Wintworth Spring Snow Run

Happy Birthday to me!!!!!!!

Well it was a hell of a weekend wheeling, one of those weekends that is long frustrating but really fun. My family got up and got going smoothly for a 5:30 a.m. start. We loaded the Jeep the night before so all we had to do is get the Lumpkin (Paul II) out of bed and get going. It was a nice start for a long day.

We got up and got going raindrops falling hard and the sky was grey, an omen for the day to come. We stopped at Star Bucks got coffee and headed down highway 49. The drive was nice the foothills were alive with the Sound of Music, well AC/DC highway to hell that is. We got to the McDonald a little earlier than the rest of the group so we decided to have a nice family meal. Raylene an I sat and ate and Paul and Brad played on the McDonalds jungle gym.

About 9:30 everybody arrived and we were off. We headed up highway 50 to Ice House Road under a constant barrage of Rain then snow drizzle. We got to the trailhead and aired down the tires. I had made a deal with Raylene earlier in the day for her to drive and me to ride. She started the trail, nervous but steady. With constant coaching from the back seat driver (Me) she kept it on the trail but the rig just was not driving smooth. The jeep wanted to spin out and the tires would not float on the snow. The rear locker kept pitching the Jeep from side to side. I kept coaching Raylene to be mellow on the throttle but to no avail the rig just wanted to go on its own. Raylene eventually said it was my turn to drive, not sure if it was my coaching or just the fact that she was tired of driving. I think it was one of those things I was better off not asking. J

I hopped into the passenger seat and off we went. After driving my rig for a mile I understand why the call it a Wrangler. I had to try to manage to keep the thing in a line it wanted to go on it own into ever ditch and trench. Finally I decided it was time to check the air in the tires. My air gauge read 10 psi. I borrowed another gauge and it read 18 PSI. I used that gauge and aired down to 8 psi. It made a difference but it was still a chore to manage the rig in the deep snow. Other rigs seem to be doing well not sure why mine was a pain in the butt to keep on the trail.

Well we wheeled for about another 20 minutes and had to use two winches and two rigs to extract Don, not once but twice. He got stuck a few times. I got stuck twice and then it happened. I was buried in a whole, I gave it gas and BANG I said OH SH@! I knew I busted something. I busted my front axle. We extracted the rig with a winch and reviewed the situation, decided to wheel out. After about an hour of getting turned around we were on our way out.

The way out was nice the rig was driving nice and staying on the trail. She was wheeling normal. Not sure why it did so much better going out but I made it out without getting stuck once.

All in all it was a great trip, now I have some work to do on both rigs. The jeep I have to replace a front axle, the Bronco I have to put the new steering box in. I have lots to do before April….. Stay Tuned for more, I will post some picture when I get some.


Paul