- Joined
- February 7, 1999
- Messages
- 2,373
- Reaction score
- 11
- City, State
- Sherwood Park, Alberta eh?
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1992 XLT
Here is a little writeup on the wheelin' trip I went on yesterday.
This doesn't look that bad.
by Paul Gagnon
Tuesday isn't really a day that you think of as a wheelin' day unless you are on vacation or unemployed. Since I am unemployed I figured that a suggestion for some weekday wheelin' made good sense. So a few of us met to go fart around at Stave Lake. Normally Stave Lake is associated with driving around the mud flats getting dirty or the pretty mild terrain of the surrounding hills. The plan was to explore a few of the less travelled side trails. Our group consisted of me in my Explorer, Dan in his Land Cruiser, Luke in his 3/4 ton Chevy and Derek in another Land Cruiser. There was also Wes who parked his YJ at the main gate and came along for the ride.
After airing down we headed out for the trails. The first little trail we came to was a short rocky trail with a few very large boulders thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately the creek that used to run under the trail in a culvert now made it's way down the trail and with all the recent rain we decided that this one would be best left to try during a dryer season. We turned around and headed back out to the main road and a short distance up the hill to another trail head.
Since we were unsure of the amount of snow on the trail I led us down the path. This trail was your typical winding through the wood with lots of overhanging snow-covered branches. While the trail was not challenging it was kinda fun driving through the trees and having the evergreen boughs brush over the truck, another fine example of the West Coast Soft Cloth Car Wash. After a few minutes the trail narrowed and I got out to see how far it went. There was only another thirty feet and the trail narrowed to what looked like a deer run. We turned around and I headed up the hill first. As I came up the trail near to the main road I noticed a little trail that went off to the left and asked the other guys if they wanted to check it out. Dan was up for it but Wes said it didn't go anywhere and it was very soft in there. I figured that we might as well check it out since we were exploring for new trails and there didn't seem to be any really good reason not to try it. Dan and I would check it out while the others waited for us back at the main road.
The trail looked like it was in good shape even though it was obvious that nobody had been there in quite a while. It was not overgrown and the ground appeared to be fairly solid with the exception of one point in the trail where it seemed that the edge of the trail might slough off under the weight of our trucks. After safely passing that point we continued along what seemed to be an unremarkable trail. Down at the bottom of the hill there was a spur off to the right and a fallen log blocking the main trail. Dan wanted to go to the right but I figured that it wouldn't be hard to winch the log out of the way and continue. The log moved fairly easily and I wanted to see if it would break so we could drive over it since it was still partially blocking the trail. This is where the fun started.
The trail seemed very stable when we were driving down but we very soon came to realize how deceiving it's appearance was. The ground was saturated with water and when the surface was disturbed all the water came rushing out of the soil and into channel created by the disturbance. This meant that our tire tracks very quickly became full of flowing water. In the course of trying to push and break the log I was creating quite a mess. I eventually got stuck in the ruts that my tires had created even though there were no ruts or puddles to begin with and I was using as little throttle as possible. Dan hooked up the tow strap to his Cruiser and attempted to pull me backwards. It was very strange, I could see him back up and take a run, I could see the strap get tight and his truck (with the wheels spinning) stop moving but I could not feel even the tiniest amount of force pulling on my truck. The log was preventing me from moving forward and the ruts were keeping me from moving back. I winched the log one more time to get it off to the side of the trail but it was no help. At about this point Wes, Derek and Luke came walking down the hill to see where we were.
