Jeep Trio Take on a Monstrous Landslide: Will They Make It?
Like the star of a bad joke, Jeep pack drives onto a trail looking to explore a trail that was supposed to be a road to a resort. What they found was still exciting.
To wheel, or not to wheel: that is the question. When taking the Jeep out for a good bout of exercise, there are obstacles that sing a siren’s song beckoning a driver to conquer it. Sometimes, it goes over well. Other times, it ends up ugly. The temptation to do what you know you shouldn’t is something even Shaun from The Story Til Now can’t resist, either.
Shaun’s channel is full of beautifully documented adventures he has with his beefed Gladiator, often accompanied by Nat Geo worthy shots of the Canadian countryside. This time, as he sets off to explore what used to a be nickel mine, he’s not alone. Those that came with Shaun on this trip were also in Jeeps – his friend Kyle’s Wrangler, and a Cherokee driven by his friend Steve. The three amigos had no prior knowledge of the trail they were set to trek, other than the fact that a four season resort was to be built in the mountains.
However, the locals made construction a nightmare, so the resort building was abandoned. So, instead of a giant resort, they’re heading toward a site where it was obvious construction was supposed to begin. Leveled landscape, piles of rock, and deep pits are some of the things they expected to find, for example. What they’d actually find ended up a lot less… Predictable.
“So, we headed out into the unknown,” says Shaun from the driver’s seat. “New terrain is always the most exciting. I never know what to expect.”
The first obstacle the three Jeeps came to face was a patch of snow that hasn’t yet melted for spring. It was deep and slushy, making all three Jeeps struggle for traction. Well, except for the Wrangler – that didn’t even break a sweat. The Cherokee and the Gladiator did go a tad slower, but the snow was nothing their aggressive tires and four-wheel drive couldn’t handle. After plowing through the slush, they reconnect with dirt. Here, Shaun decides the best thing for the threesome to do is let a little more air out of the tires and press on.
“After digging down to the dirt, we aired down further and crawled through the remaining snow on this part of the trail,” says Shaun. “But snow is about to be the least of our obstacles.”
Unfortunately, Shaun was not mistaken. Just after conquering the snow, the Jeeps find themselves facing a severely washed out section of trail, that leads to a massive landslide. Oh, and this landslide is blocking the next part of the trail. At this point, Shaun and his two friends were scratching their heads and wondering whether they should turn tail and head home. Though, after realizing all three Jeeps have a hefty amount of expensive mods on them, they did what any good Jeeper would do: get over it.
First, though, Shaun and his pals quickly get to work assessing the slide. They notice large branches that threaten the underside, while others seem to promise to pop a tire or two. They also spot stumps that may hi-center the Gladiator. Worst of all, they all have to swallow a very big pill. If they were to roll, they risk sliding into a whole that would be difficult to be towed/winched out of. After a route was planned, Shaun and his Gladiator lined up to lead the charge.
“I knew it was going to be harder than it looked,” said Shaun nervously. “And sure enough, my rear end started sliding into a large washout I was trying to go around. I tried using traction boards to get out of the hole, but, she was a big hole.”
Despite several earnest attempts to get the Gladiator up the side of the hill, the terrain started showing Shaun that he might have been a little more confident than he should have been. Just as Shaun, Kyle, and Steve feared, the Gladiator slid into the washout. Thankfully, all three Jeepers came with tools, and they decided to try using a winch coupled with a snatch rope to get the rear end out of the hole. Their ingenuity proved successful, and Shaun positioned his Jeep to run his line one more time. Though, it wasn’t long before the rear end was sucked into the pit once again.
A couple traction pads mixed delicately with perseverance was what rescued Shaun’s Gladiator the second time around. And with some careful wheeling, Shaun finally conquered the landslide. All Shaun had to do now was congratulate himself, and wait for the other Jeeps to climb the slide. Up next was Kyle in his Wrangler – and he approached the landslide with a lot more speed than Shaun did in his Gladiator. While his Jeep also slid into the washout, the shorter wheelbase and lighter curb weight more than made up for the lack of a front locking differential. In a matter of a few seconds, the Wrangler made it over the slide.
Similar to the Kyle’s Wrangler, Steve’s Cherokee lacked a front locker. Though, also like Kyle’s Jeep, the wheelbase still came out to be shorter than the Gladiator’s. So, odds were still fairly even. The same hole that claimed Kyle’s and Shaun’s Jeep also claimed Steve’s Jeep. Traction pads didn’t seem to help the wedged XJ, but there just so happened to be two Jeeps that could winch Steve’s Jeep from the hole to help him carry on his merry way. Kyle positioned his Wrangler to do just that.
With all three Jeeps up the landslide, they pushed forward. Just a little further up the trail, the three were forced to plow through some more snow before coming face-to-face with several waterfalls, washed out sections of road, and a handful of river crossings. Unfortunately, their hard work trekking this trail was ended abruptly by a dead end. With no way around, the trio turned back and headed home the way they came. Thankfully, though, the landslide proved to be a lot easier going down as opposed to trying to climb it.
With a little love, luck, traction mats, winches, and friendship the Jeeps made it home safely. They were disappointed they couldn’t finish the trail but as Shaun says, it’s not about the destination – but the journey.
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