It was Saturday, 01.14.2012 and the new "off-road" tires installed on the Mountaineer only a few months ago where now getting their first test against Winter's fury. Instead of treading along against asphalt and concrete, they were perched high on top of a densely packed layer of snow and ice. What began as a careful and leisurely drive on Route 90 Eastbound in Willoughby quickly turned into a "Where's the road and the vehicle in front of me?" ride through a blizzard. From 306 to Route 11, it was a complete white out and such limited visibility that grabbing a glimpse of red tail lights a car length a head of me was a welcome relief! With that said, the traffic seem to cruise along at a manageable pace most of the time and the bad weather only added about 35 minutes to the freeway driving leg of the trip.
I arrived at Erie's Home Depot with about 4 minutes to spare before closing time at 9pm. The employees seemed extremely eager to assist me because it was time for them to go home. I know the feeling! I was literally in and out of the place in 10 minutes. In that time frame, I made a return, loaded up 7 more sheets of T1-11 and used the restroom. I'd call that amazing! From there, I zipped down the road and picked up a case of Iron City Lager for Pedro and Joe as a thank you for how accommodating he's been with the use of his cabin while the "Shed-Mahal" has progressed through the various stages of construction.
The final leg of the trip, until the turn off onto the second to the last road into camp, was uneventful. Maintaining the posted speed limit had me arriving at the time the GPS had predicted. As the tires slowed to a stop after taking the turn left, I placed a call to Jennifer to let her know that I had arrived safely and was parked at the base of the mountain. After saying our "I love you's" and "goodbyes" the fun began. I started in reverse and edge the trailer closer to the main road which was at a higher grade figuring a running start wasn't a bad thing. This was the first attempt at ascending the switchback road with this much snow, ice and underlying mud. The transmission was placed into 2nd gear and the roll down and then way up the road began. The long ascent up the mountain went well, a little bit of slipping at one point, but for the most part...manageable. It was at the point that I traversed the switch back, a sharp turn to the right, that my palms began to sweat and my hands wrapped around the perimeter of the steering wheel in a death grip. Did I mention that I was towing a 650# utility trailer loaded with 200#'s of t1-11 and tools? I don't believe I did! It was at this point in the journey that I understood the extent of my SUV's capabilities and began to test to upper limits of AWD traction control. 3/4 of the way through the right turn, the SUV and trailer began to slide off the crown of the road to the left. I had purposely swung wide toward the left because the alternative to the slide would have been "RIGHT" down the crown and down the mountain. Being stuck in the trench nearest the upside of the mountain is a much safer place to lament one's bad luck over treacherous roads. In a response to the left slide down the ravine and upside of the mountain, I turned the wheel sharp to right. In the side view mirror, my eye caught the yellow and red running lights of the trailer swing wide as if it they were a water skier being towed by a jet boat. Knowing that if the tires hit the soft piled snow on the very edge of the road, I'd be doomed...I hit the gas hard and turned the wheel even more sharply. This caused me to drift a bit, which I corrected and before you know it I was safely out of the woods (no pun intended) and pointed straight down the road. The next challenge was coming just ahead. The private drive that is our road into camp is not maintained and if you've watched some of my earlier videos you might have caught a glimpse of the eroded portion that gives us a little trouble even during the summer when it is bone dry. Add in a little moisture, blanket it with 8-12" of snow and you'll understand the hurdle I was up against. To make it short and sweet, I made it; I left behind two dredged pathways from tires spinning at full throttle, but I made it!
Pedro's cabin was brightly lit and welcoming. As I unloaded the SUV, the contrast between the 80 degree warmth of the fireplace and the 12 degree blowing snow of the front yard was alarming. The distance between my luggage in the hatch and just inside the door to the front room of the cabin was a mere 30 feet, but it still didn't take long to really start to freeze! I'll sum it up like this, I was glad to be inside, beer in hand, chomping on fresh food, warmed by a roaring fireplace and enjoying the remainder of the NFL football game on the TV.