The muddy holes that my tires were sitting in seemed to grow larger by the second but it still seemed like there was hope. I was able to get a little traction and move forward and back. Now that I think about it, I think at one point there was too much traction. My wheels were turned to the left and I was slowly clawing forward when suddenly there was an extremely loud bang followed by loud clanging. I thought to myself, "Hey I know that sound." It was the sound of an axle u-joint shattering; great now I was three-wheel drive, at least it wasn't the driveshaft. After winching the log forward to get it completely out of the way I tried to winch my truck forward to (what seemed to be) solid ground. All that this succeeded in doing was to lift the right front tire high into the air. What we really needed was another winch to pull me back but Dan's winch was at home in pieces and Luke's winch didn't work. Derek and Luke made a couple of trips up to their trucks to get some more gear. We now had shovels so we dug out where we thought it would help. I slipped and sunk into the muddy water, the first of many times, it was about mid-calf deep. About a half of an hour later I slipped into the same hole and it was now knee deep.
Time was running out, as it would soon be dark here, deep in the woods on the mountainside. We decided that it was time to have someone go back and try to make a phone call for help. Luke and Wes hiked back up to the top while Derek, Dan and I tried to dig little drainage ditches to get some of the water to flow. It seemed to be working and once we accomplished that Dan attempted to turn his truck around. His first try at backing out yielded little progress and we noticed that only the driver's side front wheel was turning. Derek remarked that he thought Dan had a front locker and I seemed to remember hearing the same thing. I yelled over to Dan and asked if he was locked in the front. His reply was yes and when I mentioned that only one wheel was turning he answered with the expected "Aw ****!" With a little luck maybe it was only that his hub was unlocked, nope it was locked. Dan drove forward and then we heard it, that clunk clunk clunk sound that a broken Birfield makes. When did that happen? Shrugs all around, "I don't remember hearing it break do you?" "Nope I didn't hear it break either." "Me neither!"
There wasn't a whole lot we could do except try to get the Cruiser out of this new mud pit and onto solid ground. After some excellent manoeuvring Dan managed to get out of the hole and onto dry ground. The hole was now a couple of feet deep but we'd worry about that after changing the Birfield. Work on the Cruiser began but quickly ground to a halt as the stubborn hub refused to come apart. Dan decided that he'd leave it and fix it at home. Our main concern now was to try and get Dan off the trail and back to the main road. By this time Luke had returned and informed us that Wes had gone to get a couple of snatch blocks, tree straps and shackles from Dan. It wasn't a truck with a winch but at least with two more snatch blocks I could winch myself backwards.
Trying to get Dan's Cruiser up the hill sounded a lot easier than it really was. The thin layer of soil on top was all that was holding the water back. Once again breaking through that crust caused the water to flow out from the surrounding dirt at and amazing speed. Much like digging in the sand at the beach, the ground appeared dry until it was disturbed and only then could you really see how wet the soil was. Needless to say the results here were less than expected and in fact with each successive attempt it became worse. At one point the Cruiser was almost up to the level ground but the end result was that no amount of backing up a little and then going forward would help. In fact this plan ended with Dan's truck sitting at the bottom of the hill fifteen feet from where he'd started. Was there no end to this day?
Derek and Luke hiked back out to the road again to try and make a few more phone calls while Dan and I waited with the trucks. Darkness set in very quickly and the constant drizzle that had been plaguing us all day continued. Soon there were flashlights coming down the hill, Luke, Derek and Wes had returned. We set about rigging up the snatchblocks to pull my truck backwards. When everything was hooked up Dan was standing by the driver's door so he hopped in to control the winch. The first attempt was a great success, sorta. The truck moved back until the driver's side rear tire was against the bank and any further winching would only lift the front passenger tire off the ground. At on point the right front tire was four feet off the ground and the right rear was almost a foot off the ground. As the night progressed we would begin to refer to letting the winch cable out as putting the truck back down on the ground. We filled the big holes with logs and I again slipped into one. This time it was about mid-thigh deep. We'd all been slipping and sliding but since it was my truck that was stuck I was the one who made all of the deep-water excursions. That didn't mean the other guys stayed clean, it just meant that I was the wettest.
