We ran this trail with Keven (SactoXJ) and about 8 other Cherokees,
a Toyota PU, and a TJ. There were a lot of vehicles on the trail,
from well-equipped 4x4's with lockers, winches, and recovery gear
to idiots driving stock vehicles with street tires and no tow
points. Mormon Emigrant Trail is actually a paved road that connects
Sly Park Road (in Pollock Pines, off I-50) with Hwy 88, starting
to the west at Jenkinson lake and ending about 2500 feet higher
on Silver Fork Road near Iron Mountain ski hill. In the winter,
the road is officially closed, and not plowed by the park service,
but it's not gated off. The farther up you go, the deeper the
snow gets, and the tougher it is to keep from getting seriously
stuck!
I missed the group where I was supposed to meet at the Pollock
Pines exit and drove about 2 miles up the road before running
out of fresh tracks and turning around. A few minutes later I
met up with the rest of the group as I tried to get some kids
in a ZJ out of the middle of the trail. We headed up the trail
several miles further, some of us trying very hard to get stuck,
others trying to not get stuck, and all of us waiting around while
other stuck people got un-stuck. Great buch of folks, and some
really nice XJ's. I think around 3:00 pm my brother and I decided
we would try and go all the way across to the other end of the
trail. We left the rest of the group and followed the ruts created
by a flattie and a Samurai as well as we could.
BS loses a bead trying to jump out
of a deep rut
|
Hauling out the QuickAirII
|
5 minutes later and the tire is
back on, aired up to 10 psi, and ready to roll
|
Another group, mostly fullsize trucks,
having traction problems
|
Keven gets ready to tug the big
green Ford out of the ditch
|
I think that's my brother asleep
in the passenger seat
|
More waiting...
|
Another shot of Keven in recovery
mode
|
And another
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A big ugly old Ford gets a tow from
a little I-6
|
A shortcut that really never panned
out
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People pelting each other with snowballs
|
Another shortcut--I took off up
the trail and never did see how this XJ got out
|
Not much past where we left the group, the trail got significantly
steeper, and the snow a lot deeper. I got BS buried up to the
front fenders and had to get strapped out by a nice old dude
in a beat Toyota truck, who could be seen all afternoon stopped
at various points along the side of the road staring up at the
sky, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a Budweiser. Not a care
in the world. Forward progress got more and more shaky the higher
we went. By the time we got to the summit, BS was overheating,
spewing coolant all over the place and emitting a very unpleasant
"burnt-tranny" smell that made me nervous. Flotation
was key, but steering was really difficult. The flattie and
Samurai had it easier as they were lighter and could stay on
top of the crust, but I had to constantly change the rpms and
pressure on the gas to keep from digging a big hole or running
out of the ruts into the deep snow on either side.
By the time we made it to the upper parking lot, I needed a
beer in a big way. We aired up, filled the overflow bottle with
about 3/4 of a gallon of water, and headed back dow toward Stockton.
Fun day of wheeling, but I think I'll stick to the rocks unless
I'm chained up. I definitely need to install a tranny cooler
this summer.
Yeeehaw!
