The 1/14 Immigrant Trail snow trip turned out great. We ended up with a total of 12 rigs, 24 people, and one dog. Club members who participated include Brad, Keane & Kelly, Larry & Cole, John, Rob & Sue, Steve, Earl, Lee & Pam, Alex & Heidi, and Teddi & myself. We also had several guests, including Mark who's been active on our bulletin board and his daughter Jessa, Brad's friend Jerry, my friend Trina and her golden retriever Autumn, and my neighbors Chuck & Lisa, their daughter Rachel and her friend Tara.
We had 10 rigs that met at our usual spot, the EDH Starbucks, with a scheduled departure time of 9:00 am. The weather was cloudy and rainy with snow levels expected down to 4500 feet with 10 - 18 inches of new snow expected.
The trip from Starbucks up to Immigrant trail was uneventful. We did stop in Pollack Pines for one last chance to fill up the fuel tanks, use the restrooms and pick up any last minute essentials.
When we got to Jenkinson Lake at Sly Park I commented to Teddi that its about as full as I've ever seen it. Only a few feet more water and the lower boat ramp parking lot will be flooded.
Traveling up Immigrant Trail, we started seeing snow pretty early although there was no need to air down until we got a good ways past the information station on the right. As we were beginning to air down, we hear a call on the CB asking for anyone from the Posse. It was Earl about a half mile or so ahead of us. If I remember correctly, it's probably about 10:45 - 11:00 am.
After airing down, we proceeded up the trail and caught up with Earl. The trip up was very nice. With the fresh powder the road was very smooth and there were many comments how good the traction was. We did play leap frog with a group of Toyota trucks that were having their fun playing in some of the deeper stuff. Overall, the trip in went very well, with only a couple minor extractions.
We stopped for lunch and play time about 12:30 at the area after the big hill where the road curves to the left and then sweeps around to the right. The bowl area to the right seemed like a perfect place for the kids of all ages to ride their sleds down the hill. The only drawback was the wind but it didn't deter the kids.
We were joined by a group of five or six other rigs and they pulled out their sleds to play too. They knew how to have a lunch break. They set up an EZ Up canopy and pulled a full size bbq out of one of the trucks. Hmmm . . .
Some people had other obligations for later in the day so they cut the lunch break short and headed back. It ended up being Chuck & Lisa and the girls and Teddi and I sticking around for a little longer break.
While finishing our lunch, Chuck and I debated trying to go a little further just for fun, but that idea didn't go over too well with others in our little group. So we headed back the way we came. Since I plowed my Jeep into the deep snow when I parked, I did need to get a little assistance to unpark it - thanks Chuck.
On our way back down we picked up bits and pieces of talk from the lead group about various vehicles being stuck. It sounded like there was quite a traffic jam at times. By the time we got there things had been cleared up. So we made pretty good time and ended up catching Keane and Alex. But shortly before that we were surprised to see Lee & Pam heading up the road. Lee had gotten off work early called Pam and they came out to play a bit.
Alex's truck, being so light in the rear end, was entertaining at times. I heard about him doing a 180 and later watched as he spun sideways and went off the road. He's a Maniac! Lee ended up spinning out a little later too. At the time I thought it was intentional but later I found out otherwise.
We went slow and took our time for safetly the rest of the way down and ended up catching up to the rest of the group while they were airing up.
The worst part of the whole trip was the drive back up Sly Park road back to highway 50 with it snowing and a thin layer of slushy snow/ice on the road. It wasn't too bad for us as most of our trip was uphill. However the people coming down the hill had in interesting trip. I watched as one Honda slid into the ditch on their side of the road. I asked if he was ok and he said he was fine. Later I saw an on-coming YJ with all four wheels locked up trying to stop to make a left hand turn. And the worst was later a pickup that was flat-towing a flatfender Jeep had jack knifed on a left hand sweeping downhill curve. Fortunately it looked like no other vehicles were involved and they were just getting the truck off the road as we approached. Shortly after we saw the plow truck doing it's job and making the roads safer. Once we got on to highway 50 everything was fine.
Lee and Pam followed us home and we checked out their CB antenna. We found out the metal and vinyl washers had been reversed so there was a grounding problem. We fixed that, replaced the mounting spring, and checked the swr and found it to be nearly perfect.
All in all, it was a great day in the snow!
Edit) There were a couple announcements too. Trina told us that she was engaged, although it wasn't official until Saturday night when they told her parents. And a new announcement to me anyways, is Alex & Heidi are having a baby. It's a girl and the due date is May 27th. Congratulations everyone!