Thursday Jan 31: Left Saratoga, CA at 12.30pm with co-pilots David and Graham in-tow. Headed up 101 to 380 to 280, through SF, over the Golden Gate, continued up 101 to Hopland, CA to get gas and cut across 175 to 29 to 20. By this point we're in the Clearlake area and manage to meet up with a bunch of other Newts in the town of Nice, CA. We gas up there (it's now about 4.30pm) and head up Bartlett Springs Road toward the "Rampaging Spot" (aka: the campout/starting point). As we climb, we quickly rise above the snow line and I learn quickly how to keep my momentum and control in slushy, muddy snow!
Eventually we crest the pass to learn that one bus has made a wrong turn and managed to get stuck. So we have to leave our buses and hike about a third of a mile up to the stuck bus.
About an hour later, we hike back down with the bus unstuck and backing out the whole way. Yes! Adventure number one. Now it's dark and we have many miles more to go before reaching our destination for the night. It's cold. It's wet. There are small rock slides to dodge and fallen trees that have been moved and giant puddles to plow through. But dammit, we got there!
As we got situated, more Newts arrived and set up camp, got fires going, played with some fireworks, socialized, ate, dried out, etc! The plan from the start was to be up, ready, and rolling by 4.30am Friday, so I decided it was time to crash out around 11.30pm.
Friday Feb 1: Woke up at 3.45am and instantly started packing and arranging the bus for take off. Got my co-pilots up and we got ourselves situated. The 10pm Thursday Driver's Meeting didn't happen until about 4.45am Friday and the start wasn't until about 5am!
The Driver's Meeting:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J6_nbKPdFc[/youtube]
So the 5am LeMans style departure went pretty well. We definitely were not the last ones out the gate, but within a few miles that didn't mean a thing as we had to stop to chain up and then crawl forward and stop again because within the span of maybe a quarter mile there were three buses stuck.
First, Aaron and Emily had slid into a ditch on the left and we spent easily 45 minutes breaking them loose. They finished chaining up and we headed forward a little ways more.
Second, Cory was stuck on an inside corner and had tried so hard to break loose that he snapped an axle! Holy crap, we all figured the trip was over for him! But he was also on a corner and we had to find a way around him if half the teams were to continue on the trip!
Third, we were able to get past, but not until Lou got unstuck as he had passed Cory, but slid off to the left before the next corner! See the attached video for this exciting part of the adventure!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97q7tZMMPSU[/youtube]
Okay, so our 5am start and subsequent stops now brings us to nearly 8am! Finally, we're pretty much all moving again, save for Cory and a couple drivers who chose to stay behind to make sure he gets out okay. We plow ahead and make our way down Bartlett Springs Road, chattering away on the CB. We drop below the snow line and dechain in the mud (yuck! so much laundry to do now). We barrel back down into Nice, Ca and stop at the Valero station to gas up, grab a little grub, and get back onto Hwy 101 to Willits. Already we seem to be falling behind the group as we ascend hills. Something's not right, but we march on and into Willits. Already, we're a little overwhelmed by the trip. It's way more than we'd planned for.
We make it into Willits and to the home of Christopher Moore who has a huge stash of old VWs and parts and who is a great help to all the trippers. We spend some time resting up and trying to decide what to do. We can either take 101 all the way up to 36 and then across to 5 and stay on large roads or we can at least follow the group up Hwy 162 into Covelo, Ca and see how we do before proceeding on.
After some encouragement from others (even though they'd totally leave me in the dust later) we chose to power on to Covelo and reassess the situation there.
I have an interesting time looking back at this leg of the journey. Already my mind is starting to gloss over the reality of just how damaged and frazzled our spirits were. And it would be an injustice not to address that and just say that we powered on, determined to get to Shasta.
Quite honestly, I feel no shame in saying that our spirits were hurt and there was a large part of me who was ready to throw in the towel and head home. Everyone who has been on the trip before was going on about how this was the most challenging trip yet and frankly David had been up since 5am driving, the bus was definitely losing power, we were falling behind from the group and feeling quite miffed about it. Maybe that's whining, but that's genuinely how we felt. I also knew that if I bailed on the trip, my co-pilots were gonna bail on me and find other rides.
So we motored up highway 162 into Covelo, CA...a very small town, flat, in a valley of sorts certainly. We caught up with the group and we all got gas at the town's one gas station. To give credit to the rest of the group we were with, they were all happy we'd made it that far and we doing their best to reassure us that indeed the bus (and we) could make the trip successfully.
