WA: North end snow wheeling

[Nobody]

I'm thinking about heading up to the local hills in Skagit county to check the snow wheeling conditions. Anyone interested? It looks like most of the last weather system was rain below 4,000 feet. With the expected snow, Sunday is looking pretty good.

[Chris Immer]

Would love to join you but we are picking up our son on Sunday who has been deployed in Kuwait for the past nine months. I am planning Hangover run on 17&18 and thereabout. Late start for me as the first ferry off the Island is 7am. Have fun and find some snow!

[Nobody]

Nice to have your son back for the holidays.

I couldn't find anyone to go today. With all the wind last night, I decided I better play it safe and not alone. I suspect there's about 2 feet of fresh snow right now

[Chris Immer]

Well bummer, I was looking forward to some good pic's!

[Nobody]

Today would be an epic snow day. Couple feet of fresh snow, sun is out, and no wind!

[Nobody]

Saturday morning? Anyone?

[christensent]

Saturday morning? Anyone?

Any interest in going out tomorrow night after work? Was hoping to go skiing both days this weekend.

[Nobody]

I'm not much of a night owl these days, so I'll have to pass this time. I'll probably be up for an overnighter at some point though. Get some skiing in, need to make up for last few winters. Baker has an 80" base! I think I'm going to break out the snowboard this year.

[christensent]

Looks like I won't be skiing a second day tomorrow. Would go wheeling Sunday.

[Nobody]

I went out today, so I have to do my xmas shopping tomorrow. I'll be looking to go out again after Christmas. You should join us on New Year's Day.

[christensent]

I went out today, so I have to do my xmas shopping tomorrow. I'll be looking to go out again after Christmas. You should join us on New Year's Day.

I'll probably come New Years day, not positive yet.

Had a great day, got up to 4500ft mostly in old filled in ruts then broke trail the last 400 vertical or so. The tire pressure magic worked better today, got nowhere at 5PSI then drained it so my two gauges read 0 and 0.5, and the sidewall was bulging over on itself and cruised right up for the most part. I could hear the side-wall squeaking as it rubbed the rest of the tire on the inside... can I really do that without trashing my tires? Aired back up to 5psi for the exit.

[Nobody]

Had a great day, got up to 4500ft mostly in old filled in ruts then broke trail the last 400 vertical or so. The tire pressure magic worked better today, got nowhere at 5PSI then drained it so my two gauges read 0 and 0.5, and the sidewall was bulging over on itself and cruised right up for the most part. I could hear the side-wall squeaking as it rubbed the rest of the tire on the inside... can I really do that without trashing my tires? Aired back up to 5psi for the exit.

You really need a good gauge so you know exactly what pressure you are running. The gauge I listed reads in .1psi increments, and most importantly, it reads below 5psi. Most of the digital tire gauges don't read below 5psi. As a good rule of thumb, I air down to 4psi right away and don't worry about anything. Then if necessary, I drop to 2psi and try to take it easy, but I still get carried away sometimes. If I drop to 1psi, I'm usually going very slow and add air back as soon as possible. Below 4psi steering can get difficult because the wheel just wants to twist inside the tire.

There's no question that low pressure is hard on the tire. The heat build up is what you want to avoid most. Generally, heat isn't an issue in the snow.

[Nobody]

I'm taking the family up for some sledding tomorrow Wed 12/30 if anyone wants to join.