle, slightly off-camber, and eventually pull out of the ditch and up and over the berm. Fast forward 30 seconds, and I find myself in a precarious situation where things are starting to get a little "tippy".
20120210-IMG_0763.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
20120210-IMG_0762.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
With me being stuck inside the Duster, I'm forced to let the other kind people in my group, grab my shovel and remove the chunk of ice that appears to be denting my drivers side door. After the ice is cleared and we confirm that no real door damage was made, Marc hooks up to my CBI and gives me a pull in the reverse direction. I'm free once again.
20120210-IMG_0750.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
This time we attack the ditch at a more perpendicular angle and David runs the FJ winch off of a tree, through a pulley, and onto my front recovery points. This allows a better direction of pull and a lot more control. A few bumps of the winch and I'm up and over, now getting my camera out to watch Marc follow suit.
20120210-IMG_0767.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
4Runner snow plow? Cool, I want one!
20120210-IMG_0778.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
The winch doing work and getting Marc over the berm. (no, we weren't winching while I was taking this... stay clear of recoveries when in operation. The last thing I want/need is a broken shackle embedded into my skull.)
20120210-IMG_0784.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
Ahhhhh, lunch time:
20120210-IMG_0786.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
20120210-IMG_0789.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
We stop for a short bite to eat. My coffee comes out and revives my tired mind and eyes as I wish I had went to bed earlier the following evening... but that's another story. The dogs catch some fresh air and play in the snow, well my dog runs around frantically as he eats the snow, and we decide our course for the afternoon.
We were immedietly provided with a nice decent into the valley bottom. In the last 1/2km the volume of snow under our tires had increased dramatically and it was apparent that forward travel would be difficult and possibly limited. With gravity at our backs, we run the decent.
20120210-IMG_0795.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
I'm still running the lead position but the snow is proving too much for my small 33's. I speak to David in the FJ and tell him we need the "big guns" up front to help pack the trail. The FJ moves into rotation and heads down into the next creek crossing. This one is reminiscent of earlier, but with a steeper, powdery slope to climb out of. Too much sideways slippage will put your vehicle over the edge and into a bank of fallen trees. The FJ struggles to climb it but we watch in amazement as he inch-by-inch crawls through the fresh 2-1/2 ft of powder. As the
locked rear wheels rotate and attempt momentum, the FJ begins creeping toward the dreaded edge and bank of trees. Just before we start yelling at him to re-adjust, the FJ pops up the creek bank and continues forward with ease. Marc is now up in the 5th Gen. He chooses a perfect line that starts further left but requires him to bump-up and make a HARD 90 degree turn as soon as the truck makes it out of the creek. He attempts it a couple of times with no luck. He locks it up and gives it a little more juice and makes it look easy. I follow the 5th gen's line and tactics and hit it with a little speed the first time. Watching the two vehicles ahead of me a moment earlier proved useful, and I was over on my first attempt.
We travelled another 1/2 a km or so and we confronted with a climb that was simply too steep and too dangerous for any forward progress. Unfortunately my photos of this portion of our journey were lacking due to my feet wanting to stay in the 4Runner's heated footwells. We decide that we are already satisfied with this gorgeous day, and turning back a little early will give us some time to play in the fresh powder on a shorter trail that is close by. We head back to try and make the road at a decent hour.
David tackling the above mentioned creek bed in reverse. Looks pretty tame, but pics don't do it justice!
20120210-IMG_0806.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
Back up the hill:
20120210-IMG_0827.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
Marc showing this ice shelf who's boss as the sun begins to shadow the mountain's valley.
20120210-IMG_0839.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
The return trip proved much less exciting but was very relaxing and enabled us to soak in the great views while we made constant forward progress. Albeit there was a few times where the hill climbs heard the Duster's V6 bouncing of the rev limiter to encourage momentum. A wise friend once told me, "it's not winter wheeling without a little braaap braaap." (@Victor)
We arrive at our air-down location and the base of the short "Powerline Trail." It's open, short, and steep but provides fantastic views once at the top. With the amount of snow we had been experiencing we did not expect to make the summit but thought we would give it a go. There was little drama on the way up but it allowed me personally to play with different driving techniques in this type of snow. I did a little two-foot braking while creeping up the steep climb. In theory this will slow your front wheels from spinning or shearing traction. I think it similar, albeit a LOT less low-tech, than Crawl Control that is equipped on the new FJ Trail Team and 4Runner Trail Edition. (Just like Marc's 5th gen pictured in this post.) It's amazing what the traction aids on the new Toyota's are capable of.... pretty cool to see all these gizmo's in action on the trail! Despite my jealousy for such clever traction aids, I poke fun at the two newer Toyota's in our group and am rewarded with equally humorous rebuttals.
20120210-IMG_0856.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
Another point I thought about on the long climb, was the usefulness of a crawlbox. [MENTION=9139]steezemcqueen[/MENTION] recent addition has had me salivating at the mouth over the idea. I don't live near the crazy rocks like the Colorado/Utah/Cali guys do, but even in the snow and mud, this device would be insanely useful. I
tried to practice this theory on my ascent, keeping the truck JUST above idle and sat back in amazement as the truck slowly but surely, bit into the slippery slope. Now, I know from experience that this will not always be possible and depends on the snow conditions and temperature, but in this particular instance it worked phenomenally... I didn't have a single slip, up the whole side of the mountain!
The final climb of the day is extremely steep and very rocky. The snow on top just makes it that more interesting. My tactic of slow and steady had been working so I applied it onto the final climb. I actually shot a little bit of GoPro footage here which you will all see resurface at a later date. Marc's photo in the post above is actually me cresting the top of this climb.
Our final decent proved super rewarding. We blasted back down the hill at a tremendous pace. The fact that this trail runs up the powerline cut enabled us to have a ton of wide open space to catch fresh powder tracks on the way back down. Reminded me of skiing fresh lines as me and Marc turned our "S" turns into figure 8's.
20120210-IMG_0863.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
David blasting the Fj through the snow:
20120210-IMG_0860.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
One last pic of the two Runner's on the hillside:
20120210-IMG_0870.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
As darkness was now upon us, we strolled into the Fas Gas parking lot where we had met earlier this morning. The cold air stinging my bare hands as I worked with my MV-50 to get my tires back up to 35 PSI. We joked around a little and I tried to convince David, how cool a projector retrofit would be on his FJ.
20120210-IMG_0876.jpg by
RickaShay24, on Flickr
There were smiles all around and we all couldn't help but voice how stunning the day had been. Perfect weather, some challenging obstacles, tons of snow, great views, and great fellowship to ice the cake. After a bite to eat and recovery of my keys locked in my truck, we parted ways in eager anticipation of our next Crowsnest Pass trail meet.
/End.
