It is an honor to have you attending the trip this year, however, you must assume the risks in the adventure before you. While participating, you may die and kill everyone in your bus.
This trek has reduced (not eliminated) the probability of a fatal accident involving another car with it's remoteness, however, it brings fast to the forefront numerous other, more exciting ways to die, like: flying off cliffs, hitting trees, live stock, or being run over. If someone does hit another car, it's going to be a head- on; reduce this serious risk by skirting the right ditch or cliff around blind turns.
This trip is so fun because in the course of the weekend's events, the dangers are not just limited to vehicular accidents. Merrily, we all -by willfully coming along- invite injury and death by way of burning, asphyxiation, drowning, animal attack, heart attack and… hypothermia –if not by the elements, by way of our OEM heating -to name a few. Threats to you and your vehicle shall be based on your own judgment and ability to drive, not the passable roads over which you shall willingly pass. Participation in this trip is at your own physical, psychological and mechanical risk.
The Mount Shasta Snow Trip was initially conceived from the 2000 mid- winter crossing of Mendocino Pass from Willows to Covelo via the very snowed-in Hwy 162 in a stock, 6 volt 1965 single cab. Being programmed for survival by, and recently separated from the US Marine Corps had me looking at this trek militarily. Ready for my own personal war, I prepared. Before setting out on this trip, I inspected and practiced installing the old style chains I was to use and had confidence in them. If I broke a chain, I had repair links. If I tossed a set of chain rubbers, I had a second set and trucker's bungee cords. If I punctured a tire, I had plugs and a full air tank. If I blew a tire, I had a spare, and another one just in case. If the six-volt battery went dead, I had an auxiliary twelve-volt and cables to jump with. If I got struck for some reason, I had a fifty-foot cable and a come-along. Additionally, I carried a floor jack, my full tool box, ten gallons of gas, a fire extinguisher, three quarts of 20/50, food for a week, warm clothing including gloves, good rain gear, military mummy bag, two flashlights, propane lantern, comprehensive first aid kit, camera, cellular phone and most importantly, a Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer. If all my contingency planning wasn't enough and the truck got thoroughly stuck, I still had either of two dirt bikes in back I could ride out on.
It turned out to be a war too, an amazing, completely crazy adventure that left me both exhausted and invigorated at the same time. When it was all done, I decided that others should be able to experience something like this; to enjoy the completely amazing roads and related contingency planning not ordinarily required in normal driving.
Fortunately, you'll not likely experience all the insanity, problems and emotions I did with this "out of the box" type adventure, but that you're here, now, is near-proof that I have succeeded in making a little of this chaos and fun more available to the people. Thank you for coming along, the weekend's challenges should offer memories for a lifetime.
Stay focused, remain vigilant, obey logic and be good to one another. Thanks again for coming.
Mission: 350+ Miles to Mt. Shasta Through ANY Weather Before Midnight! That's the deal. We all have a wildly long drive to Mt. Shasta and it absolutely will not happen unless we remain focused on just that. Yes, people will need to do minor repairs and some will possibly break down. People will want to stop and take pictures and BS beside the road and after 14 times, this begins to add up to a lot of wasted time. I personally intend to accomplish the mission, and that may have me driving by myself for some of –if not the majority of the trip.
The Good and Bad of Driving in a Group: There will likely be a main group of buses, and eventually, smaller groups, and then individuals; all are proper, right, and good. At the beginning, we will inevitably stay together, but as the hundreds of miles add up, drivers will –and are very encouraged to- drive their own pace and their own trip. Large groups are good for the comradary, the stockpile of parts, expertise, man power and most importantly: safety.
Cool and amazing things can occur within a great caravan, and I expect innumerable great stories from them. However, inefficiency is a common cost of large groups. Those held back with a large group may actually never accomplish the mission, may bog down and give-up hundreds of miles short of the destination. Therefore, drivers must choose if they'll need to break-away and make miles or remain to possibly be eaten by the Donner Party –it may make the difference between making it, and not making it. Rest assured, if you have a major malfunction, knowing the group is behind you will ease your concerns of being stuck forever. Eventually, it will all come down to individual needs.
