Unplanned Rock Crawling in West Virginia

[mightypile]

I was on my way to pick up my daughter, who had been hiking the Allegheny Trail, when I found myself most of the way down a wet sloppy mountainside with three large boulders in front of me, each about 2-3 feet tall, intended to prevent vehicle traffic on the trail. I never would have been there if I had known, because I try to do the right thing and I support whatever maintainers are trying to do with the trails. But I had come from the other side of the mountain where the trail/road had no obstructions and was labeled as a road to cabins (I never saw any cabins). I don't think I would have been able to reverse back up the hill because it was fairly wet and slippery, and I would have probably chewed the hell out of the trail before failing anyway. I attempted moving the boulders out of the way, but I couldn't get them to budge at all. I considered dragging them with the truck because I have a recovery kit with straps, and that might have worked, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to put them back. So there was only one real option, to get over the boulders.

This image is from the front DriveCam (Thanks Rivian for this awesome software update!!). It looks like I could go around to the left, but the image is a little deceptive. I started to try that option, but it's steep enough that I'm confident I would have slid my passenger side into the left-most boulder attempting it. The truck is angled downward here, and the reality was steeper than it appears in the picture.

Even with 15" of clearance in rock crawl mode, this wasn't happening without some landscaping, so I texted my daughter to come to me rather than me finding her, and I set about scavenging the mountainside for logs and rocks to soften the approach and departure angles. When I thought the ramps up and down were sufficient, I started the drive over. The R1T climbed the pile just fine, and slowly drove over the top. But while the ramp on each side was sufficient for approach or departure, the combination wasn't long enough for the R1T's breakover angle and wheel base, so I ended up high centered with the truck sitting atop the boulders. The rear tires were still in the mud with little traction, and the front tires were hanging over the front of the boulders. The shape of the left boulder was angled upward as it went outward, so that it blocked me from opening the driver's side door and I had to climb over to exit the passenger side. This picture is from after we had built up additional rocks for the rear wheels to climb, but we hadn't yet moved and the driver's door is still blocked.

I've occasionally wondered if I shouldn't have bought the spare tire, since I didn't think I'd ever need it. I still haven't used it, but I was able to pull the jack out and jack up each front corner enough to raise the truck up off the boulders and cram some more rocks under the front tires. We extended the up-ramps so the rear tires each had a rock to grab onto and climb, and enough rocks to stay out of the mud. And we extended the down-ramps to ease the breakover angle I had missed on the first attempt. We also had to further build up the ramp on the downhill side because the truck kept wanting to slide downhill into a big post. We got close, but never hit it. This is the DriveCam view from the passenger mirror camera.

Finally, I got back in, drove easily over the top, and feelings of dread and frustration turned quickly into feelings of relief and victory.

We took apart most of the ramps, and returned the rocks to the mountainside so they weren't inviting others to venture into the area. All together, it probably took about three hours of work we hadn't planned on, but it all worked out.

We then went on our way to Seneca Rocks for lunch. I had been concerned about damage to the truck when I high-centered it, but it has the underbody protection and seems to have tolerated it without a problem. We drove another 800 miles over the next couple of days, most of it highway speeds, and everything was smooth, quiet, and straight. I've loved the truck since before I got it. I love being in it. It's a very capable truck that did a great job rock crawling, highway driving, and camping. I highly recommend it as an adventure vehicle.

Charging notes: Even in West Virginia, which is a vast EV charging desert, I was able to camp at a site with RV hookups and leave in the morning with 100% SOC. The 50A outlets won't quite get you from 0-100 overnight, but you can get about 8-10% per hour, so starting in the evening rather than really late at night can do the trick. Also, I was able to hit two RAN chargers (Roanoke, VA and Blowing Rock, NC) further down the road. I've never used a RAN charger before and they were flawless and free, although I was lonely there. I didn't see another Rivian the entire trip.

Stay adventurous!

