One of the trips that prompted me to start this never-ending upgrade project was a mud trip. Last winter (2005), the desert had the most spectacular wildflower displays in 20 years.
Flowers on ocotillo cactus.
Fields:
But the reason for the blooming was the heaviest rainfall in years. And with rainfall comes mud. River washes with swift flowing water (less than 6 inches deep) were no problem as long as I kept moving.
But the Envoy was still stock - A/T tires filled up with mud and lost traction. I had the dumbest add-on I've ever put on a vehicle - running boards. Looked great - lost clearance.
Then, before I had GPS on-board, I ended up in what's called the Borrego Sink, the lowest point in the desert (other than the Salton Sea, about 25 miles east). Lots of washes all dump into the sink, and the fine, fine silt that ends up there is the slickest crap I've ever had the misfortune to touch. Locals call it as slick as axle grease. I misjudged the depth, and within ten feet had sunk up to the frame - trapping the spare tire - down to the running boards. All four tires spinning. No Hi-lift jack. Only a small shovel. No way to get a jack under the frame to lift it up to put the lawn chairs I was carrying under the wheels to get some traction. No trees or boulders to use as winch points. No buddy to pull me out.
But there were campers about a mile away with ATVs and monster trucks, and after an hour of trying to dig out, we (Mrs. Roadie was with me to witness my idiocy and get muddy helping) were about to hike to them and ask for help. Just then an ATV came near, and he said he'd come back with the truck. Hooked up my recovery strap and he pulled me ten feet to dry mud. Gave him $40 for beer money, which was a great bargain for me and he got to tell his buddies what the city-slicker SUV idiot had done.
I have *no* photos of this embarassing situation, but I regret that decision now, since it was very instructive. Took an hour in the shower for each of us to get relatively clean, and I still shudder what sand and silt we left in the motel carpet. :rolleyes:
The aftermath was that it took over an hour with a hose under the car to get the mud out of every orifice and crevice. The next picture is what it looked like after 20 miles on the freeway flinging mud off the tires like a dirty rooster tail, until finally enough flung off that the wheels were sort-of in balance so I could do 45 MPH. Could not go faster until I had at least gone into a self-serve car wash to get more mud off the rims.
So that's why the Roadie avoids mud.
