Sunday the 3rd of January 2010, and four of us had arranged to meet up at the Ponderosa Cafe at the top of the Horseshoe Pass, for a day's greenlaning...

Late on the Saturday, the fourth member of the group was forced to pull out due to his truck not being ready for the day, but the rest of us arranged to meet up at 8:30am for a cooked breakfast...

Errrr, on my arrival at the bottom of the Horseshoe Pass I was greeted by a sign saying that the pass was closed... we'd pre-empted this and said if the pass was closed we'd meet on the roundabout...

So Gary was already there, so I pulled onto the verge for a natter while we waited for Brett, and his passenger Adam...

We were laughing at the fact that neither of us could get into our trucks that morning! I was out at 7:30am prepping the truck, and couldn't get "Stealth" my black Vitara as all the locks were frozen solid! I tried de-icer through the keyhole, to no avail, and eventually went back in and boiled the kettle again (after making a cuppa and filling the flask earlier) - I eventually freed the lock by sticking a screwdriver in between the door and the window glass and pouring boiling water onto the lock mechanism! Then a bit round the door frame to break the frozen seal of ice around the door!!! I got into my GV easily thanks to central locking, and noted the dash said it was -1^oC!

So, we all gathered - no cooked breakfast today though! :( - and then headed out to drive some lanes...

... starting with the "Conquering Hero"... here's us gathered just beyond the gate onto the 'lane...

(errr, must fix the front number plate after ramming Gary up the rear on our last trip in the snow!)

Rising up and the snow starts to get thicker...

Through the gate and we're faced with a thick blanket of snow over the track...

After taking a few attempts - a few runs into the thick snow - I got to near the top where the 'lane flattens out and runs along the bottom edge of the field...

Errr, it's there somewhere under all the drifts!

We attempt to walk forward for a look, but the snow is about a foot deep, and thicker where the drifts are!

So we're forced to back down...

... turn round, and drive back down... :(

We gather by the gate and get the maps out... we had planned to drive over the Conquering Hero and then go and drive Whitestones, Splashy Lane, etc... around Llangollen and the Geiriog Valley / Berwyn mountains... but heading inland would have meant more and more snow... and the impassable drifts.

So, after a bit of a discussion, and me mentioning that the Clwyd valley in which I live, was green at the bottom with some snow on the tops, we decided to head back north (from where I'd just come!) and 'lane closer to the coast, starting with Bryn Ocyn in the Clocaenog Forest...

An eventful journey through beautiful snow-scapes! A few times we all left the road skidding into the thick snow piled on each side of the "road"... a snow plough had obviously been through at some point...

So the roads were passable with care!

Look at the drift on the left!!!

Deep into the forest and the snow lies thick on the ground again... it was green where I drove through the valley below earlier though! ;) Honest...

TALL trees! Dwarfing the Jimny...

Here we are approaching the start of the lane... thick compacted snow witha ridge in the middle... looked like some wide tyred forestry equipment had been through at some point...

Brett turned onto the lane, and was rising up before we knew it... this is Gary turning onto the lane just in front of me... Brett radios back to say the snow is thick on the lane, and to get up the low gears and get some momentum going to get through...

So I get into second low box and bounce up the lane, rear diff dragging through the snow...

Bouncing along at a steady pace we get through the snow...

Until our little convoy stops to survey what's in front...

... a frozen water hole...

Brett modelling his shorts... he always wears shorts, whatever the weather, although today he's opted for something warmer underneath too! Note the Bits4Vits mini shovel, which he's using to test the ice...

... we thought it was that thick that it might support the weight of the trucks... but easing onto the ice it soon cracks under the weight of the Jimny and Brett powers it through...

... followed by Gary, and then I discover I'm grounded having stopped on top of the middle ridge covered in a thick layer of snow... I attempted to get out with waffles, but to no avail... so out comes the winch... Brett feeds it out for me, Gary's holding the winch line (with bitch strop and Bits4Vits winch ball - now sadly discontinued due to slow sales?!) and Adam watches on...

Quick tug, and I'm free! Gary discovers how deep the snow is!

And so we power on up the lane, keeping the momentum going to get through the snow, and then meet another frozen trough of water and ice...

