MIKE HALL, Adventure Sports, Travel, Overlanding, Backcountry, Avalanche, Snowmobile, Snowmobiling, Snowboard, Snowboarding, Sledboarding, Winter Fat Tire Mountain Biking, Mountain Biking, Ski Patrol, Motorcycle, BMW Adventure Motorcycling, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Jackman, Maine

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Winter Storm...Wyoming & Colorado

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
609 AM MDT WED OCT 26 2011

...FIRST SNOWSTORM OF THE SEASON CONTINUES FOR THE MOUNTAINS...
FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS
COLORADO...

THROUGH THE NIGHT...THE HEAVIEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS HAS REMAINED NORTH OF
DENVER...ESPECIALLY FROM BOULDER COUNTY NORTHWARD THROUGH LARIMER
AND WELD COUNTIES. SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED 6 TO 10 INCHES OF NEW
SNOW IN THESE LOCALES. MUCH LIGHTER AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES FROM
DENVER SOUTHWARD. MUCH OF THE AREA CAN STILL EXPECT LIGHT TO
MODERATE SNOWFALL THIS MORNING BEFORE DIMINISHING BY LATER THIS
AFTERNOON. TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED DOWNWARD ADJUSTED
A BIT LOWER FOR LOCATIONS FROM DENVER AND POINTS EAST.

THE SNOW SHOULD GRADUALLY DECREASE BY LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
AND DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS AS THE STORM SYSTEM MOVES
SOUTHEAST OF THE REGION.

THE STORM WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES. HIGH
TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL ONLY BE IN THE LOWER 30S ACROSS THE
PLAINS. LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE TEENS. SINGLE
DIGIT READINGS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS.

COZ030>037-262015-
/O.CON.KBOU.WS.W.0011.000000T0000Z-111027T0000Z/
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/
NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/
GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE
9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-
JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR
CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...GOULD...NORTH PARK...RAND...SPICER...
WALDEN...EAST SLOPES PARK AND NORTHERN GORE RANGES...GORE PASS...
RABBIT EARS PASS...DILLON...FRASER...GRANBY...GRAND LAKE...
HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS...KREMMLING...CAMERON PASS...
LARAMIE AND MEDICINE BOW MOUNTAINS...RABBIT EARS RANGE...
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK...WILLOW CREEK PASS...
BERTHOUD PASS...BRECKENRIDGE...EAST SLOPES MOSQUITO RANGE...
EAST SLOPES SOUTHERN GORE RANGE...EISENHOWER TUNNEL...
INDIAN PEAKS...KENOSHA MOUNTAINS...MOUNT EVANS...
WILLIAMS FORK MOUNTAINS...WINTER PARK...ESTES PARK...GLENDEVEY...
NEDERLAND...RED FEATHER LAKES...BAILEY...CENTRAL CITY...
EVERGREEN...GEORGETOWN...IDAHO SPRINGS...WESTCREEK...FAIRPLAY...
HARTSEL...LAKE GEORGE...SOUTH PARK
609 AM MDT WED OCT 26 2011

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS
EVENING.

* TIMING...SNOW WILL CONTINUE WITH HEAVY SNOW AT TIMES. SNOWFALL
RATES UP TO 1 INCH PER HOUR WILL BE POSSIBLE. SNOW WILL DECREASE
IN THE THE AFTERNOON.

* ACCUMULATION/WIND...TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 15 INCHES
CAN BE EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS
ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SIGNIFICANT WINDS
ARE NOT EXPECTED.

* MAIN IMPACT...ROADS WILL BE ICY AND SNOWPACKED. DEPENDING ON
THE EXACT AMOUNT OF SNOWFALL...DRIVING MAY BECOME DIFFICULT OR
IMPOSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ON SECONDARY ROADS.

* OTHER IMPACTS...SPOTTY POWER OUTAGES WILL BE POSSIBLE
CONSIDERING THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY WET SNOWFALL.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS
OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Mountain Biker gets taken out by BUCK - CRAZY Footage - Only in Africa


I'm sure some of you have seen this video, but if you haven't...check it out.

