Hummer/John Bull/White Mountain Snow and...

[Buckeye Hummer]

Well I called the ranger station last week and he told me absolutely not to do the John Bull trail because first it was too difficult (his opinion) second there was 6-8 inches of snow on it making it completely impassable by any off road vehicle and too dangerous http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

The same day someone in a modded out Yoda made a post that we should skip this one because of the snow on the trail would make it too difficult http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

Since everyone thought it was a bad idea, dangerous and impassable we thought we'd give it a shot! So here's our day.

Please remember I'm a big H2 supporter but we simply didn't have any with us today. These pics are for all Hummer owners. A Hummer is a Hummer.

Enjoy!

[Buckeye Hummer]

Well I called the ranger station last week and he told me absolutely not to do the John Bull trail because first it was too difficult (his opinion) second there was 6-8 inches of snow on it making it completely impassable by any off road vehicle and too dangerous http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

The same day someone in a modded out Yoda made a post that we should skip this one because of the snow on the trail would make it too difficult http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif

Since everyone thought it was a bad idea, dangerous and impassable we thought we'd give it a shot! So here's our day.

Please remember I'm a big H2 supporter but we simply didn't have any with us today. These pics are for all Hummer owners. A Hummer is a Hummer.

Enjoy!

[Buckeye Hummer]

Getting ready to hit the dirt en route to the trails. There were 3 of us. Notice the CB antennas. You won't see them later http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Buckeye Hummer]

So, we're climbing checking GPS and took a break. The wind was KICKIN' out here! Check out the flag.

[Buckeye Hummer]

The great part about this trip was the snow in the lower elevations had melted leaving tons of water holes, deep sand, clay and more to play in. Here's Alan taking one of our many baths. No, we only went through them once. We had 8 hours of straight off road driving.

[Buckeye Hummer]

White Mountain was white this time around. The snow made this incline unbelievably difficult. We're in Hummers so we all made it (no tracks btw of any other vehicles)

[Buckeye Hummer]

Lots of snow, deep loose dirt, rocks and a killer incline. We had to air down to 8 psi to make this one. Check out Alan at the base to give perspective on the incline.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Silly tree tried to block us from getting to John Bull (we had just completed White Mountain). Tree vs. Hummer. Hummer won.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Rick took the lead. This is one of the easy sections. The rock gardens got rather interesting later particularly with 6" of snow on them.

[Buckeye Hummer]

The snow played tricks on us. Just when you thought you had a good line the snow would say otherwise. Either you couldn't see what was under it or you would slide off the rock you were trying to drive over and hammer your rock rails.

[Buckeye Hummer]

This trail forces you to take lines you normall would avoid. I had a wall to my left that would have damaged my doors had I slipped off this rock at all.

[Buckeye Hummer]

So, we're not afraid of rocks that come up to our headlights but that darn snow http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif It kept slipping us off our lines. 6 feet from this little obstacle are 2 large trees. The h1's had about 4 inches on either side. Any slipping would cause damage. Luckily only 3 of us slid in to the tree http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Buckeye Hummer]

Here is the obstacle right before the two trees we needed to thread. It took some time to get through this one. We needed to go perfectly straight. There is no room for slipping or error or you slide in to the tree.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Here is what the ass end looks like on this obstacle. The two rear tires aren't touching the ground. The truck is resting on the underbelly protection so we only had 2 tires to pull from the front, one of which was slipping in the snow.

[Buckeye Hummer]

In the snow the White Mountain trail en route to John Bull with Gold Mountain at the end is worth the trip for Alec and DRTY (even Shaggy and his ridiculous comments http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif) I feel confident in saying that the snow made this run very memorable. Our rock rails did some overtime today.

[DennisAJC]

Man that looked fun. Any pics of damage Jason?
Nice to have you back in one piece buddy http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif.
Gotta admit seeing a group of H1s still get me excited.

[Buckeye Hummer]

The rock rails took a beating. We all have a little body damage but nothing major. I bent up my roof gutter a bit on that last tree split and took about 6" of paint off it. Of course it was dark when I got home and my truck is coated in mud so it could be worse.

[DennisAJC]

Buckeye,

Balls of steel! LOL

Damn H1 is practically new, but he don't care. Gotta admire that. Probably make my way to the dealership next week and start kicking a few H1 tires.

[Centerfire]

Excellent pictures.. I've never had opportunity to have that much fun with my clothes on ( You guys do keep your clothes on , right"

I noticed in the pictures that there was not that much snow.. I usually have to fight 3-5' drifts in my 900ft driveway. Does the small amount of snow shown really cause that much of a difficulty?

Mike

[Buckeye Hummer]

We had four foot drifts at the top, 6-8 inches of snow running on sections of the trail. It just depends on where the sunlight hits the trail and yes it makes all the difference in the world because it's so slick.

We broke through one 4 ft. drift that took a little while. It's really fun when there are rocks, dirt sand AND you're on a major incline. Hummers are so great http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[JSA_3]

All great shots!! http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[argonaut]

Very Nice Jason. That is sweet. makes me want to get out again. It has been a month now since I have seen mud. I need to hit the trails. Very inspiring Hummer pics. BTW, a Hummer is a Hummer. I would love to have a bunch of H3 people join the forum when that comes out.