With each pull we made better progress and as each snatch block set-up reached the end of it's usefulness we repositioned all of our gear and pulled again until the wheels came off the ground to reposition and try again. I stepped in front of my truck and without fail the slippery goo reached out and tripped me. I began sliding towards the deepest hole and with a terrified look on my face I reached out to grab the front bumper. Phew, I was safe, I'd managed not to fall completely under the truck but I was now in muddy water up to my elbow. My pants were so wet and heavy that they were falling off. I felt like one of those kids that wears those huge pants. By now it was almost 10 PM and my truck had been stuck here since around 11:40 in the morning. A few more pulls and some more re-routing of the cable and my truck was free. Success, I guess, if you can call winching backwards less than sixty feet in six hours success.
What a relief, almost, we still had to get back to the main road. With Dan's Cruiser in front of me I there was no option but to winch him forward and then winch myself to him. Somewhere along the way left side roller on my roller fairlead had broken so this meant every pull would have to be straight or to the right. It actually worked out well but by now my winch and battery were quite a bit less than happy and even though I have a 130 amp alternator it just could not keep up with the demand. At one point winching made the headlights go so dim that it looked like they were off. Once Dan made it to the level ground at the top of the first hill he was able to continue on almost to the trailhead where Luke was able to hook up a tow strap and pull him out. For me it was a different story, with the ground ahead of me now disturbed I was unable to crawl along and also unable to throttle out. I would end up winching almost then entire half mile back to the trailhead. Indeed at the point in the trail that we had originally been concerned about the trail washing away, the Explorer slid off the trail and were it not for the winch it would have rolled down the embankment. It took just over two hours to get back to the main road.
We'd broken my u-joint and axle shaft, Dan's Birfield, my jack, my roller fairlead, Luke's exhaust, possibly Derek's camera and we'd killed the batteries in four flashlights. A very productive day for an unemployed guy dontcha think? It is amazing that we had such trouble on a trail that seemed so innocent when we descended the hill a little before noon. After thirteen and a half hours of slipping and sliding in the mud and winching every which way I was very glad to see that nobody had got hurt. If any of us were unsure about winching before this all of those doubts were surely removed. Now that we were finally out we headed to Tim Horton's for a hot chocolate. We were so dirty it is amazing that we didn't get kicked out. What a long day this has been definitely a story to remember.
This doesn't look that bad.
by Paul Gagnon
Tuesday isn't really a day that you think of as a wheelin' day unless you are on vacation or unemployed. Since I am unemployed I figured that a suggestion for some weekday wheelin' made good sense. So a few of us met to go fart around at Stave Lake. Normally Stave Lake is associated with driving around the mud flats getting dirty or the pretty mild terrain of the surrounding hills. The plan was to explore a few of the less travelled side trails. Our group consisted of me in my Explorer, Dan in his Land Cruiser, Luke in his 3/4 ton Chevy and Derek in another Land Cruiser. There was also Wes who parked his YJ at the main gate and came along for the ride.
After airing down we headed out for the trails. The first little trail we came to was a short rocky trail with a few very large boulders thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately the creek that used to run under the trail in a culvert now made it's way down the trail and with all the recent rain we decided that this one would be best left to try during a dryer season. We turned around and headed back out to the main road and a short distance up the hill to another trail head.
Since we were unsure of the amount of snow on the trail I led us down the path. This trail was your typical winding through the wood with lots of overhanging snow-covered branches. While the trail was not challenging it was kinda fun driving through the trees and having the evergreen boughs brush over the truck, another fine example of the West Coast Soft Cloth Car Wash. After a few minutes the trail narrowed and I got out to see how far it went. There was only another thirty feet and the trail narrowed to what looked like a deer run. We turned around and I headed up the hill first. As I came up the trail near to the main road I noticed a little trail that went off to the left and asked the other guys if they wanted to check it out. Dan was up for it but Wes said it didn't go anywhere and it was very soft in there. I figured that we might as well check it out since we were exploring for new trails and there didn't seem to be any really good reason not to try it. Dan and I would check it out while the others waited for us back at the main road.
