jtpedersen
Caught the Bug
Last week, my wife and I went wheeling at Rocks & Valleys, here in Michigan. Had a good day, thought it wasn't without a few moments anxiety.
R&V, in Harrison Twp, is a couple hours' drive for us. This time of year, on a Friday, you have to go to the ski lodge nearby, to check in and pay your fee. For the first few hours is was just my wife and I. Not another soul around. Gently falling snow, a few inches had fallen recently, so everything was quiet, white, and pretty. And, just us.
Having been to R&V before, I was familiar with the obstacles, a number of the water holes, and the like. Expecting to just take it easy for the day with my wife, some gentle fun was in the plan. We tackled a couple of mild obstacles, enjoyed just driving around initially.
About 30-40 minutes into our time there, we were over in the Playground. One of the obstacles is this mound. It's about 6' high. From one side there are two concrete slabs at a 45°. Normally you can scale it w/o much issue, just some tire chirping for entertainment value. Last year, one guy in a new Rubicon struggled with it as we drove up. So he backed up about 50', then ran forward. Probably hit it at 10 MPH. Steel-on-concrete type bang. Stopped him cold. No visible damage, he gets out and says deadpan, "it broke."
After you climb the slabs, the top of the obstacle is flat, about the length of an Unlimited's wheelbase, and then you guy right down the other side into a small pond. You can see a bit of it in our Mother's Day trip, beyond the rooftop. No big deal, but if you're a stock JKU, you'll need some momentum so you don't get centered.
So, mid-December, everything's frozen over. Lulled into, 'it'll be a nice day...' Went up, and over. Wasn't planning to go into the water. Knowing it was only 18-24" deep, I wasn't worried. However with it being frozen over, I was slow to realize I'd actually started driving out onto ice.
About the time I really mentally registered 'this isn't water,' I started to put my foot on the brake...and at the same time...we heard this cracking/crunching sound, and the Jeep dropped a foot or so, coming to a stop. The ice was 1.5-2" thick and, with the front end about 3' out onto the ice, we'd broken through. Wasn't immediately alarmed, but knew we had a serious issue. After a couple attempts to go forward or back, Stitch, our JKU Rubi, started to sink. I realized I'd made a mistake and likely just fucked myself (forget language, that's exactly what I thought at the moment).
So, here we are. My wife's side is down about 15°, and with our rear up about 20°. Hard to tell for sure, but not good. That is for sure.
Got out my side to take a look about. Ice is broken up with plates big enough, thick enough, that I could actually use them to walk on (~1.5-2" thick). Oh boy. Sure enough, Jeep's well tipped forward toward right-front. Front axle's completely submerged, about 1/3 of the front-left 33" tire visible. Left rear on shore (sandy/gravelly shore, but shore). Right rear tire's not quite half-submerged. Right front, top of bumper's flush with the ice and the tire's almost fully submerged. I see a 6" span of tread top of center, that's it. I don't know how much space I had before the intake sucked water, but I was surprised I wasn't already sucking.
Taking pictures was not front of mind right then. Guarantee you, as armchair quarterbacks' they'd have been interesting. Water was right up to the lower corner of my wife's door. She wouldn't be egressing out her side if it came to that.
Fortunately, I could easily open the swing gate and get to my shovel. Found a rock to put behind the left-front wheel (hoping it'd start falling into whatever hole I'd started digging, maybe crawl up it. then for the right-rear, which had started digging, I trenched ice and dirt out of it so at least could roll straight back, not try to climb out of it's own hole.
I'll admit, for so 'nice' a day, the 'don't wheel alone' passed between my ears about then.
Fortunately, anticipating traction being an issue with the snow-covered obstacle, I'd already turned the Rubicon's front and rear lockers on earlier. Climbed back in. Put her in reverse, tested the gas a bit.
Digging out the right rear proved insightful. With two unencumbered wheels, found I could begin to move but....nope came to a stop. Let Stitch roll forward. Gave some more gas, I could feel rear movement as the front left came up some (thought: the rock, good). Stopped. Let him relax again, then reverse again with some more throttle laid in. Could feel the back end starting to get some grip. Emotionally, I'm beginning to think, 'we just might get out of this.'
Took about 4 more tries, back up the hill, turn left some as we go back down, reverse back up the hill, then forward and turn left some more. Goal was get myself turned so I could exit left without reentering the water. After the 2nd reverse hill climb, we clearly had gotten the upper hand, had traction...it was just going to take some patience to finish clearing the hazard.
It was about lunch time. I normally get the shakes if it's been too long since eating. And, combined with the adrenalin and emotional relief, I definitely had some shaking going on. So we parked on a rise above the obstacle and stopped to eat. Apologized to my wife, letting her know I was glad we were able to un-fuck ourselves.
