Advice / Tips for Driving in "Real Snow" for a First Timer?

We're back! Thanks again everyone for the advice and encouragement! Drum rolll... We loved it!

But before I get started.. first things first. Lots of snow! And as a result, lots of grime and I imagine salt. What do I need to do to the 4Runner to clean all that off of the underside? I *watched* a snowplow spray the entire side of my 4Runner with the solution, lol I cringed but what can ya do? Since I was parked on the side of a busy downtown road, the poor 4Runner was constantly dowsed with that salty sludge. I'm a clean car kinda guy so it was rough, but it was simply part of my conversion into a mountainous truck guy lol.

Dude, what a trip and a time to go! We were in Denver when the "storm" rolled in and boy was it a treat for us Alabamians. If you would, please put that amount of snow into context for us. Some of the locals seemed to think it was a fairly large amount all at once.. I think 15" is what the news said. We loved it! Got some pics of the 4Runner in it, of course! We were actually on a little exploration into the town of Golden when it began. From Golden there is a very tight, windy road that goes up into the mountains, right out of a neighborhood. I only got about a half mile up that road when I decided I should turn around. The wind was gnarly, we could see the snow that was starting to fall spin and glide around on the frozen road. The road was so narrow and visibility was quickly diminishing, so I decided maybe that wasn't the best way to break the 4Runner into snow season lol. My fiance was happy to agree, ha! I was happy to see that, once back on the highway, the locals drove fairly reasonably from what I saw. I was definitely that guy in the right lane going a little under the speed limit.. that was plenty for me especially on raised roads / bridges / etc.

Once we were to our AirBnB, the snow really started rolling in, and continued over night. The next morning there was about a foot on the ground, but driving wasn't too bad! The main thing I had to do was turn off TRAC as it kept making things difficult when starting from a stop. I try to use 4WD only when absolutely necessary, and only had to use it one time to get out of a parallel parking spot in downtown Denver (lol).. but it was no joke.. we were in about a 8" of slush there.

They seem really on it, there. Overnight I was woken up by a crew cleaning the sidewalks! I had no idea that was a government supplied service! They even shoveled the snow all the way to our front door. Crazy! The road crews were also on it really quickly, so driving wasn't bad, especially on main roads and as long as you paid attention.

I was also smitten with some of the locals. One man, with his family aboard in his little Tesla, stopped in the road and held his scraper/brush out his window in an offer to allow me to borrow it. I thanked him immensely but assured I would manage with my arm and hands lmao.. I didn't want to hold him up. Told him where we were from and he laughed and understood. I did end up leaving a good bit of snow on the hood, and didn't brush any off the roof (forgive me, I'm new to this and also have no idea if there are laws surrounding that), so I got a good laugh out of a fellow 4Runner driver when he saw all that snow come crashing down onto my windshield as I stopped lol. He was looking at me like I was crazy, understandably, but I could still see! ha

Boy, we loved it. Denver and Boulder were great. Nice people, good hustle, beautiful weather and scenery, progressive thoughts. I will say, we did not enjoy Fort Collins. Maybe it was just us, or a coincidence, but we didn't enjoy the "vibe" as much, and felt the people there were definitely more rude than in Denver or Boulder, both on the streets as well as in a restaurant. It could have been that one restaurant, of course. It was almost like the people there had a chip on their shoulder or something. We also didn't like the physical area as much, but there were some nice neighborhoods for sure, and the down-town area has something going for it.

All in all, the trip was a great success, and also a learning experience. The drive there was brutal, and I definitely learned that when Google maps says 18 hours, plan for a bare minimum of 20-22. Fortunately the drive home was a *little* better, just because we had a better idea of what to expect. But it was worth it - especially with beautiful Colorado gracing us with some snow. We will certainly be moving there within the year.

 

Hey Kouki, glad you had a great trip! Sorry for the late response - 'puter problems over the last few days and some minor hand surgery this AM. Typing one handed sucks!

We had a foot of snow last week, and are forecast to possibly get double that this weekend here in Denver. March is typically the snowiest month here, and we can get snow right into May some years. Spring snow isn't the same as winter snow. It's wet and heavy and will break branches and smoosh newly bloomed and leafed flowers, bushes, and trees. So a foot of snow last week, we golfed last Sunday, and we might get two feet this weekend. Nothing to see here, move along! Check out Friday - Monday:


Snows like we've had this month aren't unusual. The biggest storm we've had since I've lived here was St. Patty's Day weekend in 2003. We had 35 - 40 inches at the condo, plus drifts. The plows didn't show up till day 3 or 4. I had my FJ-60 "Clifford" at the time and shoveled out a place to back up, and blazed a trail out of there. I was the first in the complex to get out. Really pissed off the asshat in the full sized Hummer who tried and got stuck after 20 feet or so. I miss Clifford - I should have stuffed a Vortec in the engine bay and kept him! Clifford, I miss ya!


