2010-01-07 Santa Rosa Mtns / Upper Coyote Canyon

[sdnative]

delete

[cruiserlarry]

Beautiful pics of beautiful area; but it raises a serious safety question in my mind:

If you are going to be traveling in an area where you are likely to encounter snow and ice, you should have at least one, and maybe two, sets of chains on board. As John observed, there is no traction on ice no matter how aggressive your tires are; you are taking a huge risk on drop offs and ridge roads, and these risks can be minimized with tire chains, which can provide some traction on ice. While John and company had the option of turning around, you might not always be so fortunate, nd having tire chains to aid in traction could be the difference between a safe trip home, or a long dangerous stay on the trail...

[BorregoWrangler]

Playing in the mud again

Beautiful pics of beautiful area; but it raises a serious safety question in my mind:

If you are going to be traveling in an area where you are likely to encounter snow and ice, you should have at least one, and maybe two, sets of chains on board. As John observed, there is no traction on ice no matter how aggressive your tires are; you are taking a huge risk on drop offs and ridge roads, and these risks can be minimized with tire chains, which can provide some traction on ice. While John and company had the option of turning around, you might not always be so fortunate, nd having tire chains to aid in traction could be the difference between a safe trip home, or a long dangerous stay on the trail...

We did had a set of chains with us. If we all had a set then we could have made it the rest of the way up Sawmill. Better to error on the side of caution, though. Having a rig along equipped with a winch would also be really handy in those conditions. Anyway, it was a great day for a short notice run.

[photojeeper]

That is correct, the reason I was able to do it without chains was the snow was fresh power and it did not get icy. The reason it was icy was that the daytime temps were enough to melt it a little. The overnight temps refreeze the snow into ice. Saw this n Big Bear last year, even chains could not break the ice/snow. Yes it is better to be safe than sorry. Or smart and not stupid. Fun times!

JJ

[BlueFJ]

Another "unposted", "secret squirrel" run? I see how it is.

[sdnative]

Beautiful pics of beautiful area; but it raises a serious safety question in my mind:

If you are going to be traveling in an area where you are likely to encounter snow and ice, you should have at least one, and maybe two, sets of chains on board. As John observed, there is no traction on ice no matter how aggressive your tires are; you are taking a huge risk on drop offs and ridge roads, and these risks can be minimized with tire chains, which can provide some traction on ice. While John and company had the option of turning around, you might not always be so fortunate, nd having tire chains to aid in traction could be the difference between a safe trip home, or a long dangerous stay on the trail...

Once we encountered ice, we re-evaluated whether to continue. The first time it was on a flat section of the trail, with the only real danger was sliding into a dirt berm. The second time, which is where we stopped, was a completely different situation. There was an incline with a nearby drop-off. It was a no-brainer not to continue. This was on Sawmill.

On SRTT, is was mostly powder. There was only a small section where the trail was covered completely (as shown in the pics). We felt we had good enough traction to continue, although it was a white knuckle experience.

That being said, I would have been much more comfortable with chains.

[BorregoWrangler]

Another "unposted", "secret squirrel" run? I see how it is.

Didn't you have to work?

Sorry, Craig. I'll give ya a call for sure next time!

[freshspecbluegt]

Thanks to SDNative for putting together a great run.

Also want to thank both SDnative and BorregoWrangler for looking out for a rookie like me for the day.

Great views, fun challenges and horse canyon proved to be a great test of the new armor.

Here's another shot of the corner where we turned around on sawmill, the ground in the middle of the turn was just completely frozen.


Backing down the tight trail up to the corner took a little finesse



Looking west from the peak of santa rosa mountain


A couple of shots of the descent into coyote canyon as the sun was setting




Ross

[sdnative]

Ross,

Thanks for posting those pictures, and for joining us. I have to say, you did fantastic for a "rookie".

After looking at the GPS track and the map of sawmill, I think we could have made it to the top if it wasn't for that icy corner. The trail winds more to the West and into a more sunny part of the mountain. Oh well, maybe next time.