Just a three hour drive

[fish more]

Well monday afternoon I decided to take a drive up towards Hell Hole, a lake I like to fish at times. I was told by a customer at work that they were able to get to the lake a week ago sunday. So I decided to take a short drive and check it out. The route I took was the only way to get into this area thir time of the year due to snow, also the utility companies keep the roads fairly clear, mostly only one lane at times. Knowing I would likely see snow, I brought warm clothing and worn some boots.

After driving out of Auburn for about 1 1/2 hours I finally reached Hell Hole road, off of road #2 in the Tahoe National Forest. I started up the hill towards the lake and started to hit some snow, not so bad at this point. After driving up the road further I started to hit some deeper snow, but still was ok, so onward !! I got to the last hill before the top of the summit and saw that the snow was a bit too deep to driving my F150 on, so I saw a place to turn around, I got stuck about fifty feet short of the turn around.

So now what do I do ? Well it looks like at this point I will be spending the night, good thing my camper was on my truck. No cell service in this neck of the woods. The next morning I decide to hike approx. 20 miles to get cell service and phone for some help to pull me out. After hiking towards Georgetown I ran into some very deep snow drifts, and decided to turn around and head back towards my stuck truck and camper.

I was about 2 miles from my truck when I spotted a Tucker Snocat parked near a water diverson dam, so I checked it out and found a shovel, so off I went with a shovel to dig my truck out. On the way back up the hill, I spotted the Snocat coming back up the hill. The driver Mark stopped and said " I see you got my shovel , put the shovel in the back and get in." Well the Snocat pulled my truck out, towed me down the hill aways. Mark the driver said, if you get stuck again we will be coming back in the AM and pull you out again.

So a mile down the road I hit some deep snow and got stuck again !! Now with all the hardened snow on my roof I could pop the top, so I went minature. The heater felt so good. Was able to dry all my clothes with the heater (a good investment) and make a drink with snow and Jack Daniels, eat some snacks and spent another night, the next morning here comes the Snocat and towed me below the snowline. Just a short drive !

 

[Marc]

Wow , Glad to hear that all worked out OK. Chains , Winch, Pull Pal ?? Ya never know when you might need um.

marc

 

[craig333]

I don't remember, is your truck 4wd? Gotta love having the camper for these times. Turns what could be a survival adventure into just a minor inconvenience.

Glad to know theres that much snow up by hell hole (ever done the jeep trail there?). Makes my decision to stay home this weekend feel better.

 

[craig333]

Maybe we could name your rig the "minnow"?

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Nice photo of the snow cat! Got any of your truck?

Stew

 

[HERR42]

you should get a 2 meter ham radio. you would have been able to talk to a lot of folks.
the ham radio test is really easy, 35 questions, all multiple choice. radio = $120, mag mnt antenna = $35

holy smokes man!

 

[fish more]

you should get a 2 meter ham radio. you would have been able to talk to a lot of folks.
the ham radio test is really easy, 35 questions, all multiple choice. radio = $120, mag mnt antenna = $35

holy smokes man!

 

[fish more]

Hey thanks guys !! I think I will invest in a winch !! Yeh Craig my truck is 4x4, just not built to drive in four feet of snow the last morning. This last storm brought a ton of snow to the mountains. I was told they are going to plow the road all the way to Hell Hole next week. I'll be there fishing for sure. On the way up on my drive I remembered i did not have my camera. Could have gotten some great pics. The picture of the Snocat came from Tucker's web site. That machine was way cool, had all the toys !! I didn't think I liked orange as much I did wednesday morning as they were coming down the road in 4-5 feet of snow. The storm was intense, winds over 80 mph, blowing over 120 mph on the summit and snow that seemed to never stop. I was more worried about a tree blowing down and crushing the camper and truck. At work there calling me "Man vs Wild". I call it "Me have no winch". Oh well I'm just glad I'm still around to talk about it. My wife asked if I learned a lesson, I said yes, but next time I will bring a shovel !

 

[Silvertip47]

At least you were in very good company with Jack!!!

Glad you had your camper on or that would have been a couple miserable nights!!!

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Glad to hear things worked out OK.

Sounds like you made the best out of it.

At least it was not another story like awhile back, of the guy that ate the bad hot links.

LOL


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

<<<<

I ate lunch last Tuesday at a restaurant located on a nearby trout stream. Hot-link sandwich and a beer. Although I'd told my wife I was merely going to lunch, I got a wild hair and started scouting the river for some likely spots.

A couple hours later, headed home, I stopped at a liquor store and bought a 12-pack of Killians and a pack of smokes. Then I headed home on a back road that I knew well and had driven often.

