Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
hikerduane wrote:I have to smile a little at my friends, fellow bpers who show up with a 4X4 for a trip in the mountains and I show up with my two wheel drive car or pickup.
Am I in that category? Hey, IIRC you did ask me to drive the Kaiser Pass segment because you were driving your CAR.
I have never needed 4wd to get to a Sierra trailhead, but I would have liked a bit more clearance at times. I have scraped bottom and scraped the sides of my car. I would not take a shiny new car to many of the trailheads. As it is, one more scrape or ding just adds character to my beat up old car. One of the few times we did take a 4wd we high-centered on snow and had to be pulled out by a passer by. A 4wd simply gets me into trouble!
Like you, Daisy. In fact, we got tired of worrying about the ground clearance on our old Volvo Wagon..and so bought a 2WD Ford Escape hybrid. It has loads of clearance, and we get about 35 mpg out of it. It now has almost 60K miles on it without a single problem.
A little off topic but relevant to those who sometimes drive steep roads that must be negotiated slowly. If you do so fairly regularly I would suggest you stay away from vehicles that have a constant variable transmission (cvt). As I understand it they work sort of like a snowmobile in that as the engine speeds up centrifugal force causes the drive train to engage. So for the cvt at steep and low speed there is less centrifugal force and there will be some slippage. That is why (but they never tell you) they say the Toyota Highlander Hybrid awd should not be driven off highway. It took me a couple of times going up a really steep, curvy paved road to figure out why the Prius smelled like burning brakes when I topped out.
I have taken the Prius over Kaiser Pass to Florence lake with no problem while a slow road it doesn't have a lot of steep. And there is no problem going over Tioga Pass either--so we are talking about real steep and real slow.
Another issue is the cvt does not provide sufficient engine breaking when going downhill. It does have a "B" for compression braking but it is not sufficient for really steep down hill so you end up having to use your brakes much more than when you can select a lower gear on a manual or regular auto transmission.
Mike
Mike
Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
Mike/oldranger, my experience too, more 4X4's in the ditch than single axle drive. They may be more confident or there may be more of them out when conditions are dicey. I check for 4X4's on my weekly commute home on Friday's, usually very few of us two wheel drives out.
Mr. Young Man Eric, I was the guest, I think you offered to drive so I took my "baby". That was definitely a mountain road. Throw in a young driver, WEEEEE!.
I've had a VW bug, Toyota Corolla or Tercel and never not been able to get to a trailhead. The Bug once got stuck in a huge pothole at the old Granite Creek trailhead, but a family camped nearby helped push it out. Another time, I took the Tercel to the Taboose Pass trailhead. When I came out a week later, the battery was dead. I hiked down about a mile or more before I found someone to give me a jump (I was carrying cables). He had a 4-wheel drive pickup and expressed trepidation about going the rest of the way to the trailhead to give me the jump. I told him my car was a Tercel, I'd already hiked from Bench Lake that day and might have to go another mile or two more before finding someone else and so could you please give me jump? He finally agreed.
I don’t need a goal destination. I need a destination that meets my goals.
I used to drive a '73 triumph spitfire to the mountains. It was kinda fun to drive it on some of the off road trails, and even up and over the boulders in the Crystal Basin. Only had one mishap where i dropped a rear tire into a very large pothole. Pretty simple really.. my friend and i got out, went to the rear of the car and lifted it up and out of the hole. I had to run her w/o a thermostat as she was never happy living in the summer heat.
I live in Reno and am frequently in the Sierra and running off-road, so a 4x4 is pretty much required here (much like owning a Prius and living in Seattle).
Funny, I was on that Carson Pass/Winnemucca trip too, and had a 2WD sedan with snow tires that got me in and out just as well as the 4WD vehicles. That said, we have a 4WD now too and I much prefer it for the mountains whenever there's a chance of snow or bad weather (and of course for going on bad dirt roads). It's so nice to never have to get out and put on chains...
Hi Steve, I agree, if the weather is dicey, I would bring a 4X4 also, just some of the trips our buds show up with 4X4's when they are unneeded and like mentioned already, may be the only other vehicle they have or new enough to trust for the long drive. Didn't we use the Merc at Maria's east Lassen Park trip a couple years ago and I hitched a ride as my 2 wheel drive could go no further? I'm saving for a newer truck, 4X4 this time for cutting firewood and getting out when our road has not been plowed. Just about there, but keeping an eye on work still so I don't get caught in the cold.
