LR Trek 202 - Stuck in the Mud

[ronnv]

Just got back - Watch this spot - story and pictures later this evening - - -

[ronnv]

Land Rover Trek 202 – Stuck in the Mud – 27 March 2011

Yesterday was so cold and windy that I stayed home and worked on my Forensic Art Class Term Project. Today it looked to be sunny and a bit warmer without wind. The goal today is to take a few pictures of some old farm equipment at the Buckland’s Station State Park at Weeks. However, once that is accomplished I plan to drive through the little pass to the railroad tracks at the site of Churchill (not the fort); then down to the river to check out the railroad bridge; south down Adrian Valley; somehow get back across the mountains to highway 95A; then out along the Pony Express Trail along Simpson Road; south over the top of the Desert Mountains; and finally somehow get to Wabuska. Well that the plan was mostly accomplished.

I got to Weeks at about 0900 and spent perhaps twenty minutes walking around taking pictures of the old farm equipment which has been lent by the Churchill County Museum. From there I drove south about three miles and turned west onto a dirt road that should take me to the site of Churchill about three more miles. There isn’t much there except for a railroad grade crossing at a wide spot in the Adrian Valley.

From Churchill I drove north paralleling the railroad tracks to where Adrian Creek empties into the Carson River. I parked the truck and hiked about 700 yards to the bridge spanning the river. I met four hikers. I don’t know where they came from or where they were going. A very populated area; generally I trek all day and don’t see anyone.

Now I turn around and drive south down the Adrian Valley in the direction of Wabuska. During the Pleistocene the Adrian Valley connected the Walker Lake drainage with the Carson Sink drainage; all part of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan. About five miles down the valley I find a crossing to the east over the railroad tracks. These tracks, which are seldom used, connect the spur at Hazen via Fallon, Wabuska and along the east shore of Walker Lake to the Ammunition Storage site at Hawthorne.

This easterly trail passes up the wash of a very sandy valley and over the top of a low pass and returns me to highway 95A. Now I run north along the highway back to the Carson River and then turn off onto a dirt road heading east. This is the Simpson Road. It follows the route of the old Pony Express. This was a fast mail delivery service that ran from April 1860 to October 1861; from St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California before being replaced by the telegraph.

I run due east about four miles on soft sand and dirt sometimes encountering water and muddy patches. I pass a man and young boy sitting on the tailgate of a Dodge pickup shooting a rifle at targets to the north. I continue on and make a brief stop at Lahontan Well, one of the old Pony Express stations. Now the road is getting much softer and I’m encountering larger muddy sections to cross. After another four miles I come to a really long water filled pool on the road. I decide to stop and investigate before continuing on.

It’s really soft even where I’ve stopped on what appeared to be dry. It seems I’m slowly sinking thru a thin crust with mud under it. I get back into the truck and start backing up. After about 30 or 40 feet of backing my left wheels break through pulling me into the water covered mud. Awe $#!+ Gloop! I’m stuck.

Before hiking that four miles back to the guy with the Dodge I decide to see if I can recover this on my own. I dig out the shovel from the back. I start trenching in front of and behind the front wheels tossing the mud into a little dam in front of the truck so that water from the “pond” in front of me doesn’t fill up my excavations. With that done I start trenching the front and back of the rear wheels. After about fifteen minutes I’m ready to give it a go.

Making sure it’s in Low Range and the center diff is locked I try rocking forward and reverse. It digs in a bit more and I can only go about two feet total forwards and back. I get out and clean up the trenches behind all four wheels. Back in I rock some more easily until it seems as if it’s grabbing and I gun it in reverse. It’s going! I just keep her going; throwing mud everywhere. After about 100 feet I seem to be on firmer ground and let her stop. Well that saves a four mile walk.

I go and retrieve my shovel and take a few pictures. Back at the truck I back up another 100 feet until I can find a dry spot wide enough to turn around. Too bad in my excitement to recover the truck I didn’t take pictures of it stuck or of me digging.

So this is the end of the planned trek. I drive the eight miles back to pavement and then north on the highway to Silver Springs. I pull into the Nugget Casino and park my muddy rig between a shiny clean Cadillac and an equally clean Buick. I should have taken that picture too. I treated myself to lunch in the café and then headed north again towards Fernley.

About halfway between Silver Springs and Fernley I spot a faint trail west into the Virginia Range. It’s reasonably dry (no mud) and mostly rock. I only go about two miles ending after a steep climb on top of a ridge. It then turns south. I’ve been there and it is posted ground so I head back to pavement and continue on home arriving a bit after 1600.

FUN DAY!

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[ronnv]

Heading south in Adrian Valley

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[ronnv]

Across the flats of Lahontan Valley

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[ronnv]

For more pictures go to MuddyOval...........

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[discoverylover]

Good thing you didn't have to walk out.

[liftedfreelander]

Ron, why must you tease us so much. lol As I've previously stated, my only complaint about Texas is lack of public land. Then again, if I were the owner of a lot of private land (especially in the Big Bend area) I wouldn't be complaining.

I'd even open up some of it and let people come wheel and camp on my property. $25 per night and sign a waiver seems reasonable to me.

[ronnv]

This was a case of when a second truck along would definately been an advantage.

It was also a case of even if I had had a winch it wouldn't have done any good. It was soft muddy ground in all 360 degrees for several miles. Even one of those ground anchors wouldn't have helped with a winch on the front as the worse mud was in front of me.

This was the third time that good shovel skills have helped:

Last time was when we got Ben's Mitsubishi stuck crossing that narrow, steep banked, sand filled wash (2009).

The first time was in my Freelander stuck on a sand berm that broke through (2003).

[ronnv]

Mar 29, 2011 8:26:56 GMT -5 liftedfreelander said:

Ron, why must you tease us so much. lol As I've previously stated, my only complaint about Texas is lack of public land. Then again, if I were the owner of a lot of private land (especially in the Big Bend area) I wouldn't be complaining.

I'd even open up some of it and let people come wheel and camp on my property. $25 per night and sign a waiver seems reasonable to me.

Any BLM lands in New Mexico?

[ratpatrol]

Ron, are you seriously asking the question?

There is a ton of land in NM that is managed by the BLM....from Las Cruces to Deming, Silver city area, T or C, Four corners area.

[ronnv]

I was just mentioning it as he was saying there is no open land in TX but NM isn't really that far away....

[ratpatrol]

I hear you Ron.
Texas is an odd duck for being a republic. I never could get used to paying a fee for a guided hunt or taking a 4x4 tour.

[ronnv]

As states like NV, NM, etc. were surveyed (and owned) by the federal government before they were settled, all of the not so valuable land (desert/mountains) became BLM. Texas on the other hand was already parceled out (Spanish land grants) even before it became a republic - Then when it joined the union there wasn't much of that "public" land that the feds could gobble up...