Group Communications: CB radio is what we use on the trip. With as many drivers as we have this year, your personal CB may end up getting thrown out the window for the incredible spam-banter you would normally have to endure. However, rather than throwing it out the window, at the meeting, every bus will be given a "home channel" which will allow all drivers to turn the noise off while still being available for important information. Last year I wanted to kill myself it was so painful! "Watch out for the rock" No kidding! Or… "Oh my God! A tree!" The whole trip is supposed to be full of rocks AND trees… (do you really think we need to hear that?) There will be a main channel for this painful crescendo to occur on, but your home channel will be your sanity savior.
As important as thoroughly testing your chains before the trip, testing your CB THOROUGHLY is critical to effective communications. Prevent insanity by testing and tuning it, and if you're really serious, pay a redneck truck shop or tron-chasing radio geek to test, tweak and illegally tune your CB. Yes, I said illegally. The FCC will only allow CBs to transmit so many watts. However, the geeks and rednecks know how to tweak these things to really put out some juice. Truckers are completely notorious for these radios. Just make sure yours is completely working.
Driving Technique: Driving down dirt roads as we will be doing some of the trip will have some drivers slowing down. Learn to drive faster on these roads. Traction is compromised by 50% or more but that shouldn't be cause for alarm. Instead, learn to use this loss of traction with the gas pedal to slide your bus's ass around turns on occasion. Be cautious at first if you've not done much of this driving, but attempt to feel what the bus wants to do and work with it; it becomes quite fun after you get the hang of it.
One serious note: Just like loss of traction on a paved road, dirt or icy roads will NOT offer steering traction to locked wheels (ABS brakes were made to battle this). What this means is that if you are hauling ass or just poking down the road and you lock your brakes in a turn… well you're going to go directly straight ahead… until you release the brakes and the steering wheels begin to roll again.
I cannot be more emphatic about this issue. Here's why. When we're into the last hundred miles of the trip up to Mt. Shasta, we will enter freezing canyons likely covered with imperceptible or obvious ice. These roads are deadly! If you chose to lock your brakes on any of a hundred turns and there is ice -and I'm talking even slow speeds of as little as 10-15mph, panic and fail to release your brakes to regain traction to your steering wheels- the loss of control could possibly have you going straight over a 200 foot shear cliff as there are no guardrails and these roads are single lane. YOU WILL DIE. Find solace in the fact that you will have hours of dirt road driving to practice averting this evil phenomenon of inept driving. Carefully push the envelope and learn. Completion of this trip will ensure drivers come away with either new, or highly improved driving skills.
The technique to braking while turning is actually challenging and it saved my Sundial on SST `04. Just like ABS –which pulses hydraulic pressure to your brakes while not locking them- so too do I pump mine violently when I go too hot into a turn. This keeps the steering wheels from losing their imperative directional control. In `04, I nearly rolled the bus, as I was able to keep my steering wheels turning while braking in a wildly over-cooked turn on Kneeland Road. Had I locked my brakes in panic -which is the overwhelming natural reaction- I would have gone straight off the road into a pasture below. Interestingly, I overcooked the same turn on Kneeland Road in the Porsche pre-running the trip in `05. FYI: the turn in question is at about mile 30 past Bridgeville and a few miles past where the pavement starts again. Careful!
Mechanical Problems: In the event that a breakdown will obviously require considerable down time to repair, the fallen team- once safe and completely set-up with whatever spares, tools and mechanical skill may be needed- is ENCOURAGED to send the rest of the drivers onward (the sooner the better). One competent driver-team should stay with the broken team to ensure a safe repair is made. If more drivers can actually help speed the repair, then multiple teams working on the breakdown makes sense, however don't let 10 of us hold your hand if you know two can accomplish the task just as fast; you're team is tough and capable and too many cooks in the kitchen doesn't mean the food's gonn'a cook any faster. Losing time because of breakdowns shouldn't be everyone's problem, only the few who will affect the repair. Mass hand holding makes a mockery of the very challenge that spawned this trip. In the event that a failure is irreparable and depending on the location of the mechanical catastrophe, the stricken bus should be towed to a local's ranch for later pickup and the fallen team converted to "navigators" for the remainder of the weekend. Directions will allow the separated teams to catch up without fear of getting lost. Unless requested, no team will be left alone.