The next stop was a miniscule dot on the map called Kettenpom. There's something now about that name that haunts me. Probably because it was the toughest part of the trip. It didn't seem all that far, maybe 25-30 miles, on the map. The road passed through the Round Valley Indian Reservation (no, we weren't besieged by natives...just snow) and I knew there were a couple alternate routes out of that town if we decided.
So we motored on, sounding very tractoresque, and I took some time to sit in the back of the bus and rest up a little. I knew that I could take over driving at any time. Naturally, the road wound its way up in elevation and naturally we started falling behind again. And before we knew it, we were chaining up. Onward and upward we went...until shhhump! We'd slid somehow into a snow bank! Still not sure if we hit ice or just what, but we were stuck. Thankfully, it just took myself and Graham to push ourselves out and get going again.
We could hear chatter on the CB from up ahead about a couple of snow plows on the road and we hoped beyond hope that it would make the trip easier for us. We knew by that point that we needed to get to Kettenpom and assess any repairs we needed to make in order to continue on. Eventually, we came across the plow boys and they hopped down to our CB channel to see if there were other buses coming. Well, we were the end of the line, so we talked with them a bit and let them know we were the end of the line.
Not too long after, we made the decision to dechain (mistake #1) and continue on. Well, we managed to lose enough power to not even gain enough purchase to get ourselves up a small hill. Well, along came the plow boys (Scott and Jesse, as we got to know them) and, blessedly, they took a liking to us and our plight. So the large plow got in front of us and the smaller one (basically a Ford F-150 with a plow) got behind us and pushed us up the hill. There was one point where we got a gap between us and bumped. Oh, I started to freak that I had some major dent in the bus, but I just had to tell myself that it was a dent or the end of the trip! Thankfully, he chose to stay behind us the rest of the way in case we needed another push.
Long story short (surely it's too late for that), the big plow powered ahead to clear the pass to Kettenpom. He did a great job because we were able to make it up with the smaller plow following us. They took their leave and we headed toward Kettenpom, calling out on the radio to see if anyone was waiting for us.
Thankfully, they were and as soon as we came up the one market/gas pump that is Kettenpom, the main part of the group just took off! Shrilly, we called out to them saying we NEEDED to stop for repairs. And again, blessedly, two buses stayed behind. Team Idaho loaned us a timing light and Team Surf City stuck around to help us replace the distributor with one of theirs. The bus was definitely sounding better, but we'd lost some time. Had to be nearly 3pm at this point...so we headed into the market to get some gas for the camper and hopefully some good directions.
Thank whatever deity you choose to thank, but we got very clear and certain directions from the lady running the market (I am actually planning to call her and thank her today) about which way to go and which way to steer clear of. Oddly enough, the way everyone else went...that's the one she said definitely don't take.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKpGUf4A04I[/youtube]
Well, we were now teamed up with Team Surf City and despite the fact they were running a much bigger motor and were pretty much ready for anything, the said they'd stick with us.
The plan was to get onto Ruth-Zenia Road heading north. It eventually became Van Duzen Road and connected with Hwy 36. From there our plan was to take Hwy 36 all the way to Red Bluff and connect with Interstate 5 north to Mt. Shasta City.
Well, after a couple wrong turns and one more time getting stuck (in a school's driveway we thought was a road), we found Ruth-Zenia Road and were met with some of the nicest scenery we'd had the whole trip. Our spirits we really healing well and despite some icy conditions on the road surface, made good time as the sun set on our day of driving.
As we headed northwest and Ruth-Zenia Road became Van Duzen Road, we called out periodically for other Shasta Trippers and eventually could begin to hear another group off in the distance! Ah, the joy of having RF Gain on your CB! Well, soon they could hear us too and they were already up on Highway 36, a few miles ahead of us. They shared with us their planned route and we reassured them Hwy 3 was closed in Weaverville, so there was no point in going that way. They had actually worked out a route that stayed clear of Weaverville and dropped us into Redding instead of Red Bluff.
It took quite a while, but we caught up with them and talked routes and took a bathroom break. We were really tired at this point and my role of navigator had become letting David know which way the road was going to curve because I could see further ahead than he could. So we followed the rest of the pack up Highway 3 to where it connects with the smaller Highway 299 and that road dropped us into Redding where we all were thrilled to see the lights of civilization, get gas, and then run across the street to Burger King for the first real meal of the trip! Minimart food really will only get you so far.
This was a long stop and gave many of us a chance to stretch, check in with loved ones, and allow a few other buses to catch up with us.
We could see the entrance for Interstate 5 from where we were and soon the idea that Mt. Shasta City was only 54 miles away had us all chomping at the bit!
So we went for it! Blitz up I-5 and get there before midnight...that's the whole idea of the trip. Get up insanely early, take the most bizarre roads you can find, and get there before it turns Saturday!
