January '99

I went to sleep Friday night and noticed it had started to snow.. ahhh.. more fun tomorrow!

I woke up and dressed and thought, "Nah.. no turtle neck today.. I'll be too hot.." but when I walked outside.. I was greeted to several inches of fresh powder and it was kinda cold! I made another trip for extra clothes.. and my thermos of coffee.

I was already running late.. so I hurriedly brushed the snow off the Scout while it warmed up.. and cut my good skiing gloves on my broken FM antenna.. drat.. then locked the hubs, climbed inside, pulled the stick, and mashed the throttle.. I had to pick up Michelle before I met at the usual rendezvous point at County Market at 9am...

Half the trucks I saw on the streets had snow mobiles in tow.. and they were haulin'! Sheesh...

I picked Michelle up and we drove to County Market.. told everyone we were there.. then cruised over to the Cenex station to fill the Jerry Can.. oopps, I drove right over the curb tho' you couldn't tell with the snow.. Don Gordon laughed on the CB.. he was just leaving Cenex when I pulled in.

Gassed up, we went back to County Market to munch on some donuts and wait for the Bozeman crew to show up..

We then decided to leave.. and caught Bill Pries on our way to the highway.. stop by my house for Bill to get gas.. back on I-15, and we motored to Clancy..

We tried to go around the front of the mine but Mike couldn't climb the first hill.. so turn around and head back and go *behind* the Pegasus mine.. and head towards Occidental Plateau..

Tyler Gordon was playing in the snow on the side of the road.. I watched in my rear view and said to Michelle, "Tyler's playin'.. I wonder if he's gonna get.." and then he stopped going forward.. "stuck." Back up and get the strap.. though Ryan gave him a tug backwards and Tyler was goin' again.

Here are the first pics I took.. we were making our way along the snowy road with ice underneath.. Mike was in the lead and called on the CB that it was *slick*.. he went down and did a 360 in the middle of the trail.. and then once Mike was under control again a Toyota from Bozeman slide into the driver's quarter panel on the lil' Bronco. :-(

View of the accident scene	The rigs behind me

I was now fourth in line or so.. a Chevy Blazer had come along... he put chains on and walked around like nothing was wrong.. I walked from my Scout down to Mike's Bronco.. and must've fallen six times or more.. it was *slick*!

Mike was trying to pry his quarter panel out and find his gas cap.. I went back to the Scout to get some tools if he needed 'em.. and my camera. I inched my way down along the side of the road.. keeping well away from the ice!

Mike's damaged quarter.. this picture doesn't really show the wound	Hey, I know that truck!

We motor farther along.. one truck at a time.. plenty of room between us! We finally reached a decent sloping uphill run.. with a foot of fresh, loose powder on top.. and ice below! Mike and Jeff Gibbs from Bozeman were trying to make headway in the snow.. while the other trucks came up behind.. Mike Allen was on his first club run in his Ford with PowerLocks front and rear.. I backed up and tried to tug forward.. no good.. so Don Gordon came up behind him and pulled out the winch cable..

Mike's good n' stuck!

I then climbed the hill below.. showing Tyler about to make his way.. when we reached the top of this hill we broke for a very cold lunch.. we made sandwiches from the lunchmeat, cheese, and bread I'd brought along.. it was all half frozen!

More of my Scout sitting in the snow..

Somewhere around this point, I stopped to air down some more.. I been having a time of it, busting and plowing snow.. and it was so light and fluffy that I couldn't get "on top" of it.. it was "mash the throttle and just *displace* the snow".. I aired from 17psi down to 10psi.. the tires started to bulge somewhat.. and it made a HUGE improvement! (this, on 33x12.50s on 15x8 wheels).

I told Michelle to take a picture out the back of someone behind us.. this is what turned out! Next time I should de-ice the windows..

We drove on until we reached "plowed road" and turned back.. and took a different route.. up one of several unplowed, snowed in, uphill roads.. it was time for Don Gordon to play.. with his '79 BBronco w/ 460/C6/4.56s/Detroit & ARB and 36" Buckshots.. he just backed up and flew up the hill.. several times. :-)

Just a scenery shot	Don heads up the hill!
	Uh oh.. no more forward motion.. back up and try it again..
Don got sideways and slid off the trail.. a moment later, after I thougth he was good n' stuck.. out comes the Bronco, turns around, and comes right back down for another pass..	The rest of us.. waiting our turn..
Bill Pries gives it a whirl.. with his 400/4spd/5.38s/Lockrights and new 38x11 Swampers.. they had wrinkles in the sidewalls!	One pass was all it took.. though he got a little stuck for a moment..
Then he finished off the hill!	Watching the line in front of me.. waiting to go up the next big hill..

We climbed a few more hills without incident.. then decided it was time to head home.. it was getting late, and the Bozeman crowd had to drive 100 miles home..

We drove into Helena and stopped at Godfathers to chow on some pizza and trade tall tales.. and then called it a night. We were all pretty tired.. but at least we had fun!

-Tom