4WDING IN WINTER SNOWSTORM! 12FT deep snow & below freezing camping... We had to turn back!

yeah this is what we're trying to drive through turning back now I don't was say that stop well things are just escalated a little bit we are deep in the Sierra NADA mountains in Northern California doing proper American snow Wheeling we're talking full drivve swallowing snow epic recoveries ice cold bog holes amazing camping there's a track T coma we got 40in tires 37 in tires the most insane snow I've ever seen we camped in it we wheeled in it we're recovered in it we're about to dig the 30 out of it right now this is America and this is insane welcome back to the USA we're here for another epic journey through the land of Adventure but this time things are going to be different as we swap the heat of summer for the ice and snow of a true American winter our road trip begins in the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas which just a few days ago were hit by a massive blizzard that closed roads trapped four-wheel drives and brought temps down to well below freezing this is really really exciting we starting to get a bit of elevation now and as you can see all this white stuff beside me well it's snow and a lot of it as well up ahead we're going to meet our Aussie mates Jocko and Liam now they should be in the big Jeep and then our plan is to lock the hubs and get straight into it the track goes actually off this pavement straight into the snow and that's where the adventure begins that's an Abrupt halt to the pavement and it's just thick snow from now on that's what they mean about the end of the plow line but the plow stops and there's just know H [Music] out I've done my fair share of Wheeling over the years but when it comes to snow driving let's just say us Aussies aren't exactly experts with that in mind I brought along a couple of local Legends with rigs built for these exact type of trails first up is Dimitri in a toyot Tacoma modified with yep actual tracks I got no words Demitri is well known for some very epic conversions down at Stellar built in Sacramento and this weapon is unlike anything I've ever seen back home the next rig is just as cool as well it's a mint Jeep Wrangler wheeled by our good mate Aussie from Mor flate Aussie is an expat from home who you might have spotted in our last Rubicon Adventure in a wild buggy build for this trip he swapped that out for his daily driver sitting on a whopping set of 40in tires we start by airing down as we wait for the rest of the Aussie boys to arrive in Colonel Mustard but what soon appears is not one fore but two what the what on Earth is that what do you reckon mate what the what is going American cousin well this is crazy dude and the biggest tires I've ever seen on a hux yep biggest ties I've ever had on a hux well this is a pickup a pickup Pi yep look mate we're at the snow line right now see it's in front of the dirty 30 it's going to be loose that so you've got the Jeep you've got the American hu we're ready to party oh stop it this is going to be so epic boys Air those things down let's go let's do it we're just a few miles away from the Rubicon Trail head which right now is buried deep under snow and virtually impassible we want to get as close to the Rubicon as possible so our plan is to try and push out to the old trail start via the Wentworth Springs OHV Trail it's a journey of just 6 mil but in these conditions whether we can make it is anyone's guess here we go we're hitting the snow yes it's happening how amazing is this I got to pinch myself mate this is crazy like nothing I've ever done before I have a feeling this is going to be so much fun this is surreal to have the dirty 30 Heat here in some of the deepest snow I've ever seen it's unbelievable after the huge snow dump last week There's only been one other Convoy that have attempted this run and they will force it turn back just a few KS into the track just to add another element to this trip we've got reports that temperatures are going to be plummeting tonight well below freezing and there's a chance of another snow storm hitting the area in the next 24 hours just cutting through some deep snow here we go oh this is a baz I thought he just went through about a meter of snow to end just as we think we're getting the hang of this whole snow Wheeling thing we realize we haven't even hit the dirt yet and sure enough the start of the track is up ahead opening with the winter equivalent of a muddy bog hole challenge yeah I have no idea what to expect hey like it could oh yeah you'll Cruise true bud but you also might not I'm going to watch you from here mate low second is the key if in doubt gas are out I got lots of Gears to play with so I don't know if I can do that but we'll see what happens which second gear are you going if I get stuck in a b hole in the snow it's going to be really disappointing you're on your own let's give this a crack he the start of the Wentworth Springs oh travel boys is is going to be hectic knowing Sean he might give it a little bit of herb oh that's a lot of herb that's it mate that's it wow yes woo and off hand [Music] bog he's down I went offline he had a fair bit of p through here I wonder if that the go is to to not have that much herb but he had momentum and then he got stuck anyway first recovery of the trip a backwards recovery is going to be the go here so joo's heading in well this is a completely new experience for me I don't know what to expect doing this deep snow Wheeling this is epic come on Red Lobster let's have a go oh wow how amazing that's cool oh sick that was cool there's a mountain of snow D that was cool call me Mr plow now I took the wrong line the track sort of goes to the left yeah I reckon if you if I pull you back and you aim towards that tree that's on a Bend yeah that's where I'm going to go we're