the sun came out today for the first time in what feels like months, so i went out to photograph barns with my new camera. i have been shooting them for several years, but haven't done any recently. my favorites are the old, abandoned ones, but they aren't always accessible. keep in mind i live in the country, so the population is sparse. i saw this one from the road, and could have perhaps gotten some shots with my long lens, but i saw the 1/4 mile long dirt (former) driveway and since we haven't really had snow, i figured no problem. so down i go. i get the shots i want and then head forward to an open space and turn around to leave. ha. my nascar front end buried itself in deep snow. there was no way i was going forward at all. i tried backing up, but not enough torque at first to get me moving. all i could think of was that i was down the end of a long road at an abandoned farm site, hubby works 40 miles away, no cell phone, and couldn't remember how far it was to the next house on the road. several very unlady like sounds came from my mouth.

so i relied on the old minnesota technique of "rocking" it, by trying to back it up and allowing it to go forward in the ruts by putting my foot on the clutch.....hopefully many of you may know what i mean. so i rocked, and even spun the front tires some. i almost physically rotated that **** car until i was almost facing out the road again. then i finally kept rocking until i got into the ruts i created coming in and managed to move..........sheesh, i had pics in my head of having to walk out and find a farmer with a tractor to pull me out. thank god for those wonderful snow tires i have.

half way out the car starts beeping. i was sure i had broken something, but just forgot my seatbelt. i must have used up a lot of the battery, because it took all the way home and it still wasn't fully charged up again.

making notes note to NOT try that again........

 

I know the technique you use. I've used it myself. Basicly my street doesn't get plowed near the sides where you park and I'm too lazy to shovel. So after it snows I pretty much use my car to pack down the snow. I also rock back and forth to make some ruts so I can get out in the morning when the snow gets harder because of the cold.

 

I grew up in Ky. and back then there was very serious snow in the winter months and the winter was alot longer and very cold.

Yes I/we all that lived there new and used the rocking your talking about to get going.

Terry

 

Thanks for sharing your story. Seems like you're doing very will with that HCH of yours! Expect to see you on the cover of Offroad magazine before long.