The trail looked like it was in good shape even though it was obvious that nobody had been there in quite a while. It was not overgrown and the ground appeared to be fairly solid with the exception of one point in the trail where it seemed that the edge of the trail might slough off under the weight of our trucks. After safely passing that point we continued along what seemed to be an unremarkable trail. Down at the bottom of the hill there was a spur off to the right and a fallen log blocking the main trail. Dan wanted to go to the right but I figured that it wouldn't be hard to winch the log out of the way and continue. The log moved fairly easily and I wanted to see if it would break so we could drive over it since it was still partially blocking the trail. This is where the fun started.
The trail seemed very stable when we were driving down but we very soon came to realize how deceiving it's appearance was. The ground was saturated with water and when the surface was disturbed all the water came rushing out of the soil and into channel created by the disturbance. This meant that our tire tracks very quickly became full of flowing water. In the course of trying to push and break the log I was creating quite a mess. I eventually got stuck in the ruts that my tires had created even though there were no ruts or puddles to begin with and I was using as little throttle as possible. Dan hooked up the tow strap to his Cruiser and attempted to pull me backwards. It was very strange, I could see him back up and take a run, I could see the strap get tight and his truck (with the wheels spinning) stop moving but I could not feel even the tiniest amount of force pulling on my truck. The log was preventing me from moving forward and the ruts were keeping me from moving back. I winched the log one more time to get it off to the side of the trail but it was no help. At about this point Wes, Derek and Luke came walking down the hill to see where we were.
The muddy holes that my tires were sitting in seemed to grow larger by the second but it still seemed like there was hope. I was able to get a little traction and move forward and back. Now that I think about it, I think at one point there was too much traction. My wheels were turned to the left and I was slowly clawing forward when suddenly there was an extremely loud bang followed by loud clanging. I thought to myself, "Hey I know that sound." It was the sound of an axle u-joint shattering; great now I was three-wheel drive, at least it wasn't the driveshaft. After winching the log forward to get it completely out of the way I tried to winch my truck forward to (what seemed to be) solid ground. All that this succeeded in doing was to lift the right front tire high into the air. What we really needed was another winch to pull me back but Dan's winch was at home in pieces and Luke's winch didn't work. Derek and Luke made a couple of trips up to their trucks to get some more gear. We now had shovels so we dug out where we thought it would help. I slipped and sunk into the muddy water, the first of many times, it was about mid-calf deep. About a half of an hour later I slipped into the same hole and it was now knee deep.
Time was running out, as it would soon be dark here, deep in the woods on the mountainside. We decided that it was time to have someone go back and try to make a phone call for help. Luke and Wes hiked back up to the top while Derek, Dan and I tried to dig little drainage ditches to get some of the water to flow. It seemed to be working and once we accomplished that Dan attempted to turn his truck around. His first try at backing out yielded little progress and we noticed that only the driver's side front wheel was turning. Derek remarked that he thought Dan had a front locker and I seemed to remember hearing the same thing. I yelled over to Dan and asked if he was locked in the front. His reply was yes and when I mentioned that only one wheel was turning he answered with the expected "Aw ****!" With a little luck maybe it was only that his hub was unlocked, nope it was locked. Dan drove forward and then we heard it, that clunk clunk clunk sound that a broken Birfield makes. When did that happen? Shrugs all around, "I don't remember hearing it break do you?" "Nope I didn't hear it break either." "Me neither!"
There wasn't a whole lot we could do except try to get the Cruiser out of this new mud pit and onto solid ground. After some excellent manoeuvring Dan managed to get out of the hole and onto dry ground. The hole was now a couple of feet deep but we'd worry about that after changing the Birfield. Work on the Cruiser began but quickly ground to a halt as the stubborn hub refused to come apart. Dan decided that he'd leave it and fix it at home. Our main concern now was to try and get Dan off the trail and back to the main road. By this time Luke had returned and informed us that Wes had gone to get a couple of snatch blocks, tree straps and shackles from Dan. It wasn't a truck with a winch but at least with two more snatch blocks I could winch myself backwards.
