What Trail Condition Do You Fear The Most?

[Terry Pickens]

MUD

 

[Homeguy]

I hate deep water and mud.


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[Neil Q Smith]

Living in Norway, we have a lot of snow and ice on the roads during winter period.
In the mountains, at times, this can be quite severe, with many inch of ice on the roads, topped by new soft snow.
Then driving becomes interesting.....


But I think the most uncertain factor for me is river crossings, which we do a lot of when visiting Iceland.

River levels rise and fall very quickly, depending upon weather conditions.
A rainy period, combined with ice / snow melt water, can significantly change river crossing conditions.
Therefore, even designated road crossings can be very different experiences, depending on the day / weather at the time.

Not only is the water level / depth changing, but also the river bed conditions.
Boulders and rocks actively roll along these river bottoms, placing potential obstacles in your way.
Also, deep grooves can be cut by these boulder movements, making sudden deep holes in the river bed.

It's when you commit yourself and drive out into these fast flowing rivers, then it become "interesting"

Here is a short video of a simple / short Iceland river crossings in good weather conditions, clearly showing river bottom as a boulder field, due to the bouncy nature of the drive across.......Quite a bumpy crossing

 

[billum v2.0]

Used to be heavy mud that tire lugs couldn't clear or would fill fenderwells full. But the worst downside was a walk through the muck with a strap for a pull and $20 bucks worth of quarters at the carwash.
However, Sleet/snow/ice over slick rock on ledge roads with a 1,000 foot drop has a little more downside.

 

[robrtsmtn]

When I lived in NW Colorado, we had a particularly nasty sort of mud I dreaded. Everyone called it 'dobe as in adobe. just a little rain and it would literally ball up on your tires and in your wheel wells till you couldn't turn a tire. Sticky stuff you could hardly shovel out.

More recently, my pucker factor has come from driving up a really steep pitch to have the trail end. Ended up backing down a couple hundred yards with the front brakes trying to lock and slide the front end sideways to sidehill me where I knew I could roll.

 

[robrtsmtn]

Used to be heavy mud that tire lugs couldn't clear or would fill fenderwells full. But the worst downside was a walk through the muck with a strap for a pull and $20 bucks worth of quarters at the carwash.
However, Sleet/snow/ice over slick rock on ledge roads with a 1,000 foot drop has a little more downside.

Yeah, those aren't really conditions I would want on Black Bear. Even a little rain on the steps freaks me out.

 

[billum v2.0]

Yeah, those aren't really conditions I would want on Black Bear. Even a little rain on the steps freaks me out.

Didn't know what I didn't know. Sheer ignorance combine with stupidity and a pinch of hubris. Lesson learned.

 

[Juggernaut]

Somewhere in Baja

 

[old_man]

I don't particularly fear anything, but I HATE mud. I grew up with it on the farm and hope to never see it again.

 

[Sparky]

In terms of most traumatic experiences it's got to be mud on a shelf/ledge road. Slid off one once with barely any camber to it and almost went over. Had two jeep's winch front and rear at the same time to get me out of that one.

I dislike ice but at least ice will usually make me stop and think faster, mud tempts me to keep going. Heavy fog is bad regardless of where you're driving, but inexperienced drivers who aren't on-point with learning the ropes is probably the worst.. can really turn a trip crappy fast.

 

[Overland USA]

So what condition(s) have made you question if you REALLY wanted to be out there? There are more than this, but these are some of what I have personally experienced.

Ascents- You may only see the sky, not the trail in front of you. Front tires can lose traction and steering may be vague from the unloaded suspension. Climbing over rocks or tree roots uphill just makes it worse.

Descents- Dipping a front wheel into a rut when your chest is already pressed into the seat belt. Failed hill climb. Slick mud with almost no control.

Off Camber (Side Slope)- How much higher is this rock on my side? The passenger can touch the ground with their hand. (ALWAYS KEEP BODY PARTS IN THE VEHICLE!)

Right On The Edge- If I move 3" over I'll roll 1000' down the face of this mountain.

Mud/Water- It's so deep I might hydro-lock the engine unless I keep moving.

Corrugated/Washboard Road- Sometimes speed is the only thing that will smooth out the ride, but the tires have little traction and steering is almost impossible.

Night Condition- Everything feels much closer with limited visibility. Even good off road lights can make it difficult to read the terrain because of how they fill in the shadows.

I was once stuck between two rocks, both as large as my vehicle. Getting unstuck was very difficult.

 

[Borderline Homeless]

View attachment 37473 Somewhere in Baja

Make sure you stay above 55mph and you can clear it! Saw it in a movie once.

 

[4wheelspulling]

Walmart parking lots! More damage by done in parking lots than on trail. Benz.

 

[Traveling Together]

Water crossings. Most other things can be overcome with patience and hard work, but a river crossing that is too deep is simply too deep and you pretty much gotta turn around. If you chance it on a deep crossing you are risking major vehicle damage or, possibly your life.

 

[En Route]

As many members have mentioned, off camber can be terrifying by itself, however when you add another less-than-favorable attribute to it such as slick terrain it increases my "pucker" level as well. I am fairly new to the scene and have not experienced more terrain than rock, snow, and mud. I hope to change that and get out with some members and have a great time!

 

[family-overland]

muddy ascents/decents. feels like driving on a bobsled


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[theBROFESSOR]

Whatever is going to damage my vehicle. When your overlanding vehicle is your daily driver you really don’t want to blow that $2500 you just busted your butt for to save up to buy a rooftop tent for on some body work or suspension repair that you could have avoided if you weren’t that dumba$$ thrillseeker ...lol. I dont Speak from experience really I dont

 

[Kent R]

Ice

 

[Tyler.W]

I would have to say a very steep ascent and very muddy conditions. I'm always nervous to roll backwards on a steep ascent in my Jeep and I hate the thought of getting stuck in the mud (not to mention the endless cleanup).

 

[Saywashing]

Being the trail leader across unknown ice thickness over unknown water depths. I've gone through the ice in a vehicle once, i hope to never experience that again. Crossing puddles, ponds, lakes and rivers on the ice is always spooky, being the first truck across, especially with fresh snow, is extra spooky.