At this point I became aware of some acute gastrointestinal problems. Bad hot links? I needed privacy, fast, and I turned off the road and up a side road. After taking care of my business, I decided that I had put the truck in a position that I couldn't back it up, and would have to continue forward.

>>>





.

 

[leadsled9]

Get yourself a winch. You will never be sorry.....and it might save you tons of grief. Since most of my travels are solo.....I always install a winch on my trucks. It is real cheap insurance.

 

[fish more]

Ya, that's the plan ! Possible new "Tucker".

 

[LuckyDan]

you should get a 2 meter ham radio. you would have been able to talk to a lot of folks.
the ham radio test is really easy, 35 questions, all multiple choice. radio = $120, mag mnt antenna = $35

holy smokes man


Works anywhere in the world radio and antenna $135....

That's less than my cell phone booster by a bit.

May your next fishing trip be more fishing and less un-stuck-ing.....

 

[fish more]

Any suggestions on make, type of winch ? Was thinking about the kind that will fit into a front or rear receiver, any comments ?

 

[leadsled9]

Any suggestions on make, type of winch ? Was thinking about the kind that will fit into a front or rear receiver, any comments ?


I've had a vehicle mounted winch on all my vehicles since 1970. I've had experience with Ramsey and Warn winches. The Warn brand is the one I stick with.

The Ramsey winch failed with a broken internal gear. When I opened it up to repair it (it was off warranty), I found the design to be lacking to say the least. I'm not saying all Ramsey winches are poorly designed...but the one I had (REP 8000) was lame. Ramsey makes some great winches.

My method of 4 wheeling used to be go until you are hoplessly stuck....then winch out. I was young and stupid back then....I am older and hopefully smarter now.

The Warn winches have been bullet proof! I currently own four winches.....two Warn 3000 lb winches on my atv (one on front, one on back), one 9500 lb winch on my Tundra and one Warn 16,500 lb winch on my Ford. I am going to remove the 9500 winch from the Tundra and install it into a carrier so I can mount it on the back of the Ford if needed (with a receiver mount like you are suggesting). I no longer use the Tundra (200K+ miles) offroad so it really doesn't need a winch anymore.

As for capacity, get the largest capacity winch that will fit on your vehicle. Winches are rated with one wrap of cable on the drum. Every additional wrap of cable on the drum lowers that capacity considerably. If you need your winch, and the only anchor available for hook up is close (in other words you have 3 or 4 wraps of cable on the drum), then you are not going to get anywhere near the capacity rating of the winch to pull you out. The rule-of-thumb (from 4 Wheel Parts website) minimum is to take your GVW (that’s Gross Vehicle Weight, not curb weight) and multiply it by 1.5.

Hope this helps.

 

[Marc]

Any suggestions on make, type of winch ? Was thinking about the kind that will fit into a front or rear receiver, any comments ?



Warn 9.5. Fits Warn's porta mount perfect. I had one on my last truck and only carried it when on trips. Some might say its to small, but I used it effectively on my 97 F250 PSD with an Alasksn 8ft. NCO with a 2:1 purchase and it never failed me. Ran pwer to the back with warns quick connects and was always ready for which ever end I needed to pull.

marc

 

[leadsled9]

Was thinking about the kind that will fit into a front or rear receiver, any comments ?


Oh, I forgot to say that this is a great idea. In fact, that's what I did for my atv. I installed a mounting system so you could use the winch in the front or rear receiver.

Word of caution. Practice proper receiver maintenance. That means clean and grease your receivers annually. I didn't....and when I really needed a winch on the rear of my atv.....it was rusted into the front receiver! I had to use wd40 and pound on the winch with a big rock to break it free. It took me over one hour of wrestling and swearing to get the winch out of the front receiver (which was almost submerged).

That is why I purchased another receiver cradle....and another winch....and now have them on both ends of the atv. I've used them quite often....as I now beat up my atv rather than my truck. I've rolled my atv twice....and without a winch.....would have had no way to roll it over by myself....it weighs in excess of 650 lbs.

 

[fish more]

Thanks for the input. It would be nice to use the winch front or rear, just concerned about how strong the front mounted receivers are ? Hey Marc, do you still use the same set-up ? Thanks for the tips leadsled.

 

[leadsled9]

It would be nice to use the winch front or rear, just concerned about how strong the front mounted receivers are ?


Warn Industries manufactures those type of mounting kits. You can be certain of quality if you buy from them.

 

[Ted]

Fish More,

Good thing DD wasn't around when you did this trip. You would have ended up with a new moniker and the butt of his jokes.

"Magellan"