Naturally, climbing hills, we got a little separated from the group again and made the wrong turn getting off once we reached Shasta. Ultimately, we had to get back onto 5 south into Dunsmuir and head north again to the correct exit. I think if we didn't make that wrong turn, we could have been in Shasta before 11pm, but as it was we pulled up in front of where we were staying at 11.10pm!
Hot damn, we made it! Oh, the feeling was unreal...to have faced such intense odds, overcome them, and actually make it to a destination I had dreamed of and only seen in pictures before.
The rest of the night was one of unpacking, relaxing, sharing stories, and ultimately moving the bus into a local parking lot so we could avoid getting towed in case they had to plow the roads overnight.
Saturday Feb 2nd:
1am: Having arrived in Shasta and unpacked the bus and basically figured out where we were going to sleep because the folks in charge of all that were still a few hours away, I moved the bus into the local public parking lot (because I fully expected the roads to be plowed that night). Just as I get parked, I slam the door to make sure it latches in the cold...and a big piece of bondo carrying part of the logos on the front door just leaps off and hits me! Dang...now I need to decide if I want to put it back on somehow or put it on my wall at home.
1.30am: I stumble into my trundle bed and drop into a deep sleep. Next to (the trundle bed, not my person) someone who snores quite a bit.
6.45am: I'm awake. I am the only one awake. Yeah, I'm a morning person. It can be a lonely existence. Anyway, I get up and tiptoe into the bathroom to clean up and change. Priority One - get coffee! I hadn't had coffee since Thursday morning and I was not about to feel normal without it. So I snuck out to find a cafe or someplace that surely had coffee. And I found it with the Stage Door Cafe on the town's main street. Neat little place...warm, cozy, friendly people. So it was a medium mocha and a plain bagel with cream cheese! Woohoo...lord I feel normal again. Called the folks, called Amber, to let them all know I was there safe and sound and that...holy crap...there's lots of snow falling!
From the Stage Door, I went back to the parking lot to check on the bus and take a peek at the engine. Checked the oil, the butterfly in the carb, etc. I snapped some pics and trudged about checking out the other buses. And I definitely thought about my priorities for the day.
*Fix my boots or buy some at the thrift store.
*Add oil (at least a quart) and fiddle with the motor.
*Explore town.
*Ride along with another bus if we go on an adventure (I was more than a little nervous about driving my bus after Friday's events).
*Get something for Amber.
Once I got back to the condo - did I mention it's above a Radio Shack? - a few bodies were starting to rouse and get a pot of coffee going. They were also getting some pot going, but that's not my speed.
10ish am: Team Idaho decides its breakfast time and opt to head through town to the Black Bear Diner (http://www.blackbeardiner.com/). I just kinda feel like getting out and exploring, so I ride along with them and holy crap...good food! Hearty! Great company...those Idaho folks are seriously salt of the earth types! From the diner, a handheld CB unit was used to touch base with a couple of the other teams roaming around town.
11am: The talk was of making an attempt on Castle Lake (the road to which I'd heard earlier wasn't plowed yet) and we found out by the time we got back to the house that not nearly enough people were awake and ready yet to make that attempt. So Team Idaho loaded up a bunch of people and made a run for the local thrift store. I'd had enough time to run to Ace Hardware and get some Shoe Goo to put my lame boots back together, but it takes 24hrs to set, so my hope was to find something at the thrift store. Sadly, there wasn't anything larger than, like, a size 7 at the store, but some folk found some pretty wicked deals on 80s-themed snow suits. Guess it's a running joke with some. But they were indeed fantastically ugly!
12.30ish pm: We get back to the condo and make plans for a Castle Lake attempt. For whatever reason, I decided that I was gonna go buy new boots. I was sick of wearing two pairs of socks and a pair of size 12 Sorels! So I head into town and accept the fact that if I get a ride with a crew, great, and if not...I could deal with that too. Well, sometime around 1pm, I was being fitted for a nice pair of new boots when I see three or four buses pass by. I knew I'd missed the boat...and from the stories and pics I saw and heard later...I actually wish I'd gone. But c'est la vie, ya know?
Instead I meander around town finding something for Amber, getting some food, a keychain, and just really enjoying the fact that it's STILL snowing. I mean, it never let up! I also went by the bus a couple times to see how the snow was piling up. It was really starting to get impressive!
3pm: I am back at the house by this point and no one is around! I have the whole place to myself. I should have been smart and had a nice hot shower, but instead I decided to make some notes on the trip and listen to the weather band radio as I was already starting to think of road conditions for Sunday. So I did that and chowed down on some sweet BBQ Tri-Tip from the local market! A nap soon followed and by the time I woke up, I had about an hour of daylight to duck out and fiddle with my motor!
