'Quick' trip up to Snoqualmie Pass
I took my girls out for a an afternoon trip up near Snoqualmie Pass. We headed up FS4828 along the west side of Kachess Lake. There was a little snow at first but nothing to worry about. Then about a mile in, the snow got deep very quickly. I have a Grand Cherokee. Not much clearance stock like mine. I high centered a couple hundred yards into the snow. There were some UTV's on the trail that offered to send a friend back with a Jeep. Then I started self recovery with my high lift jack in winching setup. I had made the jack go up and down before but not setup the chains for winching. Luckily there was a good tree in line that was barely in reach with my chain (30'). I also used my snatch strap to get to the tree. I started winching and filled the snatch strap with tension. I had my the Jeep in reverse, traction control off and gave it a push. Then reset the winch and pulled again. After 3 or 4 times, I was out of the holes and able to back out. Lessons learned - 1 Don't go out alone (I break this often) 2 be prepared. This is the first time I have used the high lift jack. 3 Be thankful for other trail users and their support. Even though they provided moral support (because I blocked the trail), that kept me calm through the event.
Paul,
Glad that you and your girls made it out safely. I think more people are taking heed of the "take a buddy rule", but in the 15 years with this overlanding group, typically once a year we usually have a person that meant well, but it didn't end well and we had to rally a recovery team.
All that said, I am glad you reached out to me and we had a couple folks standing by, including myself to enact a recovery. That's what our system is designed to do; help other members in good and bad times.
Stoked this ended well.
Dan