After warming up a bit, I got a thought in my head which started out like, "Wouldn't it be cool..." I had never had a chance to film in the evening. Now would be a great time to see how the LED equipped camcorder illuminated things and to discover the quality of the filming given the lack of light pollution at camp. Trudging through the snow, filming along the way, was an eye opener to just how cold the "real feel" temperature was. Within minutes my gloveless hands started to feel numb and experience reduced mobility. But, the sacrifice was worth it! The first half of the attached video shows a split screen between what I captured at 11:45PM Saturday evening and 11:45AM on Sunday morning. I hope you enjoy!
Dj
The final leg of the trip, until the turn off onto the second to the last road into camp, was uneventful. Maintaining the posted speed limit had me arriving at the time the GPS had predicted. As the tires slowed to a stop after taking the turn left, I placed a call to Jennifer to let her know that I had arrived safely and was parked at the base of the mountain. After saying our "I love you's" and "goodbyes" the fun began. I started in reverse and edge the trailer closer to the main road which was at a higher grade figuring a running start wasn't a bad thing. This was the first attempt at ascending the switchback road with this much snow, ice and underlying mud. The transmission was placed into 2nd gear and the roll down and then way up the road began. The long ascent up the mountain went well, a little bit of slipping at one point, but for the most part...manageable. It was at the point that I traversed the switch back, a sharp turn to the right, that my palms began to sweat and my hands wrapped around the perimeter of the steering wheel in a death grip. Did I mention that I was towing a 650# utility trailer loaded with 200#'s of t1-11 and tools? I don't believe I did! It was at this point in the journey that I understood the extent of my SUV's capabilities and began to test to upper limits of AWD traction control. 3/4 of the way through the right turn, the SUV and trailer began to slide off the crown of the road to the left. I had purposely swung wide toward the left because the alternative to the slide would have been "RIGHT" down the crown and down the mountain. Being stuck in the trench nearest the upside of the mountain is a much safer place to lament one's bad luck over treacherous roads. In a response to the left slide down the ravine and upside of the mountain, I turned the wheel sharp to right. In the side view mirror, my eye caught the yellow and red running lights of the trailer swing wide as if it they were a water skier being towed by a jet boat. Knowing that if the tires hit the soft piled snow on the very edge of the road, I'd be doomed...I hit the gas hard and turned the wheel even more sharply. This caused me to drift a bit, which I corrected and before you know it I was safely out of the woods (no pun intended) and pointed straight down the road. The next challenge was coming just ahead. The private drive that is our road into camp is not maintained and if you've watched some of my earlier videos you might have caught a glimpse of the eroded portion that gives us a little trouble even during the summer when it is bone dry. Add in a little moisture, blanket it with 8-12" of snow and you'll understand the hurdle I was up against. To make it short and sweet, I made it; I left behind two dredged pathways from tires spinning at full throttle, but I made it!
Pedro's cabin was brightly lit and welcoming. As I unloaded the SUV, the contrast between the 80 degree warmth of the fireplace and the 12 degree blowing snow of the front yard was alarming. The distance between my luggage in the hatch and just inside the door to the front room of the cabin was a mere 30 feet, but it still didn't take long to really start to freeze! I'll sum it up like this, I was glad to be inside, beer in hand, chomping on fresh food, warmed by a roaring fireplace and enjoying the remainder of the NFL football game on the TV.
After warming up a bit, I got a thought in my head which started out like, "Wouldn't it be cool..." I had never had a chance to film in the evening. Now would be a great time to see how the LED equipped camcorder illuminated things and to discover the quality of the filming given the lack of light pollution at camp. Trudging through the snow, filming along the way, was an eye opener to just how cold the "real feel" temperature was. Within minutes my gloveless hands started to feel numb and experience reduced mobility. But, the sacrifice was worth it! The first half of the attached video shows a split screen between what I captured at 11:45PM Saturday evening and 11:45AM on Sunday morning. I hope you enjoy!
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