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This hill is very high...

By The Armorer on January 10, 2010 | | Comments (18)
first_hill.jpg
If yer a fat auld phart about to attack it at dusk and the drifts are 3-5 feet high...

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18 Comments

By Rod Thorsen on January 10, 2010 5:21 PM
My hats off to the auld phat phart!!  How is it you've more snow and just winter in general then here in Fairbanks?
 
By H H on January 10, 2010 5:23 PM
Taking the hill sort of became passe two or three wars ago didn't it?  Still, sometimes you just have to man up and put one foot in front of the other until the objective is secured.  However, please try a bit of prior planning next time.  Planning beats frostbite or death, being an ex-medic taught me that.
Congratulations on success and may you not have to do it again in the future.
HH
 
By The Thomas on January 10, 2010 6:09 PM
I hope that is a picture out the back window of the F-150 and not you playing chicken.
 
By Stan on January 10, 2010 7:08 PM
Sigh, reminds me of home. Same snow but flat....the Red River Valley of the North. Add wind speeds of 30-35 mph and temps of -40 it could almost be home!
 
By Attila on January 10, 2010 7:41 PM
I like Doc Nickles' technique for snow removal.

Flamethrowers.

Fast.

Entertaining.

Attila-of-Anchorage (Currently sitting Reserve in The Great White North)
 
By Fishmugger on January 10, 2010 8:03 PM
Wow...a hill in Kansas...who would have thunk it?

You lucked out on this one. I would have found a nice lowland bar and waited for spring.
 
By BillT on January 11, 2010 12:10 AM
Speaking from experience, I'll bet the snow cover in those fields to the side is only about two feet deep.

Of course, there's the matter of traversing the bob-wire obstacle in a blizzard after darkfall...
 
By Justthisguy on January 11, 2010 4:32 AM
Bill, as I'm sure you know, the snow, and mud, are both always deeper on the paths on which you really need to tread. This is yet more evidence that the Deity has a low and nasty sense of humor. Builds character, or something.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 11, 2010 6:45 AM
Heck, Bill - there were probably parts of the field to the right where the hill was swept almost clear...   then there's the creek beds with the 8 foot drifts.  They wouldn't have found me until spring or one of the dogs brought home a body part...
 
By fdcol63 on January 11, 2010 6:58 AM
Prediction:

There will be massive floods all along the Mississippi River this spring.
 
By JoeC on January 11, 2010 7:52 AM
Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.  Who needs 6-sigma when you have 6-Ps?

Being a Phat Auld Phart myself, experiencing a Chicago winter and two Cleveland Ohio winters (in my yonger career days and I was less Phat and Pharted less) I headed to Texas and mildly warmer climes.   One of the things I do remember from those winter stays was the boy scout motto of "Be Prepared".  I said I remembered it....  So at Christmas, when traveling northward to visit the relatives, I packed the back of the jeep with the candle, matches, coffee can (a real can, carefully saved), blankets, bottled water, food, etc. etc. etc.

I'm glad there were only two of us.... all that stuff takes room! Its no wonder people skip out the survival supplies when taking trips, by the time you've packed in the winter survival stuff, there's little remaining room for things like clothes and Christmas gifts!  And as soon as I returned, all that stuff came out..... and the 6 Ps went back to the someday list.

So I'm glad you didn't freeze your foot off getting back to the barn.... It'd be so dreary around here without you.
 
By KCSteve on January 11, 2010 8:08 AM
Since winter weather will probably be back to areas that don't normally experience it, let me pass along three simple tips for winter driving (courtesy of when I lived in South Dakota).

1) Put a cup on your dash and fill it completely.  Now just drive so it doesn't slop.  You don't have to drive slowly, you just can't make any sudden changes (which does imply that if you do drive fast you need to make sure you won't need to suddenly stop).

2) Don't break traction.  Related to #1, most important when trying to take off from a stop / get up a hill.  Once you lose traction you probably aren't going to get it back by spinning your wheels.

3) Kitty litter.  Relates to #2.  Get a bag of the cheapest kitty litter you can. You want the old fashioned clay, not the fancy clumping stuff.  Keep it behind the front seat where you can reach it while driving.  If you lose traction just hurl handfuls across your hood (front wheel drive) / down & back (rear wheel drive).  Worst case, get out and lay lines.  You can also make 'traction bombs' by filling baggies.  They're fun to throw at people who're stuck.  May not help them get out, but it's a good excuse to throw something at them. ;)

If you really want to get good at this kind of driving spend a winter or two in the upper Midwest.  At the start of Winter (early November) 85% of the people know how to drive on snow & ice.  By Spring (June) 100% of those still driving do.  You either learn or give up driving.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 11, 2010 8:50 AM
Hey, I didn't get the damn truck stuck.  That wasn't the problem.  *Driving* in this weather wasn't the issue...  but pretending that my F150 in four high or low was going to get through those drifts would have been silly.

And if I'd been going on a trip (i.e., anything other than the daily commute) I'd have had supplies in the truck.

It was neglecting to remember that last mile of the commute.

Mind you - all in all, it was, in reality, fun.

And funny.
 
By Russ on January 11, 2010 10:06 AM
"Mind you - all in all, it was, in reality, fun."

"And funny. "

That's just your mind trying to protect itself from trama by forgetting.

 
By BillT on January 11, 2010 10:27 AM
Put a cup on your dash and fill it completely. Now just drive so it doesn't slop.

That trick will probably work on an interstate highway (except in Pennsylvania), or, say, the Bonneville Salt Flats...
 
By KCSteve on January 11, 2010 3:05 PM
BillT,

True, I did neglect to  mention that you still have to follow the road and dodge any obstacles but I was hoping you guys would already be doing (or at least trying to do) that.  The cup trick is to remind you that whatever change you make, you're not going to make it suddenly.
 
By Justthisguy on January 11, 2010 10:03 PM
Seems like some of y'all didn't read previous posts and comments. The Armorer failed to keep winter emergency gear in truck. T. A. got caught in winter emergency situation. He decided to proceed on foot anyway, though he could have ducked into the neighbor's place and waited it out, I imagine he thought, "Hey, that's Beth, there! "

He got away with it.  Yup, as Steve  said, (I won't say stubborn and stupid as he did)  The Donovan proved that he is right damn seriously _earnest_, and won't quit once he's fixed on the goal.

I always did think he had an autistic co-processor stowed away in that huge head of his.
 
By Cricket on January 12, 2010 7:33 AM
The Engineer recommends 200# of sand in the back of your truck, right over the wheels, and deflate your tires just a tetch.  That way, if you get stuck, you can shovel the sand under yer tires.Of course, chains work real well if you don't mind getting kidney punched all over the map.