IMO you're concerns are well placed.  That LR looked well equipped and seemed to have a lot more ground clearance than a stock G500.  I'm not just talking the "bench racing" minimum clearance under the diff, I'm talking clearance of all things that will try to "push snow" as you try that climb out of the creek that seems to have stopped the LR.

Others had good points too. Mainly that snow conditions change from day to day and one man's saturday morning powder blast is another man's Sunday afternoon sticky slog.  If I was going there, I'd want a set up just like that LR's.  His tires were probably big enough to try airing down to stay on top of the snow as much as it would allow, and at least for me, fitting the G with 38's to do that trip would be out of the question.  Another important point is that he did have the winch.  Bill Burke has an interesting point of view on his web site that stuff like lockers, tires, etc only serve to eventually get you stuck in worse places and the only thing that really gets you "un stuck" is the winch and knowledge of how to use it.

By the pix it also looks like the LR took a while (or got a late start) getting as far as he did and the time of day might have contributed to his decision to turn around rather than try and winch through.  But the bottom line is that we have no knowledge of what lies another 10, 50, 500,etc feet down that trail.

And of course nobody can tell you from a picture what could be done there.  Certainly not without a corresponding picture of the truck you propose to take.  Stock G 500, I'd set up a nice overnight camp at the trailhead and get out my snowshoes.  G 500 with 3" of lift, decent floatation tires, a good set of chains, and a winch and electrical system sized for snow recovery.....yeah, now you're talking some fun.  But I'd still bring the camping gear, snow shoes, and espresso pot.  :^)

Looks like a great spot!

Dave G.

Well it's easy enough without the snow,

May 20-21 2005 July 29-30 2005

My guess is that as long as you had chains, you would have no problem as far as the turn off from Harrison East to the Clear Creek road. Clear Creek road is a different story though, there are enough steepish parts that it would definately be tricky, it might be mostly ok but a winch of some sort with a lot of length would definately make getting to the hot springs a better bet. I personally don't think I'd bother trying.

If I had to guess, I would think that if you can manage the first steep rise after the turn off up Clear Creek road, you will manage the whole thing fine. If you decide to go for it, bring a buddy and be careful, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a 20degree celcius swing over the course of a day and if I remember correctly, there are a couple of avalanche chutes near the end of the road. Also have a proper axe/chainsaw with you, the tree the LR is going between in the picture was clearly something that recently fell across the road and there is no rule that says they don't fall between you and home and it certainly isn't high season for that road if you know what I mean.

For the most part there isn't likely to be too much snow, the washout in the pictures is likely to be the deepest spot because of drifting and that is just about as high as you get, having said that, it is the west coast, I've had overnight dumps more than a foot deep in my driveway this year.

Chris.

It's great to rehash the snow traction stuff now and again, but man I gotta say, thanks just for sharing the pictures of a fantastically beautiful area. 

Some people don't like to be out in the cold, but I for one have had some of my very best camping experiences ever in the super-cold weather.  I used to visit Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky every year in mid January for a long weekend of camping, for the sole purpose of enjoying scenery a lot like your pictures.  Nights would often be below zero F, but the trees and the amazingly beautiful and unique ice sculptures that nature creates under the right conditions are truely wonders to behold.  Add to that the fact that you're usually utterly alone except for people you've chosen to be with, and there are few experiences to top it.

Long story short, I sure understand why you want to attempt it!  And thanks again for sharing the pix.

-Dave G.

If you look at the 4th picture where the LR reaches "terminal position".  You can see that the left front and right rear wheels have NOT been spinning.  See how the right font wheel is fully coated with snow mashed into the tire treads and chains?  And then notice how the other two visible tires don't show the same snow packing?

Makes me think he's got open diffs in the pumpkins and reached a cross-axled position where two lifted (or lightened) wheels = no go.  With lockers engaged, one might have rolled right on through that spot on the strength of the higher traction wheels on each axle.  Just a thought.

-Dave G.

If you are looking for a trip, the hot springs on Harrison West are pretty nice too, the road is a lot nicer on that side because there is/was a heli logging operation just a bit before the springs and the whole thing is at quite a bit lower elevation. 

 I expect the trickiest part of the trip would be walking from the campsite to the springs themselves.  In my opinion the camp site is pretty dodgy though.

 Double check with the forestry people if you are going from Harrison rather than Pemberton though because I have heard anecdotal reports that there was a bridge out somewhere near 20 Mile Bay.

 There are pictures of that spring on my website too if ya want to see the lay of the land.

    Chris.