Limestone Winter Logging Trails (Saturday April 16th 2022, Easter weekend)

[slanktapper]

Last year this was probably the most fun jeep trip I was on. Beautiful conditions, beautiful scenery, and probably the most fun part was the ability to do some really technical recoveries (Fedor's pick, and lower from the side of the hill, among others)

Some pics and a vid: https://photos.app.goo.gl/iaJJSWNwCZtC5pWU6

We'll meet at the Shell in Sundre at 930, and proceed to Limestone no later than 10am. (Reference the directions link below for the Shell location if you don't know)
Staging here https://goo.gl/maps/uL8EYBKKotquNmWHA at 11am-ish (Route https://goo.gl/maps/CXyKsXSeVZh9pix98)

I'm thinking we'll do the same logging road in and then determine if we want to take cut lines out or not.

Minor fact you may want to know is that I'll be on my quad and not in my Jeep (Cause I sold it and bought a JetBoat Hull)

[The Machinist]

I’m in, should be good times!

[MattMan]

I’m in… barring anything catastrophic occurring beforehand. 

[Gluktar]

I am gonna try to make it. My boys are wanting to some to. Watching that video I have decided to get some chains. Wondering on your guys opinion:  do I get chains for all 4 tires? Would chains on just the front help not slide down a big hills? Is it better to have them on the rear so you don%u2019t slide backwards down a hill your trying to get up?


Also, is there a good map of that area?

[rws]

I am gonna try to make it. My boys are wanting to some to. Watching that video I have decided to get some chains. Wondering on your guys opinion:  do I get chains for all 4 tires? Would chains on just the front help not slide down a big hills? Is it better to have them on the rear so you don%u2019t slide backwards down a hill your trying to get up?


Also, is there a good map of that area?

Before I got beadlocks I used chains on the rear, as a MOF everybody I wheeled with used them on the rear only.   Putting them on the front and trying to turn would put alot of stress on the chain tensioners causing them to ?.   Used to have a set of bling, bling cable chains that would have worked great on the front just never thought to put them there.

[MattMan]

I am gonna try to make it. My boys are wanting to some to. Watching that video I have decided to get some chains. Wondering on your guys opinion:  do I get chains for all 4 tires? Would chains on just the front help not slide down a big hills? Is it better to have them on the rear so you don%u2019t slide backwards down a hill your trying to get up?


Also, is there a good map of that area?

Actually if I recall correctly that YJ in the video had chains on the rear…
I bought a pair and have used them on the rear a couple of times. Got them from Titansupply.ca
They’re the V-bar style with the cam side chain. Super quick to tighten up.

[slanktapper]

Is there a good map of the area? Not really, google is pretty good. https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.8225774,-115.4194669,9311m/data=!3m1!1e3 we're basically starting at the staging area and running west southwest towards the Evangeline Peak Here's a rough sketch of this trail. The Red solid is the hopeful trail we'll follow.  If the weather is nice and the hills aren't bad we'll take the dashed cutline out.  All of that said Only 1 guy needs chains last year and that was to save time/gas on breaking trail through the snow.  There's probably also my tracks for the limestone area in the members area somewhere

My 2 cents on chains:
I hate mounting/adjusting chains but their ice performance is undeniable.
You can use chains to help by providing traction with ice, deep snow, and mud.  Rocks and chains don't mix. That's a recipe for a bad time.

I would absolutely not run chains on a Dana30 front axle.
I had a full set of fronts and rears for my TJ before I went to 35s and I never ran them in all 4 corners. Only the rears.
Like I said at the start I hate chains, I hate chaining up, I hate adjusting them, I hate having to stop every 5m to make sure they're not going to rip a brake line off but I always carried my chains in the Jeep.

Here's a video of a JK running front tire only chains in some deep snow https://streamable.com/h5o2b
Here's a video of 2 vehicles one with no chains one with chains on all 4 corners: https://streamable.com/c41ybx
Here's that same fully chained up WK unable to get himself out of the predicament that he got himself into: https://streamable.com/y37jyb
Here's Eric realizing that his Falken tires were Falken Terrible on ice: https://streamable.com/un8a8
TJ with chains at the Lookout: https://i.imgur.com/2hyezFV.png

[MattMan]

Here's a video of a JK running front tire only chains in some deep snow https://streamable.com/h5o2b
Here's a video of 2 vehicles one with no chains one with chains on all 4 corners: https://streamable.com/c41ybx
Here's that same fully chained up WK unable to get himself out of the predicament that he got himself into: https://streamable.com/y37jyb
Here's Eric realizing that his Falken tires were Falken Terrible on ice: https://streamable.com/un8a8
TJ with chains at the Lookout: https://i.imgur.com/2hyezFV.png

Now that’s funny    That trail with Raf & Dave is the one that ate part of my fender & gutted my Costco winch that day… I miss that trail. 

Rob I was fully expecting to see the YouTube video that you took of me heading up lost knife… My first two run attempts were without chains and the third run on the video was when I borrowed a set of chains from Dave and put them on the rear.
https://youtu.be/NfVgXtQl_74

[Gluktar]

Thanks for the map and description.

And the videos, that’s good stuff.  Here is my observations:

Using speed and momentum in the winter is even sketchier then in the summer.

Chains on all 4 tires just allows you to get more stuck.  Chains on the back seems like the way to go.

Didn’t consider my stock Dana 30. From the research I did it seems like it’s not bad for “normal” 4x4ing. However, chains and potentially meeting a rock is not normal conditions.

Thanks again and looking forward to the trip.

[slanktapper]

Oh Matt Brilliant! I forgot about that day, damn! That was sketchy! Can't believe I forgot how far you slide in reverse.

> Using speed and momentum in the winter is even sketchier then in the summer.
True unless it's a deep snow situation then you need speed. That's what makes winter wheeling fun!

[fedropor]

Most of the time, if you need chains you're going to be going uphill so putting them in the back makes the most sense as that's where most of your weight and traction is going to be. Putting them in the back also minimizes damage if they become loose. We've done tests, JKU had chains in the front and couldn't make it up the switchbacks to lost knife, all of us had them in the back or all 4s, he changed them to the back and had no problems.

That said. I'm in for the trip

[fedropor]

Was out there yesterday. The trails don't have much snow and the skeg is well frozen. I broke trail for most of the day, there was a crust of about 3-4 inches that made breaking trail a little harder but it's much better than having bumper deep snow. We were able to get to about 1/2 way to Evangeline on the cutline until a big drift high-centered the leading jeep. Did a mix of trails after turning around. Exited at Pineedle and 40. Around 6 1/2 hours on trails. It's gonna be a good year for early access.

[slanktapper]

Was out there yesterday. The trails don't have much snow and the skeg is well frozen.

Oh nice we had a ~foot of snow up here near Rocky.

Wet heavy snow, the kind of snow that turns hard as soon as you touch it, the kind of snow that rips the plow right off through mounts on your quad leaving you to have to use shovels...

[fedropor]

Oh nice we had a ~foot of snow up here near Rocky.

Wet heavy snow, the kind of snow that turns hard as soon as you touch it, the kind of snow that rips the plow right off through mounts on your quad leaving you to have to use shovels...

lol ouch.

I think there's about a foot of snow there now too.

[fedropor]

Was out there again last weekend, the trail to the bottom of Evangeline lookout is doable, some deep snow sections. We took the creek in like last year, way less ice, but we'll see how much melt there is by Easter. Had a v8 on 42s breaking trail on many sections but they went on top of the snow and I ended up breaking through to solid ground. There's way less snow than in Rocky or Red Deer, maybe only 3 more inches from the weeke before.