AlbatrossCafe's Flexterra ~ Trip / Photo Thread

AlbatrossCafe · Nov 12, 2018

I usually throw these kinds of post in my build thread, but I know some people have avoided it because they can't deal with the 15 high-resolution downloads that await them every time they try to open it (even my own internet cowers). Fear not! I have a solution.

I get out enough and I like sharing these pics with everyone, so I have created a dedicated trip thread as others have on this site. This makes it much easier for those of you that ration your bandwidth to stay under your limit

AlbatrossCafe · Nov 12, 2018

First?

There are two WA highways - State Route 410 and I-90 - that run relatively parallel to each other. For years I've known that you can connect the two via forest roads, thus avoiding about 50 extra miles of travel from having to go all the way around them. Travel times are about the same. I've ALWAYS wanted to figure out this route, and today I finally found it!

Red line is where I went (approx.), and the green/blue lines are the alternate lines around.

I got even more snow/ice testing for my tires. Still agree that they are way better than my mud terrains and I felt much more confident with them, but I wouldn't classify them as a winter tire. For mixed snow/gravel though, they do just fine. They better, cus there were a couple of shelf roads 1-car's width wide that were plenty slick.

Pics...

So cool how the shade was winter and the fine line of sun was "summer":

Risky roads!

Snow ended:

Climbing the railroad bridge lol:

Allshookup · Nov 12, 2018

Thank you for sharing these amazing photos! I love the picture with the snowcapped mountains in the distance.

Chase5Hart · Nov 12, 2018

As always enjoying these pics Derek!!

4funX · Nov 13, 2018

Great looking pic, nice to see the x can take you on a lot of adventures. Thanks for sharing.

AlbatrossCafe · Nov 25, 2018

Took exit 54 (Hyak) off I-90 to head up a snowy road before it closed down for the season.

Slid into a ditch. As soon as I slid off, a Jeep appeared in front. I thought "convenient... I can just winch to him and be outta here in a few minutes". Well, he tells me "I'm hearing noises - I have an axle bearing problem and don't wanna put any undo stress on it". He drove around me while I was in the ditch. At first I was naive but after some time and hearing no weird noises, I realized he just didn't want to spend the time to help me out :dontknow:

Recovery took about 30 min. There was a tree on the right side of the road that just pulled me forward through the ditch. The left side was a cliff, but we were able to find a log poking up that gave just enough of an anchor to get me out.

And of course, I couldn't resist this...

PhullD · Nov 25, 2018

What a bastard for leaving you like that. At the very least he should have stayed until you freed yourself....honestly I would knock him out if I ever saw him again.

AlbatrossCafe · Nov 25, 2018

PhullD said:
What a bastard for leaving you like that. At the very least he should have stayed until you freed yourself....honestly I would knock him out if I ever saw him again.

haha yeah I can never just leave a guy even if it is a pain in the *ss to stay. This included the Honda Fit Zipcar that slid into a ditch trying to climb a snowy hill that we saw on the way down....

jhberria · Nov 26, 2018

Dude, let me know the next time you plan on heading up that way. I was thinking about heading up into the 410 area today but ended up just doing some work on the house instead.

AlbatrossCafe · Dec 2, 2018

Air down your tires in the snow!

Threw on 33" winter tires this week. They don't look as small as I thought with my fender trim and 1" BL.

Went to the same place I went last week to make a 1:1 comparison between the winter tires and my 35s, but there was a lot more snow this time around. When my progress was stopped, I got out and walked.

I met some rando out there who was driving a Ram Rebel (rebadged Mitsubishi Montero) and we decided to do a trail together. I was struggling to keep up with him with my tires at 36 PSI. I would just spin in place on top of the snow. Now, I know airing down your tires was important for traction, but I never knew to what extent. Well I took tires down to 10PSI (first time ever in the snow) and holy hell what a difference it made. My traction tripled. It was like I threw chains on all 4 tires.

Still almost slid off the edge at one point though...

We proceeded to drive to one of the tops of the lifts at the Snoqualmie Ski area. It was a ton of fun. I was fully locked probably 85% of the time. I never knew a vehicle could be so capable in the snow.

Going down was basically like sledding. You could pick any line and slide through the deep snow without worry.

IssacHunter · Dec 2, 2018

Nice views up there

As for the traction yeah I had a similar moment a couple weeks back when I went wheeling with VAXC. Started out at 18psi (my normal wheeling pressure) and ended up at 12psi. Big difference on the powder and ice.

GÜBLERMEISTER · Dec 2, 2018

One of the bests threads I’ve seen!?. That is a killer Rig you’ve built man!

hybrid90 · Dec 4, 2018

AlbatrossCafe said:
Going down was basically like sledding. You could pick any line and slide through the deep snow without worry.

Was it safe to just slide down the hill? Weren't you afraid of sliding off the cliff with that much snow? Looks like fun. Thanks for sharing!

AlbatrossCafe · Dec 4, 2018

hybrid90 said:
Was it safe to just slide down the hill? Weren't you afraid of sliding off the cliff with that much snow? Looks like fun. Thanks for sharing!

There are cliffs on almost every trail here haha There were a few spots on this trail where the road was pretty narrow, but for the most part, it was about 2 Xterras wide. You could slide/roll through the tracks we made and then turn into the deep snow which acted like a brake.

dmski · Dec 4, 2018

Dude awesome photos! I can't believe that guy in the jeep left you. What a dick. And bummed I couldn't make it up to Snoqualmie. I toodled around out there on Sunday when I was up doing the ski clinic but man wish I could wheel to the top.

AlbatrossCafe · Dec 10, 2018

Hit up forest road 73 south of Highway 410 today with @jhberria and @Trixter404. Not too much snow but was still fun getting out.
Got stuck in a rush-hour style traffic jam on the forest road behind Christmas tree harvesters who were overly-cautious in the snow. It was soul sucking so we pulled over for a bit until they passed.

I can confirm that propane fires are hugely underrated.

MrBoJangles_91 · Dec 10, 2018

Why I never go south on a Sunday......

Looks like ya'll had fun though!

Longboardr · Dec 10, 2018

I used to make fun of fake propane fires until I started going places I couldn't burn a hole in the ground. Now ours is a hit every spring and fall.

AlbatrossCafe · Dec 10, 2018

Longboardr said:
I used to make fun of fake propane fires until I started going places I couldn't burn a hole in the ground. Now ours is a hit every spring and fall.

West coast has pretty much gotten to the point where a several-month burn ban is the norm for summers. It is the only way you can legally have a fire anymore in camping season.

Longboardr · Dec 10, 2018

AlbatrossCafe said:
West coast has pretty much gotten to the point where a several-month burn ban is the norm for summers. It is the only way you can legally have a fire anymore in camping season.

We're having pretty much the exact opposite problem on the Right coast, if it doesn't stop raining all the time we're not going to have any dry wood to burn.

AlbatrossCafe's Flexterra ~ Trip / Photo Thread

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