Getting Prepared

I got my first experience with wet snow in 2019.  I may share that experience in another post.  I was NOT prepared.  I had 3 old all-terrain tires and had gotten 1 new tire.  It didn’t matter.  That would not have helped.  I was told that I needed chains.  Last year, I had both new tires and chains.  I was ready!  The snow was so little that my tires handled it just fine.  Well, I heard that there was going to be another wet snow.  I figured that I was ready since I had my chains.  I made sure to put them in my truck before heading to work.  I also put my solar-powered Luci Lamp in the truck in case of a power outage at work.

This adventure began on January 26 and ended on January 27, 2021.  My shift was from 4 P.M. to 8 P.M.  I heard that it was snowing in French Gulch.  I wondered what I would be facing.  I remember reading the directions for my chains that I should practice putting them on when there was no snow.  Well, I hadn’t done it.  Sometime after 7:00 P.M., I found a YouTube video about how to put on chains.  The only problem was that the chains in the video were different from my chains.  I was not very confident.  At 8:00 P.M., my co-worker wished me well as I headed out the door into the unknown adventure awaiting me.

Starting My Snow Adventure

As I left the home, snow was beginning to fall in Redding.  I did OK on the freeway.  Leaving Redding and heading up the 299 was getting interesting.  I tried to eat, at least my banana, but I was kind of distracted.  I was gripping my steering wheel as I prepared to be slip-sliding away.  I couldn’t even listen to anything.  I did not feel that I was in control.

The snow was getting too deep for my all-terrain tires, so as I came into Old Shasta, I pulled over by the closed little store.  It was lighted and had a covered section of pavement where I could spread out my chains.  I didn’t check my arrival time, so I don’t know how long it took for me to get them on.  It was awkward with gloves on, so I had to take them off.  The wet snow was still coming down.  After I got the chains around the tires, I was able to back up enough to get them all the way around.  I struggled to get the hook in the back.  I had to use my leg to hold the chain in place.  Then, I was faced with how to attach it in front of the tire.  I figured it out half-way.  What is this part for?  I don’t know.  Oh well.  I attached the blue stretchy things that tighten the chains in place.  Just as I was videoing my success.  A man in a pickup further down the parking lot yelled out, “Do you need any help?”  I  yelled back, “Now you come!”  I told him he could follow me and make sure that I was safe and that the chains worked correctly.

The Adventure of Driving with Chains Begins

So, I headed out around 9:00 P.M. with the white pickup truck following me.  He had told me to go 20 MPH or less.  The chain directions said that I could go 30 MPH.  I started hearing this strange knocking sound.  I pulled over.  My new friends pulled in behind me.  They were a young couple named Chris and Alisha.  Chris crawled under my truck and unwrapped the chain, which had come off, from the axle.  He put the chain back on and he was truly a blessing.  He knew how to lock the chain into position and showed me how to do it.  He knew how to use that part that I didn’t understand.  Turns out it was important.  I should have had him look at my chains before I took off in the first place.

I headed out again.  At 20 MHP I heard a knocking sound again.  I pulled over and so did they.  Everything looked fine.  Maybe it was the loose chain ends.  I headed out again and had to keep my speed between 15 – 18 MPH.  This was going to take me FOREVER to get home!

I must say that driving with chains was like driving a tractor.  I had a new control and confidence.  There was no more sliding.  The highway had been snow-plowed recently, so it wasn’t too bad.  The snow was coming down constantly and visibility was low.  I was happy to see some lights at the truck weigh station.

Arriving at the Turn to French Gulch and Strange Tracks in the Snow

I finally saw the lights for my turn to go to French Gulch at 9:50 P.M.  My heart sank when I saw that the snow was deep and the road hadn’t been plowed in awhile.  I saw tire tracks.  I aimed for them and continued on at my slow pace.

After a time, I noticed two narrow odd tracks in the snow.  Could they be bicycles?  No.  Who would be out on a bike in this snow?  Soon, I came upon a man walking and pushing his bike.  This was crazy!  It was 32 degrees and this wet snow was still coming down.  I rolled down my window and said, “What are you doing out there?  Put your bike in the back of my truck and get in!”  Of course, he was happy to comply.

I asked him why there were two tracks in the snow.  He said, “Because my girlfriend is just up the road ahead of me.”  Sure enough, we caught up to her.  I couldn’t resist teasing her.  I said, “Don’t you wish that you had a ride too?”  Then I told her to put her bike in the back and to get in too.  Her boyfriend jumped out to help her with her bike, while I was moving somethings out of the way for her to be able to sit upfront.  The boyfriend came to my window and offered to ride in the back so that I wouldn’t have to move anything.  I was shocked!  “No way!  It is 32 degrees out there.  Get in!”

Once they got in, she put her fingers up to the heater vents.  The heater was on full blast.  They were cold and wet.  She said that her fingers felt like they had been smashed with a hammer.  I thought that was a good description.  That is how my fingers had been feeling when I didn’t have my gloves on when out in the snow.  She said that her gloves were soaking wet.  I asked them where they were heading.  They said they lived at the trailer park.  And what were they doing out in this snow?  Earlier in the day, they had gone to the creek for a picnic.  It had been snowing for hours.  Why had they waited to head home so late?  They smelled like they had smoked something that may have impaired their judgment.  I believe that it was in God’s merciful and perfect timing that I came along when I did.  It took awhile at my slow speed to get to the trailer park.  I am so glad that I could help them.

