road conditions 1/21

Submitted by xmtbiker on Thu, 01/26/2006 - 12:57
Hello everybody, Me and a friend went up hyalite road on saturday with a 4WD chevy and chains but were unable to make it more than 3 miles up the road (past were all the snowmobilers unload. Some of the lighter vehicles like jeeps seemed to be able to make it past us as we had one pass us on the way up and we never saw him come back before we left. Hope everyone that has been able to get to the ice have been enjoying it for the rest of us that are unfortunately at this point in time unable to get there. Enjoy Erik

I was up in the canyon last Thursday, when rigging up the sled low in the canyon a Tacoma drove past, and we never say it after that. We went into the east fork, so I can not say that it made it for sure though it appears so given that we didn?t see it on the way in or out. Along with this, when we were packing the sled up to leave an explorer drove out of the canyon that we hadn?t seen on our way in or out, leading us to believe that it too made it to the trailhead. Though neither of these are for certain, given that we did not directly see it, it appears they made it, at least past the east fork turnoff. The road did look rowdy in spots, though doable with a suv and a good driver. The packed road seems to just be very narrow, with very soft spots out of the ruts so the potential for getting very stuck is there.

that was Dave Willey and I in the Tacoma. We made it past the turn but things went soft and we managed to turn around and get buried to the hubs. Lots of work to get out. The Explorer was stuck up there when we went by and gone when we came out. He too was buried. At this point I am considering the road closed. On the up side we are finding good ice in Pine Ck. By the way, we redid a finish to Brain Cramp again this year - there is a nice ice/rock finish above where the book says the route ends. Climb the thin ice up to a very small tree and then up cracks. There are slings on a tree up on the obvious ledge. Short but sweet. Take a couple cams and smallish nuts.

I made it up past the resevoir in my Toyota truck by losing PSI in the tires. It is possible if you have patience and some driving skill...the sides are soft however and expect to get into trouble if you get to much into them. I would of made a push for the ice if I would of had another car along to pull me out and it wouldn't of been in the middle of the night. I think its doable however as I made it across the dam. I might make a push for it Saturday.

Not to be rude but give me a break. I sledded in on Sunday and there were many trucks being pulled out by a tractor charging a $100 a pop. One guy told me he had driven up to the dam every weekend in his Jeep Grand Cherokee without chains! BUT this time he said he hit a bump and slide off into the sides and he was stuck. Tried the chains but just spun in place. Had to get a ride on a sled to the bottom to use his cell phone to call for help. You may get lucky and get in and get one this time, but sooner or later you will be stuck. I saw many LARGE holes where cars where stuck on my path to the canyon. There are No ruts. Just soft snow. And where people where stuck the road is even worse. Take you chances. You may be hoofin it. Nicole

I was coming out Saturday night and it was the scariest driving I've ever done. A truck we were following down got stuck and he had to be pulled out using the backhoe.

went up sunday 19 th on a sled, u can drive to the reservior, as 6 cars were stuck there and another 3 lower down, past the res isnt worth the drive, have fun and good luck....

I would NOT recommend driving up iunto the Hyalite at all. Every weekend I go up on the sled, there are many many cars that are completly stuck, esp. this past weekend we ran into two sets of people walking their way out b/c their car got stuck. The ice is currenlty bullet proof and brittle as can be! Super hard to climb.

How do you suggest those of us who don't have machines get in then? I'm willing to take the risk of getting stuck.

The reason many of us that have snowmobiles got them was to avoid that constant hassle of digging your rig out of the snow. Now I understand the frustration that you go through when you know the ice is there and only a car drive away, but lets face it, hyalite just isn't really feasably accessible during some times during the winter by car. The only reason I say this is that for those of us that do go up on snowmobile, when we come across a group of people (mostly not climbers but high school students just trying to push the limits on their parents car) who are stuck we feel the obligation to help that person get unstuck. And this defeats the purpose of getting the snowmobile in the first place because there we are again spending a good portion of our day digging out somebody's rig. All I ask is that the people that are deciding on attempting to drive up that they at least acknowledge the fact that they are not only placing the resbonsibility of getting out on them but also on the people that happen to come across them in the case that they are stuck. And too often have we asked people if they have chains, or shovels only to find out that they forgot to throw them in the back. Sorry if this seems like a rant people, I am only trying to say something that I feel needs to be said. And for those of you without sleds bring some rope and skis i'll be more than happy to tow you up there behind my sled. cheers
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