a long way from tazzy bog holes right now but it turns out you can get just as stuck in the [Music] snow clear the natural stink in these situations you guessed it is to try and gas it out but as it turns out crawling is sometimes the better option there we go yeah this is cool this is so cool take it yeah sick light white baby now Demitri and his mate Ben lovees snow wheeling and they're about to give us a master class in why tracks are just so effective out here oh look at that this is wild yeah oh he's plowing look at that you can't even see the track oh my goodness he's makes his own yeah wow wow oh I don't even know what to that I felt the ground vibrate as he drove past and he can drive out of it yeah he's just like oh I'll back out of this to make sure he doesn't even for the line on the left he just sends it right up the gut look at what he can drive through it's out of control easy easy there we go next we' got Liam big Jeep on 35s now normally 35s would be a big vehicle in our Convoy it's the smallest rig in our Convoy yep mate and I have willed that thing so I know how capable it is I reckon he will nail it through okay good luck thanks mate I'm going to give it the everything hopefully I get through cheers I really don't know about this some people have gone fast some people have gone slow I might just go somewhere in the middle oh woo he's deeping oh yeah oh wow he's moving oh it's soft here up on the high side hey got it he got it he got it Slow Down slow down I've watched this from the other guys slow down when you start getting stuck it's the complete opposite like complete different mind shift right Justin we're ready for you mate and um look everyone had a bit of a discussion here mate since you're on 40in tires but that's sinking for a second you got to take the right hand line when you get to us it's it's a big line I mean Dimitri's done it um I reckon you can do it if he doesn't first beer at Camp all right I'll do it but as long as you tell the wife that I drove her car very sensibly okay coffee coffee Jo I just add a little kicker in as well if you drive it we will shout you a beer if you don't you know the St we beers all right it's on you guys nothing yep still say all the fire is loud w w oh he's fing it oh yes straight through straight through Jo him a beer oh Sean you got to give him a beer yeah Jo sh SE that was well what you wanted that was epic that was really cool yeah that was real cool 40in tires eh 40in tires who's buying me a beer Sean is yeah no 24/7 Convoy is complete without a camera car and the camera boys have scored a cool rig for this trip thanks to our mates at mule Expedition Outfitters in Oregon and if the vehicle looks for familar that's because it's the same rig that Tim wheed all across the US last year with three blocks on board and a lot of gear the Tacoma is by far the heaviest vehicle in the Convoy and it's only running 35 in tires which might sound big for Australian standards but out here they're very small trust me there you [Music] go we're going to be steadily climbing as we push towards the Wentworth Springs turnoff and the conditions are getting tipped to get harder the further on we get getting in is one thing but if more snowfalls were on the trails getting out can be another so we're going to have to take things pretty carefully for those with a Keen Eye you've probably already picked it but I've upgraded to 37s on the dirty 30 it's going to help a lot in this deep snow and give me a bit more clearance for the tough stuff we are planning on wheeling later in this trip the snow gets deeper and deeper as we push forward and it's not long until some of the Convoy are really s a struggle oh almost should I do it Jesse GLE spec yeah you can try all right woo no each time you don't make it I'm going to throw a snowball at you come on come on come on come on that's it woo yeah well done [Applause] with the actual ground hidden a meter or two below the snow sometimes you have no idea what you're driving [Music] on you can see the snow has completely given away under the dirty 30 as I've crossed this little creek and now I'm tray deep in super soft snow I don't think you're driving out of that one mate Ste a bit of right hand down when you inch out didn't need much did it staying on the compacted line is harder than it looks and once again the 30 is beached I got to say mate despite getting stuck twice in about 2 minutes I'm having an absolute ball yeah and I'm excited because you don't get shovels like this in Australia so a dedicated snow shovel mate well I'll let you have a run win right down there yeah just to help it a bit we Aussies take our recoveries very seriously but we've soon got the 30 hooked up on the runber and ready to winch let's give this a crack lock is on getting up bit of pressure on that winch to be honest with you I didn't even know that could happened getting so stuck in snow it wasn't exactly on a big hill you can't tell when you're driving cuz it all looks pretty smooth and then you find out you're driving through a creek or there's a big hole underneath the whole vehicle get stuck and as you saw it was all flexed up there was a lot of pressure on that Wing that was about as stuck as you can get in the snow far out learn a lot today jock is running twin transfers as well as front and rear lockers this thing is practically a comp truck but you can't be a good driver behind the wheel as well give it a gut fo by oh what was that how apparently you can't see as that just didn't your your tires were in the right line and you just went forward that's cool with the pickup in full crawler mode though jock is soon out of trouble that's ity all the ranges the lowest the lowest of the low now little bump to get that front that was fun it was technical I was going between 47 reduction back to standard because you can