cewtwo
New member
Christmas morning was bright with lots of sunshine. It was a crisp and cold morning.
I am Charlie White. My whole name is Charles E. White II (hence the acronym of cewtwo). My friend, Tom, and I planned to spend Christmas in this way for a couple of weeks. Even though both of us were born in Denver our families have moved on. So as we were both alone this holiday, we decided to spend it Jeepin’ the Colorado high-country.
I spent the evening before roasting a turkey breast, baking a potato and a sweet potato, baking some whole wheat rolls and roasting an asparagus medley. I made sure the turkey was sliced, and that everything was packaged for travel. I got up on Christmas morning and warmed everything in the oven. We also took some pumpkin pie and some turkey gravy. Cold things went in a cold cooler and the heated things went into a hot cooler (something wrong with that statement).
Tom came by and we got in the Jeep and headed for an area between the ghost town of Alice and the casino town of Central City, Colorado.
We had tried a run the week before starting from the Alice side. The snow was deep that weekend and we were lazy so we did not get far before we turned around.. We found a well-travelled (plowed) road and did that. This week we started from the Central City side.
We took the Nevadaville Road from just outside Central City and headed up the trail. There is a small challenge just after starting that ends you up at a clearing before the hill climb. I was driving and we cleared the challenge. Had to start, back up and try a time or two but we made it.
From the clearing, we headed up the hill. The snow as 8 to 12†deep and had mostly quad tracks in it. We headed up anyway and soon was mired in the slushy snow. I backed it up, found a “Sweet Spot†and went forward again. Soon the front tires we knne deep. While backing up, I found a depression at the side of the trail and knew that the next step was to use the winch.
I got out with my trusty side kick, Molly. We took the tree strap, a clevis and the cable and headed toward an able tree.
Tom stayed at the Jeep and readied it for the pull. We set everything up and while I spotted from the tree, Tom got in to manage the pull from inside the Jeep. As is usually the case, Tom got back out to set the release switch on the winch so it would wind up. Tom followed my instructions and soon the Mighty YJ was free. We still had no traction under the tires, so we reset the winch cable further up the hill.
A group of quads came down the hill and stopped. The trail was narrow here. We were able to pull over to the side enough to let them pass, but they declined. The quads they were on looked like Christmas presents and this was their first use. The Dad (oldest) said they were patient and willing to wait, and that he didn’t want to slide the quads into the Jeep.
They were willing to offer advice, however, and did. Tom and I are old hands at winching and although we listened, we continued to recover the Mighty YJ in the proper manner. Soon we had traction under the tires and the group was on their way.
We proceeded up the hill past a clearing that we probably should have used to turn around in. We didn’t, though… Ahead of us was just a little, tiny snow drift so we had to go through it. We almost made it. We got ready to run the winch again.
We got through the snowdrift, but still didn’t have traction yet. We ran the cable out and discovered that the cable end connector had broken off of the spool end. We still needed the winch for one more pull.
Well, folks, that’s just one of the reasons that everyone of us needs to carry duct tape in the vehicle. Tom placed a long piece of duct tape securely on the end connector and ran the winch cable into the spool until we had duct tape wound around the spool and the 3 wraps of cable. We were able to pull the Mighty YJ out using the winch,
At this point, it really didn’t look like we should continue to use the winch. We wound in the cable and secured the gear. We turned the Jeep around and headed back to the Big Clearing. Why is it that going downhill is so much easier than going up in certain conditions?
At Big Clearing, we threw the Frisbee for Molly. It keeps her busy for a long time. Long enough for us to eat anyway. We got the coolers out and chowed down on our resplendent Christmas dinner. As we ate, some dogs came around some trees and we had to get out to secure the food. They were with some Nordic skiers. They stopped and asked what we were eating. We told them and they told us that it smelled great and that they were hungry, too. Hehehe…
It was a great way to spend Christmas and I thought that I would share it with you.
PS – Warn does consider the cable as a consumable. So, we explored our opportunities. A firm around here (Denver Wire Rope & Supply ) will fix the end for between $25 & $50. You could buy a new one for $125. Our, like me, you could get an AmSteel synthetic cable and a new fair head for $250. Thank goodness, it was Christmas…
I hope you enjoyed my holiday story!