I dropped them off at the entrance and was glad they didn’t want front door service.  The snow was deep and there were no tracks to follow.  I continued driving.  I was thankful for the help I had received from Chris and Alisha and I was also happy that I could help this couple.  Always be willing to help a stranger, for you never know when you will also need the help of strangers.   I had already been helped by a couple and now I had helped a couple.  Would I need anymore help?  I was doing pretty good with my chains.  I could do this.  I was going to make it home.

My Snow Adventure Gets More Complicated

I made it through the town of French Gulch but had some difficulty in the deeper snow beyond the town.   In two places, I had to back up a little and go forward again to get through it.  I don’t have 4WD on my truck, so I didn’t have that help.   Now, I came upon my first tree.  It was blocking most of the road.  I decided to squeeze on by with one branch brushing the side of my truck.  I made it!  Now I was home free!

Then, I came upon a much bigger tree that had fallen clear across the road.  I had been driving my little tractor-truck for so long now that I thought I could use it as a tractor.   I attempted to push the tree with my truck.   That didn’t work.  I decided to back up and be out of the way for when the snowplow would come.  I managed to get myself stuck in the snow.  I got out and checked my left rear tire.  The chain was gone. My heart sank.  Now, what was I supposed to do?  Was I going to need to be towed home?

I am going to break up this story now and let you watch the video.  I will put more text after the video for those who like to read more details.

Calling 911 for HELP 

It was around 10:45 or 11:00 P.M. when I called 911.  I told the woman that answered where I was and that I was unable to go home due to a fallen tree blocking the road.  I asked her to let the guys with the snowplows know.  She said it could be awhile.  The snowplows were very busy.   I figured that they would be.  I imagined that without my left tire chain, I might need a tow, so I called my insurance.  To make a long story a little shorter, the towing companies were not risking themselves by coming out.  I was stuck.  I called my son, Isaiah, to tell him that I was stuck.  He said he was concerned about getting himself.  He had his little truck and he had chains.  He later told me that when He and his wife got off work, they made it to where the road started to go uphill.  He couldn’t get up it.  He put on his chains and was very impressed at the newfound power to conquer the snow.  Chains really are amazing!  Make sure you have some if you ever plan to drive in the snow.

A Stranger Arrives Out of Nowhere

I was in my truck wondering what to do next, when a young man named, Ian, arrived.  He said he lived in a nearby cabin.  I couldn’t see it and have no idea where I was to be able to go thank him.  He said he saw me from his cabin and decided to come to see if I needed any help.  I told him how I lost my chain.  Amazingly, he found it just behind the tire in the snow.  He helped me to put it back on so I would be able to drive home when the snowplows came.   He was concerned that my truck was stuck beneath a leaning tree.  I told him that I would pray for God’s protection from it.  I thanked him for his help, but there was nothing more that he could do.  I sent him back to his warm cabin.

I had no idea how long I was going to have to wait.  I might need to sleep.  I had to urinate and I wasn’t going out in the snow to do it.  I decided to use my little kettle.  It was most uncomfortable.  I think it would be a good idea to have something more comfortable available for emergencies like this.  I just poured the clear urine onto the snow outside my door.  I drink plenty of water, so I didn’t make yellow snow.

Second Call to 911

An hour went by.  I think that I called 911 again around Midnight.  I reiterated that I was still stuck and waiting for help.  Couldn’t she let the guys that plow in French Gulch know that I was stuck with this fallen tree blocking the road?  She seemed to have no sympathy as she told me that the guys were very busy.  I resigned myself to a long wait.  If I was going to be stuck here all night, I was going to need to sleep.  My dress was all wet and making me cold even though I had my heater blasting.  I had a 3/4 tank of gas and that would last me a long time.  I had on 2-3 pairs of leggings and a turtleneck shirt, so I took off my dress and began drying it.

Help Arrives!

At 12:45, two men with their snowplows arrived!  I said I hoped they had their chainsaws.  The leader teased me and said they didn’t have any.  He also told me that the call they got from the 911 dispatch said that a tree was down across the road.   There was no mention of a woman stranded.  So, they took care of another downed tree on some other road.  They went right to work to make up for the lost time.   They pulled me out of the snow and had me wait in a safe place.  Then I was to follow at a safe distance.  Who would have thought that there would be 3 more trees across the road!  We got to the 3rd tree at 1:17 A.M. and the 4th tree at 1:27 A.M.  They got me to my driveway by maybe 1:50 A.M.

Finally Home

They had me back up into the beginning of my driveway.  They wanted to see if I could still drive back onto the road.  It wasn’t possible.  I was stuck in a foot of snow.  They told me their names were Matt and Jim.  I was so thankful for their service.   I was also thankful for my Luci Lamp.  It had provided light when I was putting on my chains.  It was the perfect light because it is waterproof.  It now lit my way home as I walked down my long driveway in the deep snow.  I knew that my dress was going to be wet again, but it didn’t matter.

I found snow blocking my entrance to my home, but I remembered a shovel under the back of the motorhome.  I got the snow cleared and  fed the cats some dry cat food.  It was around 2:20 A.M. when the video ended.  I think I got to bed around 3:00 A.M.   It was a long adventure, but shorter than two years ago.  I must admit that when I first came to the fallen tree and couldn’t go on, I was wondering why God didn’t let me get home easily.  I helped the bicyclists and somehow thought I should be blessed for it.  Well, I just want to say that I was blessed.  I was blessed with another trial where I could see more of God’s providing grace.