Bill Moore Lake 10/22/11

With snow about to blanket the state in a couple days, Patrol 14 decided to make one last attempt to reach Bill Moore Lake for the season. The weather was great, with lots of sun all day long. On this day, the group was very diverse with Ryan and Chuck being the only members to attend the run. The other attendees were a group of Ryan's friends in a Toyota, JK, and a small quad sport.

The lower portions of the trail were clear and in great shape.

We were positive we would make it to the lake on this day as w had not seen really any snow on the trail. When we approached the final downhill section of the trail before the lake, we found a Land Rover attempting to come back up a slipper, snowy, slope.

While waiting for the Land Rover, the JK blew a tire and so we blew the ti by switching out the spare. The JK's spare was only a street tire, so we opted to leave it behind as the rest of us trekked down the slope. Thanks to the warm weather, the downhill part was super easy with no sliding. There was however, one narrow slippery spot that grew some hair on your chest. Being a little off camber and downhill, the back ends of the vehicles wanted to crab walk and almost pull you down the treeless slope to your right.

We finally made it down the slope and past the old mud bog area and approached the lake. The wind was whippin' really good, and it was bitter cold.

We got some poser pics, and then put a game plan together to tackle the narrow section again, this time going up hill.

Ryan and Dane had working winches, but Chuck did not. This meant Ryan would go first, winch past the narrow section, drive all the way up the hill, turn around, come back down, and snatch to a tree pulling chuck up. Then, Dane could follow up using his winch. The plan worked to the T, and just took a considerable amount of time.

 The final bit of the uphill drive was interesting as it had become very icy since the sun had gone below the peaks. After a few attempts, everyone made it up safely, and it was time to grab the JK and head on down. I am sure we were the last folks in a 4wd to see the lake for the next 7 months.