On Saturday our Jeep club went over Green Pass and played on the Kaner. Sorry no pics. I hope some of the others will post.
We had 8 rigs and started off at 8:00 AM on the 70 road. We hit snow pretty quickly when we headed over Green. There were untracked drifts about 2' deep and a few of us had a bit of a struggle. When we hit Little Naches Road it was very icy and a bit of a skating rink. There was about 4" of recent snow and it looked like it had been very cold for some time as the river was iced up in many places.
We drove the loggoing roads until we got to the main Kaner trail head. The lower portion isn't much fun so we usually avoid it. The first hill was a bitch and 3 of us winched, a couple went back to the logging road and went around and 3 used the old trail which side hilled really hard but bypassed the hill. The bypass hasn't been used much so is wasn't iced underneath.
The weather was cold but much warmer than it's been lately. The snow on top was melting and making the ice underneath very slippery. Places where I have never winched, even in 3 feet of snow, were winch spots.
The next major obstacle was the spot that has been so cut up lately. Since the mud hole side has been blocked off and the far left nearly vertical and snow covered, the only real line was to stay on the main trail though the trees. It can be a little tough dry but ice covered it was a bitch. JPFREAK was the only one to make it though without a winch and he used a lot of throttle and his long wheel base helped. Most of were hitting 2 iced roots at a time and need winching. Tom decided to try the left line and almost made it. Almost.. He got up the main ledge but couldn't go any further. Unfortunately he also couldn't stop on the hill and slid back sideways and came very close to a roll. A quick winch line got him out of trouble.
After getting through the trees, even getting to the main hill climb was tough. Some little hills needed 2, 3 or for some, 5 tries to make. It was slick! The base of the main hill climb is a spiderweb of trails. We all went different ways looking for a way up. One of us had to winch but everyone else made it up to the base.
JPFREAK was breaking trail (no tracks ahead of us at all) and made a high speed, balls out run at the left side. He made it but it wasn't easy. The rest of us had to follow his trail and it was badly iced now. Tom tried the right side, after struggling with the roots at the bottom for 10 minutes, he got up around the corner about 15 feet. He backed up and took another run but spent another 10 minutes fighting the roots so he gave up and let others try.
I was up next and fought through the roots then tried to get to the base of the left but it was too slick. I backed up and took a shot at the right side and made it all but the last 20 feet. It was too iced up and I didn't want to risk sliding down the main chute backwards. Everyone else winched up except for Bill in his super Scrambler. After spending too much time slipping and getting nowhere, he backed up and chained up his 37's while everyone else winched. He made it up the main chute at about 6,000 RPM! It was fun to watch.
The rest of the Kaner was pretty easy until we got to the hill just before Lily Pond. The main trail up on the left peeled a bead off of Blue Tony's rig and we spend about 20 minutes getting him moving. While he was working, others took the right side and only one had to winch. After Tony was out of the way, the rest of us took the left side and only Dan had to winch. Did I mention that it was slippery?
By now it was 3:30 and we decided to head out. We went down the hills at Lily Pond and caught Milk Creek Road. We headed back Little Naches Road and took the Rabbit Hole trail. I haven't done this trail in years as it's never been much more than a 2 WD trail. The first big hill sent 2 of our rigs back and they just went out Pyramid back to the 70 road. The rest of us stayed with it and eventually caught the lower Naches trail. The really odd part of the day was seeing the ice so thick. We broke through 4" thick stuff and it was everywhere.
Anyway, after running the Naches for a little while we hooked up with the logging road and headed back to the 70 road.
It was a great day with no real breakage. No dents, no ripped tops:awesomework: and only a minor power steering bracket issue and a blown bead for the whole group. I guess we don't wheel hard enough:flipoff: I can't wait to do it again.
We had 8 rigs and started off at 8:00 AM on the 70 road. We hit snow pretty quickly when we headed over Green. There were untracked drifts about 2' deep and a few of us had a bit of a struggle. When we hit Little Naches Road it was very icy and a bit of a skating rink. There was about 4" of recent snow and it looked like it had been very cold for some time as the river was iced up in many places.
We drove the loggoing roads until we got to the main Kaner trail head. The lower portion isn't much fun so we usually avoid it. The first hill was a bitch and 3 of us winched, a couple went back to the logging road and went around and 3 used the old trail which side hilled really hard but bypassed the hill. The bypass hasn't been used much so is wasn't iced underneath.
The weather was cold but much warmer than it's been lately. The snow on top was melting and making the ice underneath very slippery. Places where I have never winched, even in 3 feet of snow, were winch spots.
The next major obstacle was the spot that has been so cut up lately. Since the mud hole side has been blocked off and the far left nearly vertical and snow covered, the only real line was to stay on the main trail though the trees. It can be a little tough dry but ice covered it was a bitch. JPFREAK was the only one to make it though without a winch and he used a lot of throttle and his long wheel base helped. Most of were hitting 2 iced roots at a time and need winching. Tom decided to try the left line and almost made it. Almost.. He got up the main ledge but couldn't go any further. Unfortunately he also couldn't stop on the hill and slid back sideways and came very close to a roll. A quick winch line got him out of trouble.
After getting through the trees, even getting to the main hill climb was tough. Some little hills needed 2, 3 or for some, 5 tries to make. It was slick! The base of the main hill climb is a spiderweb of trails. We all went different ways looking for a way up. One of us had to winch but everyone else made it up to the base.
JPFREAK was breaking trail (no tracks ahead of us at all) and made a high speed, balls out run at the left side. He made it but it wasn't easy. The rest of us had to follow his trail and it was badly iced now. Tom tried the right side, after struggling with the roots at the bottom for 10 minutes, he got up around the corner about 15 feet. He backed up and took another run but spent another 10 minutes fighting the roots so he gave up and let others try.
I was up next and fought through the roots then tried to get to the base of the left but it was too slick. I backed up and took a shot at the right side and made it all but the last 20 feet. It was too iced up and I didn't want to risk sliding down the main chute backwards. Everyone else winched up except for Bill in his super Scrambler. After spending too much time slipping and getting nowhere, he backed up and chained up his 37's while everyone else winched. He made it up the main chute at about 6,000 RPM! It was fun to watch.
The rest of the Kaner was pretty easy until we got to the hill just before Lily Pond. The main trail up on the left peeled a bead off of Blue Tony's rig and we spend about 20 minutes getting him moving. While he was working, others took the right side and only one had to winch. After Tony was out of the way, the rest of us took the left side and only Dan had to winch. Did I mention that it was slippery?
By now it was 3:30 and we decided to head out. We went down the hills at Lily Pond and caught Milk Creek Road. We headed back Little Naches Road and took the Rabbit Hole trail. I haven't done this trail in years as it's never been much more than a 2 WD trail. The first big hill sent 2 of our rigs back and they just went out Pyramid back to the 70 road. The rest of us stayed with it and eventually caught the lower Naches trail. The really odd part of the day was seeing the ice so thick. We broke through 4" thick stuff and it was everywhere.
Anyway, after running the Naches for a little while we hooked up with the logging road and headed back to the 70 road.
It was a great day with no real breakage. No dents, no ripped tops:awesomework: and only a minor power steering bracket issue and a blown bead for the whole group. I guess we don't wheel hard enough:flipoff: I can't wait to do it again.
Wish my Heep wasn't tits up from last weekend or I woulda been there....