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[Rivianation]

I was on my way to pick up my daughter, who had been hiking the Allegheny Trail, when I found myself most of the way down a wet sloppy mountainside with three large boulders in front of me, each about 2-3 feet tall, intended to prevent vehicle traffic on the trail.

Stay adventurous!

I wasn't there to asses so you know more, but I wonder if having an electric chainsaw would have been helpful here. Not sure if even legal but taking out one of those skinny trees and chopping into 5' sections would have been a better trade off than 3 hours of work and mud spinning. Also, you could have put the logs in the bed for trail clean up, and/or chopped into firewood for another traveler.

Anyway, thanks for sharing. Its great so see these vehicles in their intended habitat.

 

[COdogman]

That is quite an unexpected adventure/ puzzle you found yourself in! I think you probably made the smartest, safest choice in the end.

Moving (with help) just enough of the boulders to get your truck through would have been tempting, but also an easy way for someone to get injured without the proper gear. I think you could have used your recovery kit to move them pretty easily, but who knows. Maybe the straps won’t stay on the boulders or any number of possible entries from Mr Murphy could still pop up. If I was alone I probably would have tried that first because getting high centered without an assistant would also be a problem!

Glad you guys got out and your truck was ok!

 

[1T2022]

brave soul

 

[mightypile]

I wasn't there to asses so you know more, but I wonder if having an electric chainsaw would have been helpful here. Not sure if even legal but taking out one of those skinny trees and chopping into 5' sections would have been a better trade off than 3 hours of work and mud spinning. Also, you could have put the logs in the bed for trail clean up, and/or chopped into firewood for another traveler.

You're 100% right about the chainsaw, and also about the benefit of cleaning up the logs being easier than redistributing moved rocks afterward. I always take a chainsaw on off-roading trips because you never know when you'll encounter a tree across the road. I didn't have one on this trip because not only did I not plan on coming up on boulders, I actually had no plans to even leave the road until I was there (From where I entered, it was obviously shorter than going around on paved roads; it looked more like a road than a trail and had signs of recent use, and it was even on the map as such. Plus, I was in a Rivian R1T, which biased my decision further even though I was unprepared). I had a hatchet for splitting firewood, and I used it to cut some smaller fallen trees into two, but then realized finding a rock was easier than cutting through downed trees with my hatchet. I don't actually know whether cutting live trees was legal there or not, but I like trees regardless and didn't cut anything down. All horizontal logs in the pictures were already horizontal when I got there. A lot of that three hours was standing and thinking and scratching my head trying to weigh options against each other.

 

[mightypile]

Moving (with help) just enough of the boulders to get your truck through would have been tempting, but also an easy way for someone to get injured without the proper gear. I think you could have used your recovery kit to move them pretty easily, but who knows. Maybe the straps won’t stay on the boulders or any number of possible entries from Mr Murphy could still pop up. If I was alone I probably would have tried that first because getting high centered without an assistant would also be a problem!

I hear you, and in hindsight, I'm sure I could have dragged them around. I'm not sure how well I could have placed them out of the way. And on a different day, the randomness in my head might have caused me to try that approach instead. If I had, assuming it all went well, I wouldn't have had rock crawling pictures for this forum, though.

Your point about the assistant is also important. Especially with the truck's nose pointing up in the air, I couldn't see the front tires or where they were pointed at all. Having a spotter made a big difference and saved me from constantly getting in and out of the truck to reassess what the tires would hit next.

 

[COdogman]

I hear you, and in hindsight, I'm sure I could have dragged them around. I'm not sure how well I could have placed them out of the way. And on a different day, the randomness in my head might have caused me to try that approach instead. If I had, assuming it all went well, I wouldn't have had rock crawling pictures for this forum, though.

Your point about the assistant is also important. Especially with the truck's nose pointing up in the air, I couldn't see the front tires or where they were pointed at all. Having a spotter made a big difference and saved me from constantly getting in and out of the truck to reassess what the tires would hit next.