Oil takes a long time to drain into an engine when it's below freezing outside! LOL Soon everything seemed as kosher as it was going to get and I was tempted to fire up the engine and make sure, but it was getting dark and colder fast! So I hoofed it back inside in time for many of the groups to return home from attempting Castle Lake. They didn't make it all the way up there, but they made a valiant effort!
8ish pm: By this point the decision was made to skip the potluck out at Bunny Flat and have it in the house instead. Now, that's a lot of people in the house at one time! But it was fantastically social and enjoyable. We all threw together some food...herbivores and omnivores alike and just had a great time! See the video for more of this part. But around 10pm...Saturday...23hrs after we had arrived...trip-founder and de facto fearless leader Brian Piercy and his co-pilot Ericka finally arrived! They had taken some of the most insane and impassable roads you could imagine. Wherever it said road closed, they completely ignored it! So we were rapt with attention as they told their story. They're nuts...but dang, they made it! And it was impressive. I felt honored to have a sit down with Brian later and I thanked him for being such a cheerleader and he complemented me and my whole team for sticking with it and not flaking out this year. Vindicated, he said we were. And I was happy with that.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu9VsUrCQqE[/youtube]
11.45pm: With the party still raging, I was exhausted (remember? morning person here) and with thoughts of road conditions and trying to make decent time getting home Sunday, I escaped to my room to try and get some sleep. For what it's worth, it was really a crappy night's sleep! But it was sleep nonetheless and I drifted off feeling so confident that my bus could make it just about anywhere!
Sunday Feb 3rd:
And as soon as we were there, it was time to leave.
I awoke early (again) on Sunday morning and instantly my mind focused on road conditions and whether or not we could make it out of town by 9am. I wanted to get back and at least have a little bit of day to unpack and rest up before work the next day (note to self: take Monday off next year).
6:30am...I wander out to check on the bus and then go to the Stage Door Cafe again for a coffee and to call home and have someone check road conditions for me. Good news: Interstate 5 is open, but there are chain restrictions for about 20 miles south of Shasta. We can do that! Cool, no worries.
So I polished off my coffee and decided to get a little upper body workout and dig out the bus...and part of the parking lot so I could actually get out. Geez! Easily ten inches of snow on the bus and easily fifteen feet of parking lot to dig out! Oh well, here goes!
And so I dug...and dug...and dug! Luckily a guy in a 4X4 parked kind of behind me showed up and moved his truck, so my exit would be much easier! As I was almost done, Cory, Tim, Damon, and Sean all rolled into town (Cory had broken an axle early on the first day of the trip and he apparently found a replacement gearbox and completely swapped it out to get to Shasta at all!). I came up, shared some cheer with them, found them decent parking spots, and then went to move my bus. Aaaaand, managed to get just slightly stuck. Bless these guys, they ran over and helped push me out! I chugged up to the house, parked, and set to rearranging stuff and packing up.
Slowly others awoke and assessed the situation. I shared the road conditions with everyone because some people were headed north and the chain restrictions lasted much longer in that direction. When I went out to chain up the bus for the drive, I saw that we'd actually broken a link at some point. Crap, we don't have a repair link...I couldn't find one before we left on the trip! I was frustrated again at that point and tried to figure out what to do. Well, Team Idaho once again came to the rescue with a repair link I was just able to make fit. **Sadly, after getting home and getting the chains back in their bag, did I realise there was a repair link in the bag!**
Well, our 9am departure quickly turned into 11am, but we got on the road with two of the DeafVolks buses. As soon as we hit the Interstate, people were already on the side of the road unchaining their vehicles! What tha?! Okay, quick, let's unchain and keep going. We did...messy, as always, and I just tossed them up on the roof and bungeed them down.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L4LH3abW2Y[/youtube]
Once we dropped below the snow line, the drive was fairly uneventful save for the occasional gas stop and food break. Amazingly, we made it home in very good time! About 380 miles in 7 hours. Rolled into Saratoga, CA right at about 6pm. It was after dark, but at least I had some time to unpack and unwind before work on Monday.
The Shasta Snow Trip taught me much about myself and my bus. For years, I was nervous to drive too far from home for fear of breaking down and getting stuck. Now, I have the itch to get out there and blaze new trails! This trip found any weakness in my bus or in myself and exploited it! It took that weakness and went "Look, here's this...how you gonna handle it, eh?" But you know what? We handled it. We made it there and we made it back.
And I would so do it all over again!
but brilliant 