The image makes the obstacle look like a flattened smudge. But you can definitely see the hole we made.
Kimberly, my wife's been a pro-Jeeper from day one. She continually surprises me. She's viewed this sort of experience, along with body damage or need for the occasional after-event repairs, as part 'n parcel of the experience. She reminds me, "we knew when we started doing this, things would happen." She didn't give me a single bit of grief about it. Almost laughed it off. Of course, she probably knew how much it bothered me I'd almost seriously screwed us both.
That aside, she did start talking about, while I prepared our kit (tools, etc.) to take with us for wheeling, she was going to be adding a few things
. We'd left some tools at home (I need a dedicated set of tools, w/o robbing my chest every time). Not that I needed it, but she's green-lighted my getting a dedicated set of tools, and, showing her a particular carrier I wanted for them earlier, said, "I know what you need for Christmas, now!" Love my wife.
So, the after action report... Well, there was some damage. The front stock bumper is full of dimples now. Hitting the ice edge on, along with my forward-backward movements, gave it a real beating. The front-right driving light (my new KC foglight) was punched out, too. Still works, but all the mounting tabs are sheared off; new one already in hand. Ironically, Stitch's new Warn bumper is sitting on our garage floor. Just hasn't been installed yet<g>. The light probably would've still gotten punched out. The lower air dam's also looking a bit rough. Ready for the trash bin.
Lessons learned? Wheeling alone is something we'll continue to do...we've come to like overlanding. So we need to be even more well-prepared. We chalk this up to experience gained and a good story, now. Wheeling in Winter, requires an additional level of attentiveness. One thing I learned, regardless the 'high end' camping shovel we have, a more full-sized shovel is going to become a necessity. W/o the shovel, to break ice, break a rock free of frozen ground, and dig out behind the rear tire, we'd have been calling for help. But that small folding shovel was a PITA all the same. Once we replace the rear bumper, and get a took carrier for it, a full-sized shovel's going to be a permanent part of the kit.
Winch? While one's planned for in coming months, it wouldn't have helped us here. At least not very easily. Pulling straight ahead through that ice would've simply destroyed the front end plastic, lights, etc. And, that's assuming only 24" of water. It might've been deeper than i'd experienced previously.
Thought you'd enjoy the story. And for those who are new, perhaps the tale proves useful.
R&V, in Harrison Twp, is a couple hours' drive for us. This time of year, on a Friday, you have to go to the ski lodge nearby, to check in and pay your fee. For the first few hours is was just my wife and I. Not another soul around. Gently falling snow, a few inches had fallen recently, so everything was quiet, white, and pretty. And, just us.
Having been to R&V before, I was familiar with the obstacles, a number of the water holes, and the like. Expecting to just take it easy for the day with my wife, some gentle fun was in the plan. We tackled a couple of mild obstacles, enjoyed just driving around initially.
About 30-40 minutes into our time there, we were over in the Playground. One of the obstacles is this mound. It's about 6' high. From one side there are two concrete slabs at a 45°. Normally you can scale it w/o much issue, just some tire chirping for entertainment value. Last year, one guy in a new Rubicon struggled with it as we drove up. So he backed up about 50', then ran forward. Probably hit it at 10 MPH. Steel-on-concrete type bang. Stopped him cold. No visible damage, he gets out and says deadpan, "it broke."
After you climb the slabs, the top of the obstacle is flat, about the length of an Unlimited's wheelbase, and then you guy right down the other side into a small pond. You can see a bit of it in our Mother's Day trip, beyond the rooftop. No big deal, but if you're a stock JKU, you'll need some momentum so you don't get centered.
So, mid-December, everything's frozen over. Lulled into, 'it'll be a nice day...' Went up, and over. Wasn't planning to go into the water. Knowing it was only 18-24" deep, I wasn't worried. However with it being frozen over, I was slow to realize I'd actually started driving out onto ice.
About the time I really mentally registered 'this isn't water,' I started to put my foot on the brake...and at the same time...we heard this cracking/crunching sound, and the Jeep dropped a foot or so, coming to a stop. The ice was 1.5-2" thick and, with the front end about 3' out onto the ice, we'd broken through. Wasn't immediately alarmed, but knew we had a serious issue. After a couple attempts to go forward or back, Stitch, our JKU Rubi, started to sink. I realized I'd made a mistake and likely just fucked myself (forget language, that's exactly what I thought at the moment).
So, here we are. My wife's side is down about 15°, and with our rear up about 20°. Hard to tell for sure, but not good. That is for sure.