AAA Plus Membership: Good for 4 tows up to 100 miles or 4 "service calls" a year. The only excuse to not having this coverage is that someone has not completed their first year with AAA and thereby not been allowed to upgrade from BASIC AAA yet, or, they wrongly think their insurance carrier's "roadside assistance" will save them; it may, but not nearly as quickly as AAA. Zero coverage even comes close to the security PLUS ensures. Here's why: The trip brings us through 15 different AAA coverage areas and less than half of these tow companies will honor "Roadside Assistance" insurance work, but they sure didn't tell the people that when they signed up did they? What that means is that if you have anything other than AAA, you're likely going to be waiting hours longer for service, and then be required to choke up big cash when they don't honor anything but AAA -read: Hosed. In contrast, 99% of all towing companies in the country honor AAA; the Mafia worked hard on this racket.
AAA Plus Premier Membership: Apparently many Mafioso live in Southern California, and so for them and a couple other specks across the land, a significantly greater coverage exists. Like Plus, the very exclusive Plus Premiere offers tows of up to 200 miles 4 times a year! Man, you gotta' really have a shitty Yugo for that program! Anyway, if you can figure out how to get AAA to believe you live in Southern California, get Plus Premier; I'm not sure it comes with an Italian dinner though…
Insane Drivers That Have No Coverage: Let us all watch as their ass hangs in the wind… looks chilly doesn't it? Typical accident recovery charges for those not covered average $140 an hour and $6-7 a mile to get towed. It is conceivable if one had their wreck towed 350 miles back home that the driver WOULD charge them $2100.00, however, he would likely cut a deal at only a few hundred. Nevertheless, saving $600 on a 100-mile tow is significant. You make your own bed, chose your own insurance. Under the circumstance that someone needs to use AAA services and isn't covered, know that if you have a friend who is covered –even if you can get the member numbers over the phone- most tow companies will honor this type of fraud… don't tell AAA. Bottom line: Get PLUS!
Protracted Recoveries: In the case of a way-off-the-road (or cliff) recovery, we'll likely need professional tow equipment. The remoteness of the routes taken may require up to two hours for a truck just to arrive. In the event this occurs, ensure the safety of the team involved, secure their gear, take pictures, and leave another driver team with them as need-be and CONTINUE ON! The company that responds will likely bring the totaled bus to their yard unless the driver makes other arrangements. Eventually this will happen so no one should be completely surprised. Instead, drivers should deal with it as part of the program; render assistance as needed, achieve a stable level of safety, and once accomplished, move on. If it's me, I will demand that others continue on and not let my stupidity or misfortune delay the majority for hours.
Evacuations: Due to the remoteness of the trip, should there be an accident requiring medical attention, if it can be done safely, evacuate the injured and either meet with the responding EMS crew already enroute (alerted via 911), or drive them directly to the hospital. NOTE: The helicopter pilots love flying people out of these mountains and EMS will push hard to launch, but unless the situation is life threatening, this must be avoided as the injured will get charged as much as $10,000. If I'm that badly injured, just shoot me.
Remote Communications for EMS 911: Where we're going -for the most part- cell phones are a bad joke, only surpassed by the comedy that is Citizen's Band radio. Ridgelines work best for cellular connections as the signals are line of site. Barring that, imposing upon a local rancher would be the next bet for a phone, unless we're within reasonable proximity to some kind of outpost. Even in the sticks as we will be, call 911. Have the County you're in, the road name you last traveled and whatever outpost of a community you last passed. The first responders will be volunteer firefighters with excellent communications. Whoever is in charge must be notified that THEY will go to the hospital if they dispatch a helicopter with less- than life threatening circumstances… a large knife or gun in their face should get the point across. Seriously, they will dispatch a helicopter for a bee sting! If you don't prevent it, you're going to get sued by either the helicopter company or your insurance, or both! If they don't listen and the helicopter arrives anyway, shoot at it until the clip is empty and you won't have to worry about getting sued.
