Report: Eastern Washington Adventures Search for Deep Snow - Jan 2012

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Cowiche: The Search for Deep Snow
Report by Clay Graham / Eastern Washington Adventures


Ahtanum State Forest Photo by Clay Graham / Eastern Washington Adventures

Around 10 AM Saturday January 7th, 2012 Eastern Washington Adventures members met up at the Cowiche Mill Road entrance of the Ahtanum State Forest for a 4x4 run to find deep snow. I rode with TJ40 in his TJ. On this run the roads were iced over and there was not much snow until we got way up high.

First we ran Cowiche Mill Road and turned up the first Green Dot Road to the right. A truck had slid off the road the day before and the guys were waiting for their friend to come up and pull the truck out with a Jeep. TJ40 said he would winch the truck back on the road since we had more rigs to help if need be. TJ40's Mile Marker winch rated for 8,000 Lbs did a great job pulling the truck up. Once the truck was back on the road, we move on up the ridge toward Hatton Road.

Up on Hatton Road we drove toward Jumpoff Lookout. It started off with driving on thick ice with a little bit of snow. The snow drifts got deeper in some areas as we came onto C3000. Up near the Forest Service boundary the snow got deep enough the rigs were having a little trouble pushing through. We had to cut three trees out of the road to keep going. As we came around to the North Slope it was blocked by a big deep drift. We finally got enough deep snow to play in but no place to go. This is were we turned around and it became a stuck fest. Once we all turned around we headed back down.

Back on Cowiche Mill Road at C1000 some of the group headed home. The rest of us headed up C1000 and on up onto Cowiche Ridge. We ran Cowiche Ridge and then up onto the Strobach Mountain 4x4 Trail. Near the Hogback we found the Yakima Ridgerunners having a good time. We stopped and talked with them for awhile before heading back out for home.

This was a very fun day thanks for all who came and some that we met on the trail.

See full report with 90 photos at: Report w/photos: Cowiche: The Search for Deep Snow