Trying to get Dan's Cruiser up the hill sounded a lot easier than it really was. The thin layer of soil on top was all that was holding the water back. Once again breaking through that crust caused the water to flow out from the surrounding dirt at and amazing speed. Much like digging in the sand at the beach, the ground appeared dry until it was disturbed and only then could you really see how wet the soil was. Needless to say the results here were less than expected and in fact with each successive attempt it became worse. At one point the Cruiser was almost up to the level ground but the end result was that no amount of backing up a little and then going forward would help. In fact this plan ended with Dan's truck sitting at the bottom of the hill fifteen feet from where he'd started. Was there no end to this day?
Derek and Luke hiked back out to the road again to try and make a few more phone calls while Dan and I waited with the trucks. Darkness set in very quickly and the constant drizzle that had been plaguing us all day continued. Soon there were flashlights coming down the hill, Luke, Derek and Wes had returned. We set about rigging up the snatchblocks to pull my truck backwards. When everything was hooked up Dan was standing by the driver's door so he hopped in to control the winch. The first attempt was a great success, sorta. The truck moved back until the driver's side rear tire was against the bank and any further winching would only lift the front passenger tire off the ground. At on point the right front tire was four feet off the ground and the right rear was almost a foot off the ground. As the night progressed we would begin to refer to letting the winch cable out as putting the truck back down on the ground. We filled the big holes with logs and I again slipped into one. This time it was about mid-thigh deep. We'd all been slipping and sliding but since it was my truck that was stuck I was the one who made all of the deep-water excursions. That didn't mean the other guys stayed clean, it just meant that I was the wettest.
With each pull we made better progress and as each snatch block set-up reached the end of it's usefulness we repositioned all of our gear and pulled again until the wheels came off the ground to reposition and try again. I stepped in front of my truck and without fail the slippery goo reached out and tripped me. I began sliding towards the deepest hole and with a terrified look on my face I reached out to grab the front bumper. Phew, I was safe, I'd managed not to fall completely under the truck but I was now in muddy water up to my elbow. My pants were so wet and heavy that they were falling off. I felt like one of those kids that wears those huge pants. By now it was almost 10 PM and my truck had been stuck here since around 11:40 in the morning. A few more pulls and some more re-routing of the cable and my truck was free. Success, I guess, if you can call winching backwards less than sixty feet in six hours success.
What a relief, almost, we still had to get back to the main road. With Dan's Cruiser in front of me I there was no option but to winch him forward and then winch myself to him. Somewhere along the way left side roller on my roller fairlead had broken so this meant every pull would have to be straight or to the right. It actually worked out well but by now my winch and battery were quite a bit less than happy and even though I have a 130 amp alternator it just could not keep up with the demand. At one point winching made the headlights go so dim that it looked like they were off. Once Dan made it to the level ground at the top of the first hill he was able to continue on almost to the trailhead where Luke was able to hook up a tow strap and pull him out. For me it was a different story, with the ground ahead of me now disturbed I was unable to crawl along and also unable to throttle out. I would end up winching almost then entire half mile back to the trailhead. Indeed at the point in the trail that we had originally been concerned about the trail washing away, the Explorer slid off the trail and were it not for the winch it would have rolled down the embankment. It took just over two hours to get back to the main road.
We'd broken my u-joint and axle shaft, Dan's Birfield, my jack, my roller fairlead, Luke's exhaust, possibly Derek's camera and we'd killed the batteries in four flashlights. A very productive day for an unemployed guy dontcha think? It is amazing that we had such trouble on a trail that seemed so innocent when we descended the hill a little before noon. After thirteen and a half hours of slipping and sliding in the mud and winching every which way I was very glad to see that nobody had got hurt. If any of us were unsure about winching before this all of those doubts were surely removed. Now that we were finally out we headed to Tim Horton's for a hot chocolate. We were so dirty it is amazing that we didn't get kicked out. What a long day this has been definitely a story to remember.
to quote Wes:Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was today![]()