Again Brett in the ice-breaker Jimny clears the way...

Through the gate and we're driving along the edge of the sloping field, so again there's drifts at the lowest point...

I slip into a hidden side slope / ditch and the only way out is with my Offroad Armoury Ground Anchor... there's no trees available, and those fence posts don't look up to the job! ;)

A couple of pulls later and I'm back up the bank and back on track...

Gary's impressed as he's never seen a ground anchor used before... life savers!

Out and my wheels have been transformed into snow balls!

Rounding the bottom of the field, there was huge snowdrifts, far too thick to drive through! So we were forced to reverse back to the gate, turn round, and make our escape back the way we came... :(

I was therefore first out, and parked in the little car park, to await the rest of the group...

... so we stopped for a well earned hot drink...

Off again and we're heading for Ruthin for fuel, and the to go on and drive along the side of the Clwydians, thinking the snow will be thinner down my neck of the woods...

Snow for miles and miles...

Gary strays off the road to take a picture of the wind turbines through the clearing, but again disappears up to his knees!

Thick snow, so we drop down carefully...

... particularly with a big slopey drop to the right!

Wow! Stunning views... makes for an awesome day's laning...!

LOL! PMSL! No, danger of slipping?! Who'd have thought!

Back down to a "main road" and we're going through Loggerheads... and are stunned by the number of cars parked on the verges... what's going on...?

Ahhh... all the fields are full of sledgers! ;)

Coming out of Loggerheads we'd pulled over to check the maps in a side junction, and out popped another lifted Vitara! I waved to Howie, who'd been out for a bit of a bimble with Richie, him of "Eco" the green diesel Vit fame, recently featured in "4x4" magazine...

Cutting cross country we find a nice little ford... and then we found a nice little Ford... Focus that is! They'd got down the side of the valley, through the ford, but couldn't quite get up the other side due to the ice, so the four of us piled out, quick lesson in how to drive on ice for the motorist, and then pushed him up to the brow of the valley... found out where he was going (following a SatNav of course!) and pointed him in the right direction... ;)

Then onto the BOAT that runs off the Mold road and up the side of the valley, and we're delayed by a group of 4x4s, apparently a Disco', no lift, road tyres, and he's stuck... we wait for them to clear, give them some room so as not to appear as one big group, and then...

... rise up the side of the valley...

... and meet them at the top...

Count the 4x4s... I made it eleven... it saddens me to see groups this big... they insist they are two groups that have met up though... :\

They turn left at the top, saying the route to the right is impassable...

So we turn right, of course...

The snow was particularly thick, and virginal, no-one had been through it, but the three diminutive little Suzukis pick their way through where the bigger trucks back away ;)

We reach the gate on the other side and push a nice big posh Range Rover out of the snow...

Coming down the side of the valley - carefully! - we meet a bloke coming up the other way... on Skis! Fair does! LOL

And onto the 'lane that runs along the side of the Clwydian Range, above my house ;)

The suns going down, we'll lose the light soon - having started at 8:30 this morning - so we'd better get a move on! Particularly as Gary needed to be home earlish..

There you go... there's my house! LOL... somewhere in the distance in the middle of the valley below! I'd said the valley was clear but the ridges were white... but I was surprised how much snow there actually was!

Adam nearly slips into the sidem but corrects his line... Brett's out in front guiding him...

Again, snow drifts have hidden the lane... there is normally a flat track here with a grassy ridge in the middle...

Yep, the suns going to bed! Best be quick...

Grounded out in the thick snow, Brett winches the Jimny out...

And round the corner we're thwarted again by huge drifts... so for the third time today, we have to back up! Back to the gate behind, swing the trucks round carefully, and then back the way we came!

Back to the road that runs up the valley side... Brett and Adam, and Gary head up the valley side, heading for the road back Chester way, and I drop down into the valley, just a few miles from home... hot shower and a well earned Chinese Takeaway...

Many thanks to Brett, Adam and Gary for their companionship for the day, we got stuck, errr, delayed a few times, and had to turn back thwarted by the snow drifts, but it was another fantastic, scenic day...

Awesome, let's do it all again soon! ;)