Saturday Activities: Saturday normally is supposed to be an organized, bus and snow play day entailing early rise for the drive to infamous, iced-over and snowed-in Castle lake. While you're strongly encouraged to play with us, if you need time to rest, we'll understand. The first stop on the agenda for Saturday is Ice fishing for trout dinner, which has the side attractions -for non-fishers- of drinking beer, snow shoeing, snow boarding and snow skiing (black diamond faces encircle Casle Lake for those energetic enough to back- country hike up to the cornices –if you have the Mojo, know that we'll catch your whole run on Shasta Video 2006). Following the fishing venue, we'll be driving RR service roads with chains on and searching for any and all killer 4X4ish dirt road and moto sections. If we didn't have to chain up just to get to Shasta this year, well, this is the fun (always caught on video) that you've been waiting for; a guaranteed blast!
Base of Shasta Dinner: Saturday night we'll dine whilst in the throws of war with a highly pissed-off Mother Nature. If she's really trying to win, the temperature will be below freezing... expect this, last year beer was freezing in the bottles! This is a cold test; don't skimp on the clothing layers or static bus heating systems like PROPANE HEATERS. Bring firewood for the fire. Dinner takes on the charactoristics of a pot luck, but sharing is completely optional. Don't be surprised if others offer you some of their wonderful creations. Got a killer dish that you wan to impress the others with? Here's your chance.
Caution with the drinking at dinner. We are in fact in violation of the law when drinking in and about a vehicle (excepting the rare Camping Car registered bus) and most of us will be, so keep an eye out for the fuzz, who, by the way have never made a showing at this event. Further, don't over imbibe either, as we all must drive back to the cabins or motels without getting a DUI. Drink responsibly or have a designated driver and get smashed! Then, hit the bars and fight the rednecks- tell em' their mamas sound like a Jake Brake! That oughta' liven things up!
New SST "Fly By" Video Being Shot InGeniousCornelious will be again be shooting hours of digital film this year and everyone else is encouraged to set up there video cameras, take them along, and do the same. While there's been a video for every year compiled by all the drivers shooting video, soon, Gene will be editing down an epic SST DVD, featuring the best scenes of all the years. This year however, we'll be shooting another SST "Bus Flyby" scene, as has been featured on the website and the banner ads for a few years now, so anticipate Gene to organize us at some point for his handy camera work; it WILL be cool.
Bail Out Sunday 7:00am: Psycho's of the Pacific Northwest may consider bailing north, but the rest of the trip usually heads south on I-5 for to Red Bluff before crossing the infamous Red Bluff Creek and entering dirt roads again. Skirting the mountain range headed south, routes eventually cut abruptly westward and into the Lake County mountains, that journey ending in Upper Lake. It looks like this year for the first time, some of us will also be leaving Sunday morning directly back into the mountains from whence we came, to do much of the SST in reverse, while also scouting new routes for next year.
Follow The Latest Craic On Shastasnowtrip@yahoogroups.com If you're going this year, you'll be well advised to keep tabs on this very active Yahoo Group forum. Last minute information, special directions and other important –and unimportant but funny- drivel is posted here.
We hope the trip this year exceeds your expectations for bus adventure, camaraderie and fun. See you all soon!
Kombisutra
The date for the Mt. Shasta Snow Trip is February 17-19th and if you're going to do this crazy trip this year, you best start getting your bus together NOW and pay attention! Here, read this and get motivated! Raaaahhhhrrrarrraarrarrr!!!
Split-Window Bus Driver! Yeah, you! You’re invited to this gig! It’s the sixth-annual, off-the-grid, way-back-road, paved-and-dirt adventure drive from Willits all the way up to Mt. Shasta without one stop light. The 2006 Mt. Shasta Snow Trip is the 17th-19th of February, 2006.
Motel Rooms Highly Recommended: Due to temperatures typically in the teens around Mt. Shasta (elevation 5000 feet), reservations for two nights (Friday and Saturday) at a motel are recommended.
Junk For Martha Stewart and Mr. Tool Time: The charming downtown area -walking distance- has all the shops Mr. Tool Time or Martha Stewart could hope for. Auto parts, outdoor gear, antique and food stores abound. After-hours, a party atmosphere descends on the town with vacationing skiers packing the dance floors of several bars. Quite a festive time and setting to let one's worries of work and home life rest.
Activities For Saturday: Skiing, ice fishing (that’s right- through the ice at Castle Lake) snowshoeing, snow boarding, train watching, shopping or driving the fun, dirt, railroad service roads will keep your activity up for Saturday. Also, for those of you that thought fish only came from packages in the frozen aisle, there’s a major fish hatchery in town. Just like the little goats at the petting zoo, you can feed hundreds of 20lb Rainbows rabbit pellets, and admission is free. Snow boarding down the slopes of Mt. Shasta Ski Park is what I'm looking forward to (they’re set-up for night skiing too).