Monday, October 17, 2011

F150 EcoBoost

After 260 miles the past week-end on my F150 EB pulling the 28 foot Featherlite enclosed trailer, I ended up with about 9.2 MPG. That included around town about 45 miles and the rest driving 65 -74 MPH highway. The big factor was a head wind of about 20 -25 MPH for about 120 miles. This is a small sample of miles. I have done the same trip in my F150 EB without a trailer and the result was about 17.5 MPG.

I got back from my trip on Monday with my F150 EB, parked my truck and trailer. Jumped into an F350 with the 5.4 gas motor and did a 280 mile round trip pulling an open single car trailer with an F150 on it. 140 miles into a 20 -25 MPH headwind and 140 miles back with a tailwind, 8.8 MPG for the round trip @ 65-75 MPH. I sure missed the power of the EcoBoost, huge difference.

Observations:

The EcoBoost pulls hard from a start to 70 MPH. Did not lose any MPH on inclines even against the wind. Motor has very good torque and low end useable power, minimal downshifting. It has the power I was looking for in a gas motor.

Not much sway from wind gusts, holds it's lane. Good aftermarket tires make all the difference in the world with a trailer this big or any load. The first thing replaced on my new trucks is the tires. The longer 6.5 wheelbase helps also along with Max Tow.

Pulling a trailer into the wind with any truck will always suck the fuel.

The small 26 gallon tank is not good(I was told this is the only tank you can get with the EB unless you order a fleet of trucks, then you can order the 36 gallon)...go figure.

Can't mount a winch on the front because cooling is a factor.

The F150 is a great truck, was gonna buy an F350 with the 6.2 gas. I'm not disappointed in the F150 EB with my set-up. I'm getting 2-5 or 20-40% more MPG than any of my other pick-ups and it's got the best motor.

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Ford F150 EcoBoost

I bought my Ford F150 EB in July. It is the Max Tow - Max Payload, with the 6.5 foot box, it has 3.73 gears. I had a set of 285/70/17 - E-Rated BFG All Terrains with aftermarket wheels installed the day I picked it up. I had a Bull Bar installed and I got creative with the license plate because you cannot block the air flow up front.

The dash MPG computer shows 14.4 since I bought the truck. My driving includes pulling my landscape trailer around town(1500 - 3500 pounds, about 10% of my driving), some fireroad driving locked into 4x4, stop and go city driving and several 300 - 400 mile trips. 2 of the 400 mile trips was pulling my landscape trailer with 3500 pound loads.

When I reset my trip MPG, I get about 14.5 - 16 MPG with everyday driving. On the trips with a mix of 60 - 80 MPH, I get 16 - 18.5 MPG.

I just turned 6000 miles on my new F150 EB. This motor rocks, it creates useable torque, and has plenty of giddy-up and go. It is also the best gas mileage I have got with a 4x4 pick-up.

A couple of my thoughts for what they are worth.





Upgrading the tires, a must if you are going to use the F150 like a truck. Get the Max Tow / Max Trailer. It is not an F350, but I wanted gas mileage and didn't want another diesel.

My previous personal trucks have included 3 different 1 Ton Super Duties, 1 - V10 and 2 - 6.0 diesels and an 06 3/4 ton Dodge with the gas Hemi. I also drive an 09 F350 4x4 gas 5.4 pulling a single car trailer for my job, about 8000 miles a month. That gets anywhere from 8 - 11.5 MPG depending on size of vehicle and wind.

This is the trailer I'm going to use the next 2 days. A 28 foot Featherlite. I will put on about 250 - 300 miles so I'll see how it does. I just drove it about 40 miles today and it was no effort for the truck. No sway and it just jumps up to 70 MPH. I'll be driving between 65 - 75 MPH.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Backcountry Ripper





New powder sled M8/162