[DRTYFN]

Excellent pictures!!!! Love seeing the tanks in action. I've taken a couple of loaner H1s wheelin' so I have complete understanding of how tight trails can be in those things. Did you guys ever have to use a winch?

Argo, hannah Hummer is going to the Washougal track again on Decmber 7th. It was a mud fest last time. A total blast!!

[argonaut]

Damn, those guys never invite me. Of course I didn't buy my Hummer from them... http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif Still, I get my service done there. I love mud, it looks so good on the H2...

[DRTYFN]

Argo,
If you'd like I'll make sure they call and invite you.

[argonaut]

Sure. That would be awesome. I like to play in the mud. Most of the really good mud pits at brown's camp were covered or closed.

[Arizona Hummerboy]

It looks like you LA Boys, have way to much fun in the snow. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif Arizona got some of that white stuff, I think they call it sand. http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif Great Picture's of your trip.

[Rick-H1 Guy]

Hi All,

John Bull was one of the toughet trails I've ever done, I've been up steeper, I been on longer boulder runs, I been through tougher obstables, but never in the same run, The down hill through the boulders was amazing! Yes I did use the winch, once at the top of the White Mountain run, to get through the four feet of snow without shoveling and once to get through the two trees obstable, what an amazing obstable! At one point I was resting on the rocker panels on both sides with my wheel get barely touching the ground, it was so cool, there is no other vehicle in the world that can self-recover like an H1! It was a great run. After I used the winch for me we were able to just use a tow rope to hel the second and third guy through! Actually Subman made it up the White Mountain run without help but he was the tail gunner and all the snow was gone by then! Keep on Hummering!

Rick
Psycho with H1, I mean really don't try and follow me! (Unless you want to have fun and bend metal)

[Frank Hewitt]

Great pics. Thanks for your time in posting them-- and keep 'em coming! H1, H2, I don't care-- I just love to see a Hummer kicking some ass!!! Thanks again for both the pics and the commentary. Happy trails.

gasman

[Buckeye Hummer]

I really liked this trail combo. We hit some really steep stuff that would leave the Jeepers and Yodas behind. The Hummer has such a great center for this stuff it was just perfect not to mention the ability to constantly change your tire pressure really helped on this trip. On the road we were at 35psi. Easy trails were 20-25psi to smooth the ride. When we hit the steep snow covered climb we tried 15psi, which was a no go so we aired down to 8psi and it climbed perfectly now here is the great thing about an H2 vs. an H1. The H2's traction control is a little easier to use than the H1 so on this climb, properly aired down the H2 would have done really well. Don't get me wrong the H1 is great but it takes some talent to use the TT4 (right Rick?)

On the rock crawling a Jeep or Yoda would have done well with the short wheel base BUT probably would have never reached the trail head without hitting some serious climbs.

I think the perfect run is white mountain, John Bull, and finish with Gold Mountain. That would be a full day with 3-4 vehicles attempting it. An H2 can make John Bull with a good driver (Steve, Alec) (in the snow), it is NOT for a newbie! You will really need to watch your lines to maximize ground clearance.

I'll post a recovery pic shortly.

[Buckeye Hummer]

This was a really fun obstacle. The 16" of ground clearance didn't help much because we were totally resting on the underbelly protection. The two rear tires are not touching and the rock between the trees forced your tires on a specific line because of the snow. See boo boo on next post.

[Buckeye Hummer]

Now that we are winched to a tree we get a just a little tug and then the Hummer is back on power again. The only problem was when the rear end got the tires on the ground again it forced the roof line in to the tree. We all drove away with bruises up top. This is where one of those little 4x4's would really help but I think the diff would get caught up if not broken in the rear.

[DRTYFN]

Oh, what a pisser!!!

[RockYoda]

Hey glad you guys tried it and made! Looks like you had alot of fun! What was the deal with the tree? I don't remember any tree being in the way last time i was there.

I have done all the trails you did with snow in my Yoda (we have also done Holcom Creek and Deep Creek with 4-6' of snow on them). It was not that hard with my locked and loaded Toyota but it was also hella cold last year.

Keep up the good work and get those things on the trails!

[Steve R]

Congrats on one hell of an adventure!!!

As anyone can figure, I wasn't part of this excursion. Dave and I put together a Hummer Happening for Bakersfield Hummer on Saturday (the next day) and I've lately been pressing my luck with my wife and all the wheeling I've been doing lately.

However, given the pics I've seen...I'm not sure I would have wanted to go. The underbelly of the H1 has two things the H2 doesn't have: a LOT more clearance AND long/smooth skids plates intended to be dragged over rocks & boulders. The H2 has those ladder-like gussets reaching out to the rock-rail that tend to catch rocks and get ya all hung-up. I can't really see how we'd get past those two tight trees. that center boulder would just smash right into our skid plates: game over!

Let me get some 37's, tweak the torsion bars up and get some serious underbody protection....I'll give it a shot then!

[Artie]

nice pictures