shift the front and rear cases individually so I can go low range at the front and high range at the back if I just want standard what's called 2.28 reduction standard then if I want to go low low I can put the rear case into low range and that gives me proper crawle boy that's pretty sick you've seen a couple of different drives here a bit of a recovery some slow and steady Wheeling something tells me Demitri with the tracks he's got his party lights on he's ready to party doesn't even trip yeah right I right you want me to I can uh P back on me please yeah yeah make a little Highway hey Demetri I think the line's in the middle there in that big hole oh let's go [Laughter] see wow wow hole wow yeah righto that's insane that is actually insane it's dead set like a highway now like your your vehicle was bogged to the axles here and now it's like yeah flexed up as well this is like a proper highway now that the path is pretty much cleared the rest of the crew are through with no dramas very nice thanks fellas yeah I like to say that I did all the hard work here boys no you just made it look hard I pled a track through without a Pioneer no one else would come you're welcome let's go to Camp up ahead is the Bridge Crossing of gly Creek the local boys reckon from here the track gets really difficult it's really going to ramp up so this might be where we call it for the day now this doesn't look like much of a campsite but we have the perfect tool to create our own now obviously if we went in here this is what was going to happen you're going to sink down with some pretty deep snow so we're going to send demetrium with the tracks he's actually going to drive back and forth and make a bit of a campsite all right send in the big snowplow Mr plow that's my name that name again is Mr pow can't believe that how well it can drive through thick snow tonight's campsite is a little bit different that's the other statement of the year yeah good this what a day of Wheeling tell you what I can't wait to have a beer it's been one of those days that far out I think I remember for just about ever that's Camp as the day turns in tonight the temps are plummeting to way below anything we've ever camped in before overnight temps Dro to about -7° on a good night at this time of year and way way lower on a bad one luckily we've come prepared with some camping gear we bet none of you in Australia have seen before all right this is a trusted all heat Hut making a living room middle of the forest today has well and truly been a day of thirsts even when it comes to what we're sleeping in tonight normally we'd roll out a swag and some of the boys are still doing that Sean's got his swag set up under his awning but cuz it gets so cold here they've got these special tents they set up you'd see one behind me over there and there's going to be a couple of bugs in each tent I'm lucky enough to be with the camera crew who are probably the hardest workers in the crew so they smell but uh that's okay so do I but yeah so I'm just making a bit of a flat spot here for the tent and then there'll be four blocks in one tent and we'll be nice and warm you picked it temperatures are getting down now now check this out after an amazing day of Wheeling look I managed to smuggle all the way into the northern hemisphere I'll be the only BL with a 4X go for probably about 10,000 km I reckon jez and the boys are putting the Gazo up they're going to call that the heat tent no joke it's going to get as you can imagine absolutely freezing tonight or is super cold yeah they're going to put that in we've got diesel heaters as well we'll be able to sit in there have a cold beer get out of the cold a little bit this is a day at first I'm loving [Music] it hey boys oh how warm is this hey come on in boyscome we got the Rubicon soup our famous soup here on the trail this gets cooked multiple times a year every year we got beans bacon Italian sausage cream this will warm your heart so this is like a certified soup that'll get you going that smells so good man I'm so ke for that about as good as it gets mate warm feed on a cold night mate we are on our way got a bit of a mission we don't know if we're going to make it this is a crazy thing we're on our way to Wentworth Springs which is the old start of the Rubicon Trail now the boys inside they we've got guys with snow tracks with 40s they don't know if we're going to make it through they also said what we did today was just the start of the intro like it was nothing it was a practice run kind of guess we a little bit excited and a bit worried at the same time because we're definitely going to have our work cut out mate but for now all we can do bit more Rubicon soup maybe jump in the heat Hut try and get out of that cold and then start tomorrow with a bit of a bang it's going to be big day mate let's do it let's get warm how good if you're in the market for a top quality radio look no further cuz right now on the full drive 247.com website you can get one of these this is a 370 XRS connect combo pack and you can get it right now for only $629 that's a saving of 100 bucks over retail plus you're going to get a free sticker pack from snaps so do yourself a favor jump on the website and get a really great radio at an absolute steal of a price the views around our camp this morning are pretty darn incredible but the cold and clear conditions overnight aren't exactly going to help us as we try and push deeper into the snow around the Rubicon I was just talking to the fellas and they were saying that when it gets really cold but doesn't snow sometimes it forms ice which is actually quite hard to drive on because you're try and climb up over the ice you fall through and you're always just trying to break through it when you get this sort of powder stuff it makes things actually a little bit easier so this has