Sounds like you may have gone up Lookout Mountain? If so, that road is used a lot by bikers (pedal and motor), runners and the like when the WX is good. It's also a hang glider (see avatar) and paraglider launch site. The other road west out of Golden is Clear Creek Canyon. Fun when it's dry, especially on a motorcycle, but really fun when it's icy! Watch out for Casino buses. Clear Creek runs along side the road and has trout in it too! Its a nice little stream close to Denver to toss some flies. For the love of God though, don't throw lures, or worse, PowerBait! This is a fly fishing state, doncha know? Drive carefully though else your rig may get a cold, icy unplanned bath.

There are a lot of cranky people here. Some are pissed with all the new people moving here from Cali, Texas, and whereever (living costs and traffic are increasing), some are just pissed for whatever reason, and some are pissed that people moving here are trying to change Colorado into whatever state they fled from. And succeeding. Not political, just how it is. Not everyone is happy with the changes that have taken place especially in the last ten years or so and some will be all too happy to tell anyone listening. Colorado outside the urban areas has a much different feel than FoCo/Boulder ("Ten square miles surrounded by reality")/Denver/CoSprings, but those cities rule the state due to the way population is dispersed and who is moving here. Colorado 2021 is a much different state than it was just a decade ago.

If you have a decent job, you should be able to find your little chunk of Colorado bliss. I found mine right on the Arkansas River near Buena Vista. Just a nice little mountain town with a very trout'y river flowing through it. Maybe some day I'll be able to buy it from the Californian who bought it a few years ago.

 

Yes, I just checked the map and it looks like Lookout was indeed the road. Sadly we only made it about 1/4 mile before I turned around. We were just exploring so we had no idea what was up there. Had I known what it was, maybe I would have stuck it out a little longer. Wait... nah, it's best that I didn't know!! lol

Well, I hope that the area remains well despite the crankyness and changes. I'll deal with cranky people over lazy people, which is what we seem to have in droves here in AL. I can understand where the locals must be coming from. For what it's worth, I don't mean to change the state.. I already feel it's a huge upgrade and I hope it stays that way! But yes politics are politics, ugh. One great thing about America is that you can be an "American" but have different views than other Americans... all thanks to the way our country laid out our states and gave them individual rights to an extent. I think it's great to be able to grow up in a state where you were born, realize that the people aren't really for you, and be able to easily move to another state where things are "just different enough." I hate how Globalism is washing everything down and turning everything into the same. I really hope that as humans we find a way to preserve our differences and cultures despite current technology, and promote different ways of thinking. Big issues and philosophical stuff here... but we will never all be the same so I don't understand why everyone seems to want to be the same so much. Different! but equal, I say. Anyway... I digress lol. Sorry.

Thanks for the reply, and I wish you a speedy recovery on your hand! Can't wait to get back to CO as soon as possible! Cheers

BTW, I ended up just hosing off the underside of the 4Runner with tap water. I hope that's sufficient haha. Once we move, I see a pressure washer with an in-line soap dispenser in our future. I still haven't had the time to properly wash the 4Runner's body.. I hope I don't regret that. I did at least spray it down with fresh water so hopefully that's worth something.

 

I had a pressure washer and didn't use it nearly as much as I thought I would. Worked great on the fence and driveway, but I didn't use it on the FJ Cruiser I had at the time...I was too afraid of removing paint or damaging electrical stuff. Sold it in a day on craigslist. I don't pay attention much to cranky people except when I'm cranky. Which isn't usually due to anything Colorado. Its a matter of where my energy should be used. I try to stay positive, and if there's one constant here, it's change. Pendulums swing both ways. There's still a lot very good here, and I concentrate on that.

You'll love it here. but you may be overwhelmed about what to explore first!

 

Hey Kouki, my Runner has a mohawk! We got approx 20 inches of snow at the house over the weekend...should mostly be melted off by the weekend.

 

Couldn't resist going out this morning before work..

 

I want to go play!

 

Wow! Does that amount, or any amount, "shut down" the city? Here in AL, we will get a few inches every few years when it's actually cold enough for it to stick. That basically means go home and don't plan on going anywhere for the next 24-48 hours. One year, the interstate that goes through our city literally turned into a parking lot.. everyone just walked to the exits and left their vehicles there lmao.

 

I think only the roads towards mountains were closed last night. Today morning only few people were out. I went to Walmart - closed, Safeway - closed. Thankfully King Soopers (like Kroger / Giant) was open.

 

yep, a bunch of stores/restaurants, etc closed. Denver International Airport closed for a while too. Some of the highways closed down either from icy roads or whiteout conditions. People were panic shopping before the storm too: milk, bread, TP, water. This storm hit a little later than forecast, and didn't dump as much snow as was forecast earlier in the week, but was still a nice storm.

 

I think I-25 south of Castle Rock was closed too, and maybe I-70 east of Denver. What part of town do you live in, kmeeg?

 

Aurora, 18 miles from DIA.

 

Rgr. I'm basically C-470/Quebec near Park Meadows.

 

Best thing to do when you near a location you want to get to drive to an empty lot drive your truck with a little zing and find out YOUR limits in acceleration/braking because the truck will be more capable then you are in the beginning and always drive like your carrying dynamite
a set of blizzaks will increase the trucks capability
J

 

Those amounts look like a Nor’easter storm here in Allentown, Pa we receive at least once a year if not more.