We were immediately concerned that we might be stuck on this job site for days.
Driving a small SUV, or even a big 4 wheel drive truck down that steep, rutted hill that was now slippery with snow is one thing-20-30 thousand pounds of truck and trailer is a whole different story.
If the tires pack with snow-especially the fronts-you have almost zero steering, braking, or traction. On a hill that steep, your options and chances are poor at best if that happens. And there is no just testing the road out to see how the trucks will handle-it’s all or nothing.
We both knew all of that when we stepped out of the trailer that morning, and we knew that our already poor chances of getting off this mountain were going to get worse with every passing minute of snow. And the weather looked like it was going to snow all day And we had at least half a days work remaining before we could leave.
We were both on edge and irritable as the specter of being stranded in a frozen trailer on top of a mountain with nothing to do for days loomed large over us.
All we could do was try and wrap up this job, load the trucks, and then see what conditions looked like at that time and try and use our best judgment as to wether we should attempt to get off the mountain or no.
So we jumped into work try to get the last details wrapped up as fast as we could in a race against time and weather.
I wrapped up the last few parts of the AC wiring while Denise tidied up the DC wiring.
It was cold, but luckily the garage offered some shelter, and we had brought an infrared propane heater to help out, so working on the inverter and batteries wasn’t too bad.
By 10am, there was already almost 6” of snow and it showed no signs of letting up.
By noon we had worked through and solved some battery communication issues and the system was up and running.
We had lucked out and the inspector had actually made it through the snow to the job and we were able to meet with him for a pre-inspection preview and answer all his questions-paving the way for the system to pass inspection the following week.
There were some issues with the customer-installed solar array that we had to work through as well, but we managed all that and began loading up the rigs in the swirling snow, still unsure if we were going to be able to go home or not.
It took a solid two hours to get everything back on the Freightshaker and secured for travel.
Total snow accumulation at this point had exceeded 9”. The forecast had called for 1”.
So much snow presented a problem in two ways.
One-the snow on the ground now presented a real risk, as I mentioned before, once the tires pack your amount of control over the trucks is very limited. Additionally, with the current storm that was covering half the state with a record snowfall, the possibility of getting stuck in a road closure somewhere even less favorable than our current location was very real.
Two-warm weather was expected the following day, which is great and should melt the snow quickly-but with the amount of snow now in question, that ment tomorrow this steep hill would be covered in mud-with all the same loss of control issues that the snow has. Ugg.
So the possibility of being stranded for days was very real at this point.
Did we dare risk it all to get out of here now while the trucks were running and warmed up and everything was packed, or should we play it safe and wait for better road conditions?
It’s a big gamble to leave.
What to do?
We deliberated for several minutes, weighing the risks.
One thing we kept eyeing- a couple locals in full size 4×4’s had just gone through and broke trail in the snow, and that looked promising.
The two trucks had cleared a pretty good path, and the dirt underneath seemed ok to at least walk on.
Finally, tired of trying to come to a decision, Denise-who is the less patient of the two of us-simply says,” Fuck it. We’re leaving, I’m tired of this place. “ 😄😄
And that was that.
We dropped the trucks into low gear and because of how the trucks were parked and the terrain, it was up to her to go first.
She inched her way out onto the snow and mud covered dirt road and I followed a short distance behind in the snow and fog.
You can just see her about 100 yards ahead of me over the snow covered hood of the Freightshaker.
This section of road had melted off pretty good and was pretty solid ground. However, just ahead of Denise on the left was the start of the steep downhill section that still had mixed snow, mud and, as it would turn out-running water. She was about to nose off into the point of no return, and it was all or nothing….