The Base of Mt. Shasta Dinner: After Saturday’s activities, we all drive up to the base of Mt. Shasta and have the communal Base of Shasta Dinner. One of the greatest not-to-miss venues of the trip, here -parked encircling a central bonfire- is where we party and cook up the day’s excellent trout catch along with whatever anyone else is so ingenious to create. Don’t forget the Zin. Note: This high-elevation nighttime dinner can be a cold-test of the hardiest individuals and their respective bus’s static heating systems, so, just like the rest of the trip’s challenges and possibilities, prepare for it! (Did I hear someone say: Propane heater?) After the dinner, the night’s up to you- go snow boarding at the nearby ski park and/or go dancing and cause trouble at the lively bars; a given is the party that always carries-on back at the motel.
Pack The Creature Comforts: Don’t forget all the fun things you can do on the trip. That’s the nice thing about driving a bus: you can take along everything! Fishing, snow shoeing, skiing and cooking gear is recommended. Save money by bringing food, wine, beer, and pumpkin pie from home. Bring all the warm clothes, the propane heater, the camera, and what ever else will make you happy for a weekend in the mountains. Bring some firewood for the fire- if everyone brings a little, we’ll be just fine.
Mechanical Preparedness Is Not Just Essential, It's Required: Pack The Following: tire chains, chain repair links, spare gas, oil, full tool kit, jack, spare tire, plug kit, spare engine parts, fan belt, extra headlight (to replace the one you killed the deer with- no joke), extra brake fluid, JB Weld, Duct Tape, a current edition Delorme Northern California Atlas & Gazetteer (Mandatory! $15 at most book stores- could save your life! Shows every road we'll be traveling) a good first-aid kit, distress whistle on your person, cell phone (which may not work reliably so distant from cell sites), Citizens Band radio, propane lantern with extra mantles (don't overlook this one- extended repairs on the side of dirt road in the middle of nowhere, at night, in the snow or rain will prove the superiority of propane), Bic lighter, good flashlights-plural, warm clothes, a sleeping bag and food for a couple days. If you’re not mechanically savvy and your image appears on the cover of the John Muir Idiot Manual, don't show up without a friend that IS savvy. Preparedness is not just comfort, it quit literally might contribute to your survival. If someone really lunches a motor, we carry a spare.
Buy And Mount a CB: If you don’t have one yet, get one, if you have one, take it to a truck stop and get it "tuned", but don't tell the FCC. Enroute communication is a must.
Possible Weather Will Not Stop The Trip: In five years, the trip has always had good-to-excellent weather, but the whole point of the trip is to challenge Mother Nature and have fun doing it. That the trip still hasn’t fallen on a storming weekend is amazingly coincidental, that it may this year is part of your mission. So when February 17th coincides with a major snowstorm, know that this trip will go on regardless. Know that if it snows hard, you may log hours driving on the chains you’ve PRACTICED INSTALLING at home. That you will NEED chains if it snows hard is very real. This trip is for your bus gents, to show you- when driven by a thinker- what an unstoppable transporter it really is. You won’t be alone, have courage and give your bus the chance.
Most Important of All: Bring Your Brain. This trip is the real deal. This is where mistakes pile up and bite, complacency in driving threatens, and lack of preparedness kills; basically, you get 450 miles of chances to have an accident where you won't be found. You WILL be prepared.
Tell All Your Fellow Transporter Drivers: Pass the word far and wide that their bus’s chance to really show them a good time has come! Pack, plan and prepare. Descend upon Willits February 17th for the sixth-annual Mt. Shasta Snow Trip!
OK, so last year was a little light on snow. We still had fun and have placed an order for extra snow this year. We'll see what happens. The Shasta Snow Trip 2006 countdown has begun. Start prepping your buses, reading up on your driving and stuck vehicle extraction techniques, and looking for those tire chains and CBs.
Check out the helpful links below that lead to some crazy off road sites for fun ideas and interesting info and tips.
Below you can see what Shasta looks like right now.