Got out my side to take a look about. Ice is broken up with plates big enough, thick enough, that I could actually use them to walk on (~1.5-2" thick). Oh boy. Sure enough, Jeep's well tipped forward toward right-front. Front axle's completely submerged, about 1/3 of the front-left 33" tire visible. Left rear on shore (sandy/gravelly shore, but shore). Right rear tire's not quite half-submerged. Right front, top of bumper's flush with the ice and the tire's almost fully submerged. I see a 6" span of tread top of center, that's it. I don't know how much space I had before the intake sucked water, but I was surprised I wasn't already sucking.
Taking pictures was not front of mind right then. Guarantee you, as armchair quarterbacks' they'd have been interesting. Water was right up to the lower corner of my wife's door. She wouldn't be egressing out her side if it came to that.
Fortunately, I could easily open the swing gate and get to my shovel. Found a rock to put behind the left-front wheel (hoping it'd start falling into whatever hole I'd started digging, maybe crawl up it. then for the right-rear, which had started digging, I trenched ice and dirt out of it so at least could roll straight back, not try to climb out of it's own hole.
I'll admit, for so 'nice' a day, the 'don't wheel alone' passed between my ears about then.
Fortunately, anticipating traction being an issue with the snow-covered obstacle, I'd already turned the Rubicon's front and rear lockers on earlier. Climbed back in. Put her in reverse, tested the gas a bit.
Digging out the right rear proved insightful. With two unencumbered wheels, found I could begin to move but....nope came to a stop. Let Stitch roll forward. Gave some more gas, I could feel rear movement as the front left came up some (thought: the rock, good). Stopped. Let him relax again, then reverse again with some more throttle laid in. Could feel the back end starting to get some grip. Emotionally, I'm beginning to think, 'we just might get out of this.'
Took about 4 more tries, back up the hill, turn left some as we go back down, reverse back up the hill, then forward and turn left some more. Goal was get myself turned so I could exit left without reentering the water. After the 2nd reverse hill climb, we clearly had gotten the upper hand, had traction...it was just going to take some patience to finish clearing the hazard.
It was about lunch time. I normally get the shakes if it's been too long since eating. And, combined with the adrenalin and emotional relief, I definitely had some shaking going on. So we parked on a rise above the obstacle and stopped to eat. Apologized to my wife, letting her know I was glad we were able to un-fuck ourselves.
The image makes the obstacle look like a flattened smudge. But you can definitely see the hole we made.
Kimberly, my wife's been a pro-Jeeper from day one. She continually surprises me. She's viewed this sort of experience, along with body damage or need for the occasional after-event repairs, as part 'n parcel of the experience. She reminds me, "we knew when we started doing this, things would happen." She didn't give me a single bit of grief about it. Almost laughed it off. Of course, she probably knew how much it bothered me I'd almost seriously screwed us both.
That aside, she did start talking about, while I prepared our kit (tools, etc.) to take with us for wheeling, she was going to be adding a few things
. We'd left some tools at home (I need a dedicated set of tools, w/o robbing my chest every time). Not that I needed it, but she's green-lighted my getting a dedicated set of tools, and, showing her a particular carrier I wanted for them earlier, said, "I know what you need for Christmas, now!" Love my wife.So, the after action report... Well, there was some damage. The front stock bumper is full of dimples now. Hitting the ice edge on, along with my forward-backward movements, gave it a real beating. The front-right driving light (my new KC foglight) was punched out, too. Still works, but all the mounting tabs are sheared off; new one already in hand. Ironically, Stitch's new Warn bumper is sitting on our garage floor. Just hasn't been installed yet<g>. The light probably would've still gotten punched out. The lower air dam's also looking a bit rough. Ready for the trash bin.
Lessons learned? Wheeling alone is something we'll continue to do...we've come to like overlanding. So we need to be even more well-prepared. We chalk this up to experience gained and a good story, now. Wheeling in Winter, requires an additional level of attentiveness. One thing I learned, regardless the 'high end' camping shovel we have, a more full-sized shovel is going to become a necessity. W/o the shovel, to break ice, break a rock free of frozen ground, and dig out behind the rear tire, we'd have been calling for help. But that small folding shovel was a PITA all the same. Once we replace the rear bumper, and get a took carrier for it, a full-sized shovel's going to be a permanent part of the kit.
Winch? While one's planned for in coming months, it wouldn't have helped us here. At least not very easily. Pulling straight ahead through that ice would've simply destroyed the front end plastic, lights, etc. And, that's assuming only 24" of water. It might've been deeper than i'd experienced previously.
Thought you'd enjoy the story. And for those who are new, perhaps the tale proves useful.
