What a great day for a drive.
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:08 pm
Warm sunny day with a sky as blue as they get. Hard to tell it is February, except for the snow up on the mountain. Victor and I went for a little off-road cruise in my 90 this afternoon. A quick jaunt that saw us refuelled and back in the drive within three hours. The mountain roads we were on had an unusually high number of downed trees but someone had kindly cut sections out that were 'just' wide enough for the Ninety. Once were started rounding the mountain to it's western slope, the windfalls weren't such an issue, replaced by an ever increasing depth of snow. The prevailing winds and sunshine don't get to this area to cause much of a melt and we finally had to give up when the heavy snow reached a depth of about 18 inches. Dragging both differentials in the tough crust, an ever increasing steepness of road, and the tires still not breaking through to the gravel below finally halted our progress. We turned around and were easily able to retrace our path, until a particular hill. Letting air out of our tires gained just enough extra traction to get us up this incline to where there was less snow and soon, no snow at all.
We took another road to cross over the shoulder of the mountain, but again, increasing snow depth and ever steeper roads halted us. Take another run, and another! Foot to the floor; now lug it again; now to the floor! Swing the front wheels left/right, and back again. Gaining an inch at a time, there is a point you should realize it's a waste.
We again turned around, and retraced our path to the main road so we could try another, more sure and direct route off the mountain. Very little snow was encountered; it was a great drive. We stopped to chat with a group of people out trap-shooting and later stopped for a cuppa and to marvel at the Bald Eagles cavorting in the sunshine.
I can hardly wait for the next trip.
We took another road to cross over the shoulder of the mountain, but again, increasing snow depth and ever steeper roads halted us. Take another run, and another! Foot to the floor; now lug it again; now to the floor! Swing the front wheels left/right, and back again. Gaining an inch at a time, there is a point you should realize it's a waste.
We again turned around, and retraced our path to the main road so we could try another, more sure and direct route off the mountain. Very little snow was encountered; it was a great drive. We stopped to chat with a group of people out trap-shooting and later stopped for a cuppa and to marvel at the Bald Eagles cavorting in the sunshine.
I can hardly wait for the next trip.