just started just now fingers crossed we're in for a bit of a snowstorm not literally butan today we're going to have a lot of a lot of fun just trying to get through and get out of camp and back down that track but for now I think the boys are cooking up some Brey I'm going to be in on that breakfast burritos got some peppers some onions probably comes as no surprise that I've once again ended up in a Toyota an American version of a highx that's a little bit more modified than what you can get away with in Australia 37's twin locked twin transfer gears a 3.4 l V6 swap out of a Tacoma this in American builds is probably pretty mild but to Australian standards it's pretty epic definitely for a hux the cool thing is the bloke who originally built it a couple of owners ago actually built it with a bit of design inspiration from our show a few mods like the flatbed which aren't very common over here in the US it's kind of nice that it's come full circle and now it's ended up being wheeled by an Aussie to get it ready for this trip there are a couple of Maintenance things we had to do of course I stopped by Nappa and got a whole bunch of bits and pieces we needed just to get it ready for some snow Wheeling didn't really know what to expect with this type of terrain so kind of just went through it and picked up a whole bunch of spares as well bearings you know filters fluids hoses an alternator starter motor a couple of bits and pieces that I'd normally run on a huxx back in Australia I am so excited it's completely new experience wheeling in the snow over here and the fact I get to do it in a probably mildly modified but I'm going to say very modified hux to to pickup this is pretty Epic from our camp here at gurly Creek it's only about 2 and 1/2 km to Wentworth Springs which marks the old entrance to the Rubicon Trail but the track ahead is tipped to be pretty wild today with a stack of creek crossings and deep snow to navigate and at a certain point we're also going to be pushing in the first tracks for the season Joo straight out of campmate and straight into it can't believe there's so much snow on the bridge that were actually full driving over a bridge which would normally be a road yeah you're slipping into one side there mate I'm actually bogged on a bridge I got to go back mate not that far if the first 20 M out of Cam anything to go by this is going to be an epic day mate Bring It On soon enough we're up to our first real challenge of the day back home would be in a cross in like this by walking at first but today you can probably tell that I'm not so Keen well it's one of those ones I just want to know how deep this is but at the same time I I want to get my my boots all wet and get cold no way of telling I think I'm just going to have to drive it and try and just get out look a bit steep on the exit that's where if you're going to have dramas it's probably right at the end there and um might just get the boys ready so if I go down they can be quick with the Winch just in case as you can probably hear you can hear a bit of air escaping out of my compressor it's got a Savage leak at the moment but I do need the lockers so we're just gonna have to put up with it in the cab unfortunately let's give this a go probably the coldest water of the 30s ever been in yeah easy too easy almost too easy have a few guyses at that it's soft on the exit I've got to make a bit of a track that's it that's it there we go just needed a few clearing drives well done that's exciting it's like learning how to foot wheel drive all over again you can do this see what happens look at the SI this thing I've managed to leave a couple of perfect 37in holes on the exit and sure enough Joo is getting caught up in them oh Joo is just getting DED down at the moment there's a big pile of snow in front I think he's going to have to hit that with a bit of momentum if he wants to get through here he comes here he comes it's coming with crawler mode engaged jock is on the move again look at [Music] that what I love about the snow Wheeling you tried it over here oh that didn't work let's go over over here oh that works only for a bit and then you swap around and have another go while the tracks on the Tacoma love the snow they can easily get caught up in the tree roots and rocks so Dimitri needs to take a bit of Care on this Crossing but once he's in the snow again he can literally just point and shoot it isn't fair it isn't fair that's too easy I think he just paved the M1 for you all right let's give it a little bit of a crawly Boy action drop style the steady Jeep is one of the smaller rigs in our Convoy and the challenge for Liam here is not to get hung up in the Big Wheel tracks in front of him Liam in this situation I'd normally you know make a h of jokes right now but I'm stuck about 50 m up there so I'll just help you with a wish the Jeep ends up Beach between the wheel ruts on the exit but a quick tug of the runber should get Liam out of [Music] trouble we got this well done woohoo thanks guys Aussie has got a whole extra 5 in to play with here and those big tires well it's going to make this one look pretty easy nice easy done the camera crew have been putting in a huge effort at the back in the big mule but this one proves to be a bit too much for the big Tacoma to add insult to injury though the boys have also done a bead he's not running bead locks but we've had to go down really low to about 5 PSI for the snow so we're going to get the mor flight out put a little bit of air in it get him back on the [Applause] trail whilst we're sorting out the camera car tire just thought I'd explain what is actually going on here cuz this is the mor flate multi- tire inflation system and basically what we've done that tire was really low so we've aired him back up and then we've connected all the hoses back together just