treypal
Lord of the Raptors
So yesterday morning I decided that there would be no better way to spend the new year then offroading a little bit. A buddy that had stayed over for the festivities, along with my cousin and my wife set out for the seashore around 3pm. I filled up the truck when we left the house, grabbed some snacks and we were off. We hit the beach around 4 pm, conditions were great, and i was feeling confident that we could make it to the Mansfield cut.
We stopped a few times to collect shells, but mostly kept the truck at 60+ MPH the whole way. There is about 5 miles of soft pack around marker 17-22. It was softer this trip than I can ever remember. We hit the Mansfield cut right at sundown, 60 miles down, 60 to go. Hung out there for a bit, and then started making our way home.
At marker 55 or so I looked at my gas gauge and started getting nervous. 110 miles to empty. From previous experience I didn't think this was going to be enough, and I didn't bring a 5er with spare gas. I started easing the truck back, which is tough, need lots of 4x4 and manual shifting between 1, 2, 3 otherwise the tranny grabs a bigger gear and gets bogged down.
Marker 50, 70 miles to E. Shit.
Marker 45, 55 miles to E.
Marker 40, 50 miles to E. (Getting Better at least)
Marker 35, 45 miles to E. Good, Good.
Marker 30, 42 miles to E.
Marker 25, 37 miles to E. Stopped for a beer and a ***** break. Get back in the truck, start it up. 11 miles to E. ****. ******* computer...
Marker 20, 9 miles to E.
Marker 15, 7 miles to E.
Marker 10, 4 miles to E.
Marker 5 3 miles to E.
Mile 3, 0 miles to E.
Access road... Truck finally dies. Luckily we were able to climb a dune and get cell service. Got a buddy on the way. It takes him about an hour to get there. The seashore entrance is 40 miles from our neighborhood. He gets there with 2 gallons of gas, and I start digging for my fill funnel. Can't find the damn thing, completely tear the under seat storage apart, finally find it under my seat...
My best estimate is that I got 5.8 MPG. Not unheard of for me, but not my usual seashore mileage. It dawned on me that I have never gone down there with my General Grabbers. I felt like such a dumb shit going down there without spare gas, tools, or a shovel. I am normally so prepared, and I totally dropped the ball. We got lucky that we made it back to cell range. I have a spot locator, and I would have used it if needed.
Moral of the story. Prep your Shit. Even if its just a quick day trip. We only passed one other car early in the day, no telling how long it would have been before we saw another one, if they would have even had gas.
We stopped a few times to collect shells, but mostly kept the truck at 60+ MPH the whole way. There is about 5 miles of soft pack around marker 17-22. It was softer this trip than I can ever remember. We hit the Mansfield cut right at sundown, 60 miles down, 60 to go. Hung out there for a bit, and then started making our way home.
At marker 55 or so I looked at my gas gauge and started getting nervous. 110 miles to empty. From previous experience I didn't think this was going to be enough, and I didn't bring a 5er with spare gas. I started easing the truck back, which is tough, need lots of 4x4 and manual shifting between 1, 2, 3 otherwise the tranny grabs a bigger gear and gets bogged down.
Marker 50, 70 miles to E. Shit.
Marker 45, 55 miles to E.
Marker 40, 50 miles to E. (Getting Better at least)
Marker 35, 45 miles to E. Good, Good.
Marker 30, 42 miles to E.
Marker 25, 37 miles to E. Stopped for a beer and a ***** break. Get back in the truck, start it up. 11 miles to E. ****. ******* computer...
Marker 20, 9 miles to E.
Marker 15, 7 miles to E.
Marker 10, 4 miles to E.
Marker 5 3 miles to E.
Mile 3, 0 miles to E.
Access road... Truck finally dies. Luckily we were able to climb a dune and get cell service. Got a buddy on the way. It takes him about an hour to get there. The seashore entrance is 40 miles from our neighborhood. He gets there with 2 gallons of gas, and I start digging for my fill funnel. Can't find the damn thing, completely tear the under seat storage apart, finally find it under my seat...
My best estimate is that I got 5.8 MPG. Not unheard of for me, but not my usual seashore mileage. It dawned on me that I have never gone down there with my General Grabbers. I felt like such a dumb shit going down there without spare gas, tools, or a shovel. I am normally so prepared, and I totally dropped the ball. We got lucky that we made it back to cell range. I have a spot locator, and I would have used it if needed.
Moral of the story. Prep your Shit. Even if its just a quick day trip. We only passed one other car early in the day, no telling how long it would have been before we saw another one, if they would have even had gas.
