[lupinsea]

.

Reiter Trails
Goldbar, WA

Last GPS Mapping Run

January 12, 2008

This saturday with the help of a fellow Jeeper the GPS mapping project of Reiter Trails drew to a close. With only a few odds and ends to map it only took a half day. But it was an eventful half day.

The first surprise was the low snow level. It didn't take long until we driving through 12"+ of snow and that was before we got to the Index Wall Trail. AT the start of the Index Wall trail my Jeep manage to plow its way down into, through, and up out of a series of long, deep mud/slush puddles. Normall this isn't a significant obstacle but with piles of snow to drive up and over at each end of the puddles it got interesting. Still, nothing was stopping my Jeep until we turned around and were heading back and I stopped to try and break off the end of a branch jutting into the path. That loss of forward momentum was enough to get me stuck. All four wheels where spinning and I was hung up on my axle tube. We hooked up the winch to the other Jeep to tug me forward the 2 ft I needed to gain traction again but it first needed to be dug out itself from the pile of snow on my bumper.

After the snow trails we headed down to lower elevations to record some trail fragments there. On one of the trail my Jeep made it up a sloppy, muddy, rocky bank only to be stopped by two full-size trucks that were immobile. One had broken an axle and the second had gotten hung up on a stump and wasn't moving. The two guys had been there over night as their "friends" had ditched them the day before. Talk about lame. You never leave your fellows behind.

Anyways, I hooked up my winch to a pully in order to pull one of the full-sized rigs off the stump and saw him safely back to the main route. I think the first upgrade the guys needs to do is get better friends. Ones that won't abandon them.

The day wrapped up with some easy powerline routes being mapped and, of course, me high-centering in a deep mud puddle again. Nothing bad but an easy tug backwards and I was good to go. LSDs or lockers don't do much if your tires can't touch the bottom of the trail.

Finally, everything on this map has been GPS recorded over 6-7 successive
trips to Reiter Trails during the last 3-4 months.




The start of the Index Wall trail with 12"+ of snow on the ground.




The Jeep just kept going and going, climbing up out of the slop and
pulling through the snow with good traction.




That is, until I stopped to try and deal with a branch leaning into the trail.
That loss of forward momentum right there was enough to get me stuck.
Time to dig out the winch cable from under the pile of snow on my bumper.




Ah, an anchor point approaches. You know you're hung up when you turn
on the winch and you drag the other vehicle toward you and you, inturn,
go nowhere. We had to dig the snow out from in front of my Jeep in order
to free things up.




GJP1234 repositioning his rig on the trail. The start of this felt like something
out of Jurassic Park with all the moss hanging off the trees and stuff.




After driving up this rocky bank we encountered the stuck and disabled full-size
trucks. The green one on the left is the one I had to drag backwards off a
stump. It took two attemps as the first time I simply dragged my jeep
toward the truck. I need to back up and wedge my Jeep in a pocket where
it wouldn't be easily pulled forward.




Short leg + stupid = stuck. Gotta remember to stay out of these mud holes.
My Jeep high-centered on the berm between the wheel ruts and simply
spun it's tires. A short tug to drag my Jeep back 18" was all it took to gain
traction again.




End of the day spent scouting trail locations a few miles away. A hint of
sun came out enough to lend some beautiful colors to the clouds above
the trees.

[CHRRRIS]

Nice pictures. The one with the blue TJ in the mud does look kinda freaky.. In a cool way.

[kc7yrs]

Thanks for all the great pictures of Reiter Pits, most of all thanks for helping to scout, route and plot the trails.

I can't wait to get back out there again!

Bob

[CBlakeNS]

Nice pictures as usual!!

[wjb4000]

The one with the blue Jeep does look like something out of Jurassic Park. Those are really cool. Thank you again for some good pictures and a good trail report, as always!

[SirGCal]

nice report.

[red96jeep]

looks fun wish i could do that

[kercher]

nice pics Jay

Do you normally drive with the winch remote on the hood???

[lupinsea]

Ha ha . . . nope. I was just getting it out and ready to winch myself out of a stuck. I stopped to snap a branch that was in the way and kill my forward momentum. When I tried to go again I had all four tires spinning with the Jeep high-centered on the snow.

[LandoCommando]

Nice pictures and good write up.

[squirrelmasta]

Well done Sir. Hope to be able to join the WA (Seattle) jeeps in the next month or so. Love the winter driving!

[kercher]

Originally Posted by squirrelmasta

Well done Sir. Hope to be able to join the WA (Seattle) jeeps in the next month or so. Love the winter driving!

good to see another PNW jeeper in the Seattle area!

[Crashnburn80]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

The start of the Index Wall trail with 12"+ of snow on the ground.

Lupinsea, I thought I saw you post in anouther thread that the gravel road to the Index Wall trail washed out and is impassible (with any degree of safety). Was this before the washout?

[CBlakeNS]

Really good pictures, looks like a lot of fun!

[drivermod]

Your posts always make me want to move to Washington.