to equalize them back down so what we'll do that's at 15 lb and the beauty about this is It's really quick to inflate and you can do all four tires at once and then it's real quick to deflate as well it will also equalize the tires real nice which means you've got one outlet for your air and all tires are airing down the same the other Advantage is if you want to run different pressures front and rear it's real easy to do all you need to do is disconnect two hoses at the back or two hoses at the front and it'll equalize just those two tires so in the case of the camera car because it's so heavy we're going to run slightly different pressures in the rear than we will in the front real Handy [Applause] the track today is proving to be pretty Relentless and we spend several hours digging out the snow and navigating snowy Creeks oh so close but even so we' barely made a dent into the distance we H to [Music] cover come on baby come on come on out it easy done just as we're starting to make some progress we hit a new problem and this one is something new for us Aussies the tracks on the Stellar rig aren't loving those wombat holes and Dimitri soon has the equivalent of a tire off the bead if the tracks slip off entirely it's going to be a mission to move the Tacoma so the guys quickly level out an area to Jack the vehicle up I'll tell you what this is a first for me and for Joo as well no D set of tracks have actually come off rollers very equivalent I suppose for be the same as a tire off the bead Essen on track it happens this whole track is it's always there's always a new thing popping up every corner and here's just another one so I'm going to jack the vehicle up there's a tension apparently you can bring that track back onto the rollers back in the game in 2 minutes hopefully luckily the boys know their staff and after a bit of work have the problem sorted and the Tacoma back in business everything's tight track is tight everything is good to go we're going to drop the Jack and uh see how this thing does on the way back into wheeling well tracking the conditions out here are truly unlike anything us Aussies have experienced before and there's a whole lot of learning going on as we creep forward this is pretty hairy I'm not going to lie some vehicles with big tires have come through here once again it's these Creek exits that are causing the most dramas and with so little traction available I'm struggling to get the right line it's way they I'll do some snow Rock packing that's what we need the snow here is acting just like black soil back at home and once you get below the surface climbing back on top takes a lot of effort our American Crew know all about this kind of terrain and is soon on the shovels and clearing a line for the 30 to follow that's that's some track Building forward a meter back dig rinse repeat stuck back dig Lots wow yeaha thank you boys it doesn't take long for a full day to slip by as we creep forward and we barely put a dent into the distance we'd hope to cover teamwork how good woo come on come on baby you'll never guess how far we've gone today now keep in mind been traveling all day it's nearly 600 p.m. right now 500 M that's not far soon enough darkness is falling and the spotties are coming out as we push forward but there's soon vehicles struggling across the [Music] Convoy the boys weren't kidding when they said we'll have our work cut out for us not even at the real har yet this has been insane the winters are getting a real workout today as the vehicle start going down across the Convoy and soon even the camera car is getting into the rescues our mate Dave has been tagging at the back to help out the crew but this time he's the one needing to be recovered on that's it how good that the camera car the unsung hero Towing out fjs on 40in tires that's epic there's plenty more drama as a night goes on with the camera car being the next to go down soon enough the FJ goes down again as well oh my goodness how this night time we still haven't made it more than a k from where we camped last night and now we're digging out a vehicle on 40s and it's raining or snowing or something like that all we know it's cold and we having an absolute ball how good is this a that's it good news is all the vehicles are unstuck which is really good because we're pretty Keen to get to Camp which is apparently only about 250 M away the only drama with that is it's still 250 M away that could mean we're here all night it's been getting pretty late as we finally clear the last Creek and move up in some more open Forest but up ahead is a whole new challenge get aoad of this track is just stopped Joo um track stops made I'm getting out and um having a look there's no tie tracks in front of me mate the further you push air into these snowy conditions the greater the risk and it soon looks like we've reached the point where past groups have pulled the plug and turned back get a load of that that is not something I have ever seen before tracks get out I literally saw Zero tracks in front of me I thought I'm seeing stuff and I didn't want to drive Dan into that assessing it first I'd imagine this would be the type of stuff the boys were saying is why you have a track vehicle like the boys were all saying that in fact I reckon look if it's okay with you we'll back her up yep find a little flat spot in the snow have a Camp I might even do a bit of a feed for everyone as well something warm in the guts mate a couple of cold beers what do you think perfect cold beers in the snow mate and I reckoner with a bit of daylight let's assess what's going on down there because something tells me no one's been down there we should probably try it out yeah that's track country let's head up there and find a campsite [Music] mate at long last we find a little patch of flat ground and gratefully roll into camp [Music] it's never too late for a hot Camp meal especially on a cold night after a huge day in the snow and tonight I've got just the recip you to heat things up well got to be honest with you I got to talk this one down as one of the better days I've ever done off road I mean right everything we have done on this trip has been a bit of a first this is next level in so many ways even just the way we camp the way we been driving there's all new techniques to I feel a little bit Happ dep but we're sort of starting to get the hang of it I think yeah slowly so but you think you're getting the hang of it and then it's just like bang oh you're stuck now and how's this though we did today I think we did about nearly a kilometer it's now very late at night and we've just we everyone's rushed to make Camp everyone's got to hdle together we've got the only flat spot probably in the next 200 miles it's a perfect it's perfect it's fine and you know speaking of Perfect Mate I've got a meal that's just that because I have actually done a little bit of preparation on the track today so this one's going to be called car assada so the American audience um will know about this one this is basically for for the Aussies amongst us is fancy way to say you're going to have steak tacos and um it sounds pretty good doesn't it so what I'm going to do is just chuck all of this meat in here as you can see it's it's already cut into strips that's so normally i' go about I don't know two tablespoons of oil but two squirts will do the job just fine so typically you'd go about two cloves of crushed garlic just I'm going to go a bit mad on the garlic like I normally do a bit of oregano or oregano as your Americans like to call it right here's a bit of cumin bit of soy that'll help it bind together and bit of chili powder I found this was actually in the dirty 30 from last time I was over in the states the last little bit is some lime juice and now they're going to zip back up I'm going to marinate those with my hand get them back in the demed but before I do that I've got one more secret ingredient now this if you can remember from last Sumer in the US this was a scorpion sauce none the bo know about this one we're going to have a bit of a Russian rouette taco night I thinkz this one's going to get a little bit and that is super hot that one so I've marinated the meat and um that's all ready to go y if you could get these little bell peppers yep give those a couple of cuts mate and I'm going to jump straight into the domenic I've got that um marinated steak I'll get that out Joo here's a fun fact mate hit me this is the only time in my life I've been camping whereby all the food in the fridge is actually warmer than on the outside yeah it's a good thing you have it cuz it's probably exactly right everything is at Perfect Temperature mate and that's what we want we're basically just going to turn this on start cooking it we're going to put some uh little little peppers in there as well and maybe a little bit of onion and then put it in a t tea up and where we go look at this look at this so you marinated that earlier did you I'm going to pull a little strippy out just so you can see oh yum and what steak is it um good question yeah yes oh that smells so good man it does actually and you can cook it a little bit medium red there's not this one hot is the main thing under here covered in snow oh some tortillas some tortillas they are really cold there I wonder if like it looks as cold as it is right now watch it like I'd say with all the steam coming out of our mouth conversation yes and the snow falling out of the sky yes if you're prepared for camping like this I reckon it's some of the best camping you'll do full stop the says he comes out and does it all the time I get and you can tell he does you can tell you really can I can't even open this fate my hands have gone numb oh no up there socks no will and you got to be delicate but I not holding your M hands oh is it that one oh I'll let you got it oh no that's the wrong flap I made a about that before got to be careful Jo cies I using me you know what we're going to eat them all tonight there's no doubt about it oh man that actually smells so good yeah corander some people don't like it Ro turn that off off the heat that is smelling beautiful tortillas are done some cheese we'll whack that right there perfect one last thing check this out o what do you got sauces stop it what one you got I got a green one I got a red one that one you that's not that that's not that one you had last time is it just have a taste it what Happ no no that one goes in the bin that I'm going that smok me boys jump in we are good to go I'm so ready for this right boys it's cold have a bite what do you reckon look at these not the first time you ripped in a beef taco is it Joo oh yum ex delicious how good is that perfect on the end of day how good is that and the best bit is we got at least four more serves here we're just going to cook and repeat we're just going to keep eating all night until we get really warm and full and um we're going to need all the energy cuz tomorrow big day dude big day what do you reckon Demetri got a chance of making it all the way I like your style mate right let's rip in a few more of these mate we expect did a little bit of snow last night but it turns out there was an absolute dumping and our camp this morning is buried under a good foot of fresh [Music] powder all the extra snow is going to make reaching the old turn off to the rubican that much more difficult but you can hardly feel upset when your Camp looks as Specky as this just woke up this morning and just had a quick look at the track out of here have a look at it it's snow I've never seen snow like this in my life check out how much snow I've got in that [Music] awning that gives you a rough idea look