The Great Outdoors

[Artashes]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Boy i have never seen a winter like this before. We got another huge amount of snowfall today-work canceled, classes canceled. I took my truck to the lake to see what the roads were like there and got stuck. I had to walk back in two feet of snow across the frozen lake while 30 mph winds at 14 degrees were blowing in my face and i just had a sweatshirt on. I cant get my truck out and tow trucks wont even go in there. For the first time in a loong time i am looking forward to spring.

Yesterday it was 46 above, and today the same even tough my "smart" phone says its only 20 above.
Your getting our weather.
Everyone up here is glad your getting it and and likes this surprising warmth.
Such short sighted people.
I used to do recovery & transport with a roll back flat bed. Had to shut down the Dalton hwy to get the correct angle to recover a car that flipped & rolled about 100 feet off the hwy into the woods. Think it was around pump station 3 of the pipeline, but can't remember. Don't know of any situation that would stop a tow/recovery up here. If one guy won't do it the next will.

[Haykakan]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Yeh this one i would not want to touch either if i was the guy who had to pull it out. The reason i wont get anyone to come is because they will not come if they see what the situation is. The road is narrow and either side of it is a drop off into much deeper snow. You cant stay on this road because it is higher then the sides and in that deep snow the truck keeps sliding into the softer shoulder no matter how hard you try to keep it on the road. Steering is useless in this deep snow and you always slide back into the lower shoulder. The truck is too deep into the mess to be reached by wench.

[Eddo211]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Did you had chains on all four tires?

I live in Cali but my truck is loaded with tools and equipment and in those conditions you were experiencing I would carry extra fuel/rifle/gas heater/emergency locator/MREs, etc

[Artashes]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Yeh this one i would not want to touch either if i was the guy who had to pull it out. The reason i wont get anyone to come is because they will not come if they see what the situation is. The road is narrow and either side of it is a drop off into much deeper snow. You cant stay on this road because it is higher then the sides and in that deep snow the truck keeps sliding into the softer shoulder no matter how hard you try to keep it on the road. Steering is useless in this deep snow and you always slide back into the lower shoulder. The truck is too deep into the mess to be reached by wench.

I'm not trying to argue with you, but as a recovery & transport guy I used to be, I think I know this breed.
Recovery is as much an art form as a set procedures thing. You might read a tow and recovery magazine sometime to see the incredible recoveries performed.
To tell a recovery expert he can't do that is a challenge laid down and would bring nothing but disbelief up here.
Too far for a wench? Really. We got guys up her called mudders who put big fat tires on there trucks and then proceed to go out onto the flats (Tanana river flats) and get stuck 2 or 300 feet out. I've pulled many of these guys out while they are stuck up to their axels in mud. You just keep adding rope (steel cable) and chain till you reach them.
Insofar as the narrowness and steep drop & snow. If one rolls back the bed then angles it to its steepest angle then drops it down, one can lift the entire truck off the ground, then with the othe hydraulic tire lift in conjunction, you can walk a truck up the side of steep incline.
I had to rescue someone up Murphy Dome in similar situation as you discribe. Need to remove side mirrors it was so narrow. Deep snow, steep mountain, way back in there.
I'm absolutely sure you couldn't tell a recovery guy he couldn't do that. Unless their new to the game, imagination & determination are the rule.
Do you have a four wheel drive?
Hydraulics rule.

[Haykakan]

Re: The Great Outdoors

I have 4 X4 but no chains. I wish you were here Arty. We could either get my truck out or we could both wait for warmer weather to melt the snow..

[Haykakan]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Truck did come out-i had a guy with a loong wench pull it out but was pretty tricky. Been ice fishing since the semester is over and i have some time but the fishing has been very slow. The hi has been in the 20s and the ice is around 20 inches thick. I do not remember having ice this late let alone it being this thick. I think the slow fishing might have to do with the fact that the lake has been covered much longer then ever before by ice thus perhaps the oxygen levels in the water have been depleted. I had to look hard to find fish and the ones i found were not biting well. The ice was so nice-it had a thin layer of snow on it which prevented me from slipping but it was so smooth that pulling my 50lbs of gear was effortless. I did catch a big bass on my panfish pole and that was a fun fight but ice fishing has not been good. We are to go from 20s to 40s the next couple days so perhaps this is goodbye to old man winter till next season but this ice will take forever to melt thus i will be fishing next couple weeks.

[Siggie]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Was Vahram the only photo guy on the forum? Anyone?

[jgk3]

Re: The Great Outdoors

Beautiful pics Siggie, and your description of the trip sounds awesome

[Haykakan]

Re: The Great Outdoors

It was in the 60s yesterday. All the snow and ice had melted but today there is 3 to 4 inches of new snow here. Everything is covered in a thick white blanket again. Pretty strange weather here last several years and it is getting stranger every year. We had 70 degrees and 40 to 50 mph winds few days ago-had no power-heat-runing water for two days. The ups and downs in the weather pattern are becoming more and more extreme.

[Haykakan]

Re: The Great Outdoors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNlS3VKfVV4