I am Charlie White. My whole name is Charles E. White II (hence the acronym of cewtwo). My friend, Tom, and I planned to spend Christmas in this way for a couple of weeks. Even though both of us were born in Denver our families have moved on. So as we were both alone this holiday, we decided to spend it Jeepin’ the Colorado high-country.
I spent the evening before roasting a turkey breast, baking a potato and a sweet potato, baking some whole wheat rolls and roasting an asparagus medley. I made sure the turkey was sliced, and that everything was packaged for travel. I got up on Christmas morning and warmed everything in the oven. We also took some pumpkin pie and some turkey gravy. Cold things went in a cold cooler and the heated things went into a hot cooler (something wrong with that statement).
Tom came by and we got in the Jeep and headed for an area between the ghost town of Alice and the casino town of Central City, Colorado.
We had tried a run the week before starting from the Alice side. The snow was deep that weekend and we were lazy so we did not get far before we turned around.. We found a well-travelled (plowed) road and did that. This week we started from the Central City side.
We took the Nevadaville Road from just outside Central City and headed up the trail. There is a small challenge just after starting that ends you up at a clearing before the hill climb. I was driving and we cleared the challenge. Had to start, back up and try a time or two but we made it.
From the clearing, we headed up the hill. The snow as 8 to 12†deep and had mostly quad tracks in it. We headed up anyway and soon was mired in the slushy snow. I backed it up, found a “Sweet Spot†and went forward again. Soon the front tires we knne deep. While backing up, I found a depression at the side of the trail and knew that the next step was to use the winch.
I got out with my trusty side kick, Molly. We took the tree strap, a clevis and the cable and headed toward an able tree.
Tom stayed at the Jeep and readied it for the pull. We set everything up and while I spotted from the tree, Tom got in to manage the pull from inside the Jeep. As is usually the case, Tom got back out to set the release switch on the winch so it would wind up. Tom followed my instructions and soon the Mighty YJ was free. We still had no traction under the tires, so we reset the winch cable further up the hill.
A group of quads came down the hill and stopped. The trail was narrow here. We were able to pull over to the side enough to let them pass, but they declined. The quads they were on looked like Christmas presents and this was their first use. The Dad (oldest) said they were patient and willing to wait, and that he didn’t want to slide the quads into the Jeep.
They were willing to offer advice, however, and did. Tom and I are old hands at winching and although we listened, we continued to recover the Mighty YJ in the proper manner. Soon we had traction under the tires and the group was on their way.
We proceeded up the hill past a clearing that we probably should have used to turn around in. We didn’t, though… Ahead of us was just a little, tiny snow drift so we had to go through it. We almost made it. We got ready to run the winch again.
We got through the snowdrift, but still didn’t have traction yet. We ran the cable out and discovered that the cable end connector had broken off of the spool end. We still needed the winch for one more pull.
Well, folks, that’s just one of the reasons that everyone of us needs to carry duct tape in the vehicle. Tom placed a long piece of duct tape securely on the end connector and ran the winch cable into the spool until we had duct tape wound around the spool and the 3 wraps of cable. We were able to pull the Mighty YJ out using the winch,
At this point, it really didn’t look like we should continue to use the winch. We wound in the cable and secured the gear. We turned the Jeep around and headed back to the Big Clearing. Why is it that going downhill is so much easier than going up in certain conditions?
At Big Clearing, we threw the Frisbee for Molly. It keeps her busy for a long time. Long enough for us to eat anyway. We got the coolers out and chowed down on our resplendent Christmas dinner. As we ate, some dogs came around some trees and we had to get out to secure the food. They were with some Nordic skiers. They stopped and asked what we were eating. We told them and they told us that it smelled great and that they were hungry, too. Hehehe…
It was a great way to spend Christmas and I thought that I would share it with you.
PS – Warn does consider the cable as a consumable. So, we explored our opportunities. A firm around here (Denver Wire Rope & Supply ) will fix the end for between $25 & $50. You could buy a new one for $125. Our, like me, you could get an AmSteel synthetic cable and a new fair head for $250. Thank goodness, it was Christmas…
I hope you enjoyed my holiday story!