at that on mate on mate this is insane this is where I slept last night in the SAG it's super warm m you but we had a little snow drift form on the side of it look that the C make a coffee this [Music] morning yep it's a 30 well I get a coffee into me and uh yeah today's going to be pretty wild I think just as a guess the turn off is less than a kilometer from where we camped but today we'll be running on the snow with no tracks to follow so it's going to be far from Easy you know with so much fresh snow over night once again it's going to completely change the tracks so not really sure what's ahead of us and we really want to try and get to the start of the old Rubicon Trail but it's going to be really interesting another day of probably lots of winching picking lines lots of snow driving we're going to give it a red hot crack but the good thing is even if we don't make it the boys say they've got something else lined up for us and they won't tell us what it is so we have to wait and see either way it's going to be an epic day let's see if the old girl fires up windscreen wipers are on full blast at the moment might have to give them a bit of a hand that's it come on come on you can do it I'm back in the game as we backtrack out of Camp to we left off last night there's another problem and this one is totally out of our hands check the weather report uh this morning and it says we're expecting a pretty big wind storm coming through up to about 100 m our wind gusts on The Ridges yeah Roo something tells me you don't want to be out for that one no it's not going to be fun out there when there's wind picks up so uh let's see how far we can get yeah we'll just push along and break through the line and see how far we can get with the high winds comes extreme cold and the real possibility of getting stuck out here so today is going to be the last chance of try for the Rubicon up ahead is the end of the tire tracks and for some reason the Americans are still letting me go up front here we go boys about to head off the tracks into Virgin Snow this is going to be incredible to watch mate I'm Keen to see how the 30 goes through here is there any uh last minute tips to me Tre I am watching you up front Sean let's see how you do if anything I'll pull right up and we'll break some stail let's go oh this is going to be hard here he goes Uncharted Territory and just like that we're into the all right back and forth now that didn't make it thought you made it about 2 m into the into the Virgin Snow I don't think it's 2 m but my Bonnet made it into the ver snow that's it I can see why uh tracked Vehicles lead the way through here yeah Joo Let's uh pull sea out off to the side and I'll come around and uh lead the way Roger that sounds like a plan time to get the reinforcements now I reckon I've been stitched up a bit here but it goes to show just how treacherous this fresh can be a quick tug backwards and I'm quickly out of trouble and the track Tacoma finally gets to show us exactly what it was built for w it's deep isn't it it's almost floating that's so cool we've been waiting the whole trip to see that it just got on top of the snow and cuz it's got such a big surface area on each track just able to glide through that was beautiful hopefully he's compacted enough for the rest of the vehicles we're about to find out right now Tacoma might have made a set of tracks to follow but the snow is still so deep I'm struggling to get moving ah yeah no no staying on doesn't work no well the problem we got now is Demetri with the tracks is making great progress however he's leaving quite a big mound of snow in the middle because he's got really high clearance and I'm just sort of bulldozing that I thought we'd try and give a bit of pace and see if that worked that did not work um in fact every time I tried that it hasn't worked once again it's out with the runber but to keep things moving we're going to have to change things up a bit yeah oh so you can see I'm on five 5 PS High we're going down to three so pretty wild so I'm about to air down even lower I'm at 6 PSI I think I'm going to go down to like 2 or 3 we've got the track vehic going through but we're going to stagger the tires and biggest to smallest just so each one just knocks a little bit more off the top and we can all possibly get through with Aussie moving up to follow the Tacoma we start to make better progress with Dimitri breaking the trail and the Jeep scooping out a little bit more snow before the rest of us come through [Applause] oh this is so cool wow I went down from 5 PSI to 3 PSI and the difference is phenomenal tires aren't even slippy right keep away from those walls we're inching closer and closer to our goal Pi the snow just gets more and more treacherous and for the second time today I'm down and out I'm stuck again you always want a shoveling crew up there to dig the 30 out a bit Yeah I think we might need to man it's it's pretty pretty stuck oh yeah your front diff is gone see you later look at that I think that's as good as it's going to get hopefully it just pops up all right here we go okay yes jeez digging makes a huge difference eh nice all right I might fill in those holes and then see if I can send the lobster through eh that is in that is in that is in all right let's see how the lobster goes through [Applause] here this where Sean got stuck light right all day sir walk in the park little bit of snow for the holes compact down lovely I should walk straight through nice man it's hard to believe it's taken 3 days to make it just 6 miles but we're so close to the old Rubicon turnoff the road ahead though is starting to look less and less like a track and even the Stellar rig is struggling oh that is deep yeah we may have a challenge in front of us I'm going to take it really easy oh yeah it's getting nasty when we can't say