IXNAYXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Wherever the next race is.
Finally got some real snow last night! A buddy of mine has been wanting to go wheeling for a while, but we've never been able to find a time that worked for us...until yesterday afternoon.
Friend: "What are you up to tonight?"
Me: "Nothing."
Friend: "Let's wheel Evans Creek."
Me: "Okay."
So with that, I made a few phone calls to find a wingman...and our recent transplant from California was the only one game. With 1 hour of notice, Adam (adamusmc2002) was at the Bonney Lake Safeway with a full cooler waiting for the rest of us to show up.
We hit 311a first at about 8:30 taking our time and being careful. The fact that we were the only ones up there was never far from our minds. There was a light dusting of snow, but nothing too crazy. By the time we got to the top of 311b, it was a couple inches deep and providing some real challenge.
We motored down to the campground after that to see if there was anyone at all there...there wasn't. From there we hit 520, threading our way through the trees which looked ghostly covered in snow. Every foot of altitude we gained meant more and more snow. By the time we got to the top, there was probably three inches of fresh power. We were the first rigs to drive on this layer of snow.
At the top of 520, we jumped on 198 and made our way to the top. There were a few tense moments and I nearly slid off the trail at the top of 198. A couple quick minutes of winching and we were back on our way. At the deepest part there was at least 5"-6" of snow and all the puddles were totally frozen over.
Anyone planning on hitting altitudes over 4500 ft this weekend should plan on some serious snow, and I'm betting that Evans will be a winchfest this weekend if there are a lot of rigs up there. I WILL have some pictures soon, but for now you'll have to make do with a couple cell-phone pics from the Safeway parking lot on our way out. Note how deep the snow is on the roof rack!
-----Matt-----
Friend: "What are you up to tonight?"
Me: "Nothing."
Friend: "Let's wheel Evans Creek."
Me: "Okay."
So with that, I made a few phone calls to find a wingman...and our recent transplant from California was the only one game. With 1 hour of notice, Adam (adamusmc2002) was at the Bonney Lake Safeway with a full cooler waiting for the rest of us to show up.
We hit 311a first at about 8:30 taking our time and being careful. The fact that we were the only ones up there was never far from our minds. There was a light dusting of snow, but nothing too crazy. By the time we got to the top of 311b, it was a couple inches deep and providing some real challenge.
We motored down to the campground after that to see if there was anyone at all there...there wasn't. From there we hit 520, threading our way through the trees which looked ghostly covered in snow. Every foot of altitude we gained meant more and more snow. By the time we got to the top, there was probably three inches of fresh power. We were the first rigs to drive on this layer of snow.
At the top of 520, we jumped on 198 and made our way to the top. There were a few tense moments and I nearly slid off the trail at the top of 198. A couple quick minutes of winching and we were back on our way. At the deepest part there was at least 5"-6" of snow and all the puddles were totally frozen over.
Anyone planning on hitting altitudes over 4500 ft this weekend should plan on some serious snow, and I'm betting that Evans will be a winchfest this weekend if there are a lot of rigs up there. I WILL have some pictures soon, but for now you'll have to make do with a couple cell-phone pics from the Safeway parking lot on our way out. Note how deep the snow is on the roof rack!
-----Matt-----
