Pickett Peak Lookout

Pickett’s Peak Lookout Run
February 15, 2003

It was a dark and rainy morning (as Snoopy would say) when I got up at 6 AM. I had decided last night to go on this run with the thought that there might be snow at 5,000’. I packed a lunch and headed toward Dinsmore, where we were scheduled to meet at 9 AM. I got there about 15 minutes early, fueled up, had a cup of coffee as a few rigs started arriving; and they kept arriving until we had about 12 rigs!

At 9:30 Scott (our trail leader) shouted out to start our engines and we headed out of town, almost having a mishap as a local citizen, (with visions of NASCAR fame) came roaring through the community of Dinsmore; almost running into one of our members, who was pulling onto Highway 36. Apparently, the person knew we ran on CB Channel 4 as he came on the air and told us what great looking rigs we were driving! Some of our guys went on the air and told him what a fine job of driving he was doing. Well, my CB wasn’t working too well and that’s what it sounded like!

We wound our way up South Fork Mountain, turning off the highway at approximately 4300’ elevation. No snow at this point! Good spot for a photo.

As we continued up the mountain, we had to go around or over a few small trees in the road and we began to hit a few small patches of snow, then bigger patches of snow, then solid snow! Hey, this is what we do; go awhile, get stuck, get snatched or winched, go awhile and start the process all over again. By this time, the snow was 2’-3’ deep (very rough estimate) and some rigs were having a difficult time. Some of those having trouble decided that it wasn’t worth the trouble and parked their rigs, dug out the snowboards, etc. and proceeded to have fun playing in the snow! These were the smart ones. The rest of us continued our slow advance to the lookout, where we found it cold, the wind howling, and no visibility!

We took a few photos to prove we did make it to the top, although there wasn't much snow at the lookout. I think Ashley worked on and fixed her CB radio while we were at the lookout; I didn’t bother with mine as I could hear part of the time (see 2^nd paragraph).

As we headed down the mountain to a warmer climate, the road was still difficult, due to the big holes we had dug in the snow getting up the mountain. Rumor has it that Carl got stuck in one of the holes going downhill and had to be snatched out! Actually, it wasn’t a rumor as Carl told me that. I have a feeling that he was fiddling with his new digital camera and slid off the road! Will the person who snatched him out give me the real story?

We were kind of spread out going back to Dinsmore as some stayed to play a little longer, but when I got to Dinsmore, Scott was working on his Jeep. Apparently, when he went over a tree in the road, he sheared a center pin and the back end of the Jeep was trying to go around the front end! After winching the wheel back to it’s proper spot, he tightened it down and was good to go.

John killed his battery while making multi winches up the hill and it didn’t want to charge back up, so he headed home. I haven’t heard of any other problems, so I guess that would make it a good run. Or is it a good run when everybody breaks or bends something! I never could get that straight.

I didn’t take many photos and never got any of the deep snow but if any member sends me more photos, they can be added to this short story.

Jim Boyett