your tracks to matri now it's getting pretty loose yeah which with each step forward my front end just uh just goes lower and lower and lower it's uh looks pretty wild [Music] oh man that just sinks down the bottom oh this is loose that's deep man oh yeah after pushing so far no one's ke to turn back but conditions are getting a little dangerous even for the tracked vehicle Demetri's just taking it real easy cuz we did have one of those tracks come off a little bit we don't want that to happen again going to take our time just nose in back out nose in and compact the snow this thing's just so good at sitting on top of it there's a hole just here that is mental oh look at that there water oh my goodness yeah I feel like all that water is running underneath so we're going to try to ride this uh right edge here so if the track vehicle gets down we're pretty much all going to be stuck here so uh we're going to clear this up and see if we can push any further we're just a good snowball throw from the Wentworth Springs turnoff but with wild weather on the way and our most capable snow vehicle getting bogged well it's time to make a tough call look this snow is just so soft it's just ridiculous this is what we're trying to drive through there big what would you call these like big snow drifts yes I it real deep real deep and this is what we're trying to get to I reckon we have made it as far as we need to go the end of this track is 100 me and the start of the Ricon it's just just there Joo high five mate I reckon this is a pretty good achievement for bunch of Aussies who've never wielding this stuff before and obviously the Americans have showed us the way with that thing we've made a pretty solid and the fact that the vehicle on tracks is now well not stuck but it's in huge big holes the holes behind it is too big for us to get through on normal ties so we're going to make the call turn around but don't worry Justin's got something lined up yeah what's the plan mate M uh let's get turn around and get out of here and I got a little special surprise cuz you can't go snow willing and near you go to this one place Roger that all right well first off I need to get out of here throw in the winch mate you took the wrong line I did it's been pretty incredible to make it so close to the Rubicon Trail but for now we've got another mission and that's to push our way back to the trail head before the storm hits with more snow falling we've got a lot of work on our hands to retrace our steps and the whole Convoy is pushing hard to make it [Music] through this is insane this is hard from 40in tires down to the little 35s everybody is struggling as he race the weather to finish it's crazy we're just trying to get out of here and every vehicle's having a proper wheel to get through this snow one thing's for short we're not out of it yet but we are having so much fun oh Sean just might have gone [Music] down on a very strange angle I had a bit of track I thought I'd just keep trying to get over it I couldn't just what you thought it was going to be easy getting out of here it's just recovery after recovery there's just every single vehicle's having to go getting stuck and uh camera cars next one just rins and repeat recoveries at the moment it takes several hours to make it back to firmer ground and another night on the track the storm washes over us in the night and in the morning conditions couldn't be more different with clear skies and some incredible views we're pointing the reachs towards our final destination of the trip a classic little Pub known as Uncle Tom's [Music] Cabin visiting this classic Watering Hole is a tradition for local fo drivers and the pub is manned by volunteers even in the winter months operating in one form or another since the 1800s one of the more unique features of this place is a collection of sign dollar bills left by visitors over the years heck and it seems only fitting that we could add one to the collection I got to say what an epic trick hey what an absolute this will go down as one of the craziest trips I've ever done obviously jock and I don't do a lot of snow Wheeling no this has been something else it has it's been such a new experience and it's been amazing we've had frozen over bog holes deep recoveries just so much trying cook in thisnow was an absolute epic I mean I remember it and I hope you guys learn a lot out of this one as well because we were just non-stop learning about how to pick lines in the snow it was just one of those things I think we'll remember for absolute ever and to come here to Uncle Toms to finish it off such a great way to finish mate and so much amazing history here not just from you know back in the day when this place was so vital but now with all these dollar bills and travelers speak of dollar bills mate check this out look what we got we have one of our own now I want to put it out there for anyone who comes up here makes the effort to come all the way to California try and drive the Rubicon Trail maybe jump in the snow but a cleep driver a couple of who sh we'll see you next time for Rod 24/7 right where we going to put this if you enjoyed the snow Wheeling so far then you got to wait to see what's coming up next time our us road trip is just heating up and next time we're taking on a Local's only Adventure in the back country of Northern California don't miss the next installment coming soon only on forward drive 24/7

Channel: 4WD 24-7

Views: 415,395

Keywords: 4wd, action, 4x4, offroad, outdoors, travel, overlanding, toyota, nissan, hilux, patrol, landcruiser, adventure, camping, fishing, diesel, petrol, surf, shaun whale, graham cahill, australia, dirty 30, shorty, gq, gu, 80 series, 40 series, 60 series, 79 series, troopy, 4wd action, 4wd 247, 4wd 24/7

Id: OAYmRLcp4mw

Length: 54min 11sec (3251 seconds)

Published: Thu May 30 2024