Turkey Day Storm - Southern Colorado 1997
Southern Colorado had a nice little snow storm after Turkey day, snowfall was recorded at 36"-48" the day before these pictures where taken. By then the snow had melted to a depth of around 30" and was heavily packed. This is the beginning of a shortcut between Interstate 25 and Highway 69. The entire length of this dirt road is about 3-1/2 miles.
Once I broke through the snowplow pile that blocked the road it appeared that the snow was a little over a foot deep... no problem, I could make that. My better judgement should have prevailed as I had the kids AND their grandmother (my mom) with us. It was a warm day, and the wind was still so I thought I'd just drive in a few feet to check it out...
First stuck! I was only into the road about 150 feet or so when my bumper couldn't push any more snow. I didn't let off the pedal and dug in pretty quick. So here I had to pull out the shovel just to back out. I was starting to think maybe I should retreat... naw! I hit it a little harder and we were on our way again.
About 1/2 a mile into the road, I stopped to take a picture of where I'd been. The snow wasn't too bad and I wasn't having any problems plowing so far. As you can see the snow was deeper than my axles, in some spots it was up to my front bumper. Just when I would start slowing down, my tires would grab more of the road underneath.. and on we went.
Slightly past a mile of pushing snow, I drifted into the ditch and came to a nice stop. No biggie right? Wrong. Here I sat for over an hour rocking back and forth, digging, rocking, digging, rocking.... the sun was starting to set. I was most definitely stuck. I decided that while we still had sun we had better start walking the mile back. I made a call on my cell phone (another good reason to carry one) and shortly a friend picked us up. None too soon either, it started getting real cold.
The next day we hiked in from the opposite side to dig out. We walked 2-1/2 miles though snow often waist deep. It took forever! Almost three hours later we arrived, tired and cold. We dug down to dirt for traction, gave it the gas and got unstuck first try. I backed up the entire way to the Interstate and called it a fun experience.