And we appreciate those pics!

 

[R1TruKaLa]

I was on my way to pick up my daughter, who had been hiking the Allegheny Trail, when I found myself most of the way down a wet sloppy mountainside with three large boulders in front of me, each about 2-3 feet tall, intended to prevent vehicle traffic on the trail. I never would have been there if I had known, because I try to do the right thing and I support whatever maintainers are trying to do with the trails. But I had come from the other side of the mountain where the trail/road had no obstructions and was labeled as a road to cabins (I never saw any cabins). I don't think I would have been able to reverse back up the hill because it was fairly wet and slippery, and I would have probably chewed the hell out of the trail before failing anyway. I attempted moving the boulders out of the way, but I couldn't get them to budge at all. I considered dragging them with the truck because I have a recovery kit with straps, and that might have worked, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to put them back. So there was only one real option, to get over the boulders.

This image is from the front DriveCam (Thanks Rivian for this awesome software update!!). It looks like I could go around to the left, but the image is a little deceptive. I started to try that option, but it's steep enough that I'm confident I would have slid my passenger side into the left-most boulder attempting it. The truck is angled downward here, and the reality was steeper than it appears in the picture.

Even with 15" of clearance in rock crawl mode, this wasn't happening without some landscaping, so I texted my daughter to come to me rather than me finding her, and I set about scavenging the mountainside for logs and rocks to soften the approach and departure angles. When I thought the ramps up and down were sufficient, I started the drive over. The R1T climbed the pile just fine, and slowly drove over the top. But while the ramp on each side was sufficient for approach or departure, the combination wasn't long enough for the R1T's breakover angle and wheel base, so I ended up high centered with the truck sitting atop the boulders. The rear tires were still in the mud with little traction, and the front tires were hanging over the front of the boulders. The shape of the left boulder was angled upward as it went outward, so that it blocked me from opening the driver's side door and I had to climb over to exit the passenger side. This picture is from after we had built up additional rocks for the rear wheels to climb, but we hadn't yet moved and the driver's door is still blocked.

I've occasionally wondered if I shouldn't have bought the spare tire, since I didn't think I'd ever need it. I still haven't used it, but I was able to pull the jack out and jack up each front corner enough to raise the truck up off the boulders and cram some more rocks under the front tires. We extended the up-ramps so the rear tires each had a rock to grab onto and climb, and enough rocks to stay out of the mud. And we extended the down-ramps to ease the breakover angle I had missed on the first attempt. We also had to further build up the ramp on the downhill side because the truck kept wanting to slide downhill into a big post. We got close, but never hit it. This is the DriveCam view from the passenger mirror camera.

Finally, I got back in, drove easily over the top, and feelings of dread and frustration turned quickly into feelings of relief and victory.

We took apart most of the ramps, and returned the rocks to the mountainside so they weren't inviting others to venture into the area. All together, it probably took about three hours of work we hadn't planned on, but it all worked out.

We then went on our way to Seneca Rocks for lunch. I had been concerned about damage to the truck when I high-centered it, but it has the underbody protection and seems to have tolerated it without a problem. We drove another 800 miles over the next couple of days, most of it highway speeds, and everything was smooth, quiet, and straight. I've loved the truck since before I got it. I love being in it. It's a very capable truck that did a great job rock crawling, highway driving, and camping. I highly recommend it as an adventure vehicle.

Charging notes: Even in West Virginia, which is a vast EV charging desert, I was able to camp at a site with RV hookups and leave in the morning with 100% SOC. The 50A outlets won't quite get you from 0-100 overnight, but you can get about 8-10% per hour, so starting in the evening rather than really late at night can do the trick. Also, I was able to hit two RAN chargers (Roanoke, VA and Blowing Rock, NC) further down the road. I've never used a RAN charger before and they were flawless and free, although I was lonely there. I didn't see another Rivian the entire trip.

Stay adventurous!

You brave adventurous soul , good to hear everything came out alright .

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