Four wheeling/snow camping Feb'11

[shadowglory]

I took my brother for a four wheeling turned snow camping trip last February in the Sierra Nevada mountains. We went one month and then one week prior to scout for legal camping locations and this one we liked the best, mostly because of the view. It just happened to be on the top of a mountain (about 5,000 ft or so). Here is what it looked like when we went one week prior.


The red arrow points to a dirt road (kind of hard to see from this angle). The next picture shows this road after we went through it in the snow that fell before we got there..


I pushed my little brother in the snow pack then threw him the shovel and said dig yourself out. lol. Anyway, this pic shows how deep the snow really is here. Overall, not too bad. That is why we scouted the path on foot before we drove somewhere and sank(no lockers, just chains all the way around and a trusty 4K rated come-a-long and 100ft worth of 10K straps.)

We had to dig down to dirt in order to make a fire pit. It seemed like the snow went down forever, but two sore and tired hours later, we were too proud of our accomplishment not to take a picture.



Overall, I'm sad I didn't take more Montero pics but the trip was awesome anyway.


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[ocmonteroguy]

Looks like a ton of fun! Gotta say I miss the snow! Is your MS 4wd?

[shadowglory]

Yea, I have 4WD. I wouldn't have done that trip in 2wd, even in the summer. The approach to get to the top of the mountain (wish I got pics to show you what I mean) is really steep then it has about 5 cutouts on the way up that you have to cross. I am not sure how else to describe them, but they are kinda like huge, slightly diagonal speedbumps (about 10-12" tall) and they allow the water (from snow pack or rain) to run off the side of the road instead of down it. My brother and I tried it in 2wd the first time we scouted the location and we couldn't get over the first cutout without one rear wheel kicking loose. 2wd with a locker would be okay without snow, but once snow is on the ground, 4wd is required and if I didn't wanna do any hand-winching (we did a bit on the actual trip because of the snow) I would've needed lockers. Ground height and traction seemed otherwise okay. Before I go to the same location in the snow again, I will make sure I have front and rear lockers. The entire trip was a lot of fun, I can't wait to go again. As it sits, next summer I am planning a trip to the same location.