Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Cobras In A Blizzard! (Only In Montana)

VarmintGuy: I'm not familiar with the area. Did you drive by Big Hole Pass? -tnscouter

Tnscouter: Pardon my slow reply I have been busy doing gun shows and had to head up into the high country to re-supply an archery Elk Hunting camp.
Yes "I" did cross over Bighole Pass (elevation exactly 7,400'!) to get to Wisdom.
I am not sure how the Cobra drivers made their way to Wisdom, Montana they may have come from the east like I did or just one of two other approaches to Wisdom.
I went over four mountain passes (in 130 miles) on MY way from Dillon, Montana to Hamilton, Montana (via Wisdom) - the passes names and elevations are (east to west) Badger Pass 6,760', Bighole Pass 7,400', Chief Joseph Pass 7,264' and Lost Trail Pass at 7,014'.
Bighole Pass is about 25 miles south of Wisdom.
I have haunted this area since the late 1960's and I never tire of Hunting, fishing and sightseeing in the Bighole Valley.
I just received (just this hour) an unsolicited text message from an unidentified person who was inquiring if I was the person that posted regarding the "Cobras" in the snowstorm in Wisdom, Montana on the 15th!
How this person got my cell phone number is beyond me (I have posted it several times on this forum in the past though)?
Anyway in his text message to me he relayed how indeed some of the Cobras in that batch of cars were "original" Cobras and he was driving one of them!
Sadly I am not very text savy so I will have to wait for the VarmintWife to get home from work to reply to his kindly text.
In his text he also did not explain how he came to become aware of my documentation of that Cobra sighting and about the few doubting buttfarski's that questioned their existence!
Anyway Bighole Pass is indeed a beautiful stretch of road and I have seen MANY Elk from the pavement there along with countless Antelope and two Bears - beautiful country if you haven't been there with a STUNNING view of the upper Bighole Valley and mountain range that divides Montana from Idaho (Beaverhead Mountains).
By the way buttfurski I Have not yet received a P/M with YOUR apology!
When can I expect same?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Just got off the phone with one of the participants in the recent Cobra Club trip through Wisdom and he will be forwarding pictures from the event (who's destination was Sun Valley, Idaho by the way) to my E-mail account.
Hopefully I will get them posted here soon.
Anyway I was much relieved to hear in talking to him that no damage was incurred by any of the Cobra Club participants cars (or their persons) so I am grateful for that.
I was so excited to hear from this Cobra owner who was along on the run/rally/trip that I forgot to ask him if Cobra cars had heaters or defrosters in them - I kind of doubt that as those accessories are heavy and bulky.
The Cobra owner did relay to me that the trip that day was extending from Butte, Montana to Sun valley thus they did not have to negotiate either Badger Pass or Bighole Pass.
I am just sad that the weather had turned so inclement thus depriving the members of the group the sensational views of the Bighole, the Anaconda/Pintlar Wilderness and the Pintlar Range.
Usually in mid-September the weather thereabouts is warmish and the skies clear.
The Cobra driver/owner stated to me he tried to sign-up/log-in to enter his first hand account of the day but was unable to?
More later.
Come on buttfubarski - man up!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Interested Parties: Wait til you see the pictures that were just sent to me by one of the participants in last Fridays Cobra Club trip!
Amazing!
I will try to find a volunteer to post them for me as i am not savy enough to do so.
The letter from the Cobra event participant (who i will keep confidential) wrote a interesting and much appreciated explanation of the days events.
I will quote it in full copy form here:

"A mix of original 1960s Cobras and 427 Cobras (a co-operative effort by AC Cars, Carroll Shelby, and Ford Motor Company 1962-1967), twenty six (26) cars in all, were on a 1,000+ mile driving tour during the second week of September 2017. (We put 1,166 miles on our car during the tour.) The tour started and stopped in Sun Valley Idaho. Most of the route was rural but we did pass through, stop for fuel, stop for food, or spend the night in several communities including Wisdom.



If a fuel stop had more than one station available the group normally split refueling locations up so stops were not so long. The only place we split up for lunch was during our stop in Ennis, which did not have one venue large enough to deal with 51 people suddenly showing up together.



One fellow was driving alone as his wife was at home recovering from an illness. She probably would not have enjoyed the trip as their RV towing the car trailer broke down in Idaho Falls. The poor fellow drove his early Cobra from Idaho Falls to Sun Valley arriving late the first night. After the tour he took off driving late at night back to Idaho Falls in the Cobra. His “tour” was considerably longer than everybody else’s.



Some women were drivers. My wife drove quite a bit. One man’s daughter (a serious gear head old cars or new) drove his Cobra most of the tour.



Cars on street legal race tires, and several cars were, had a real hard time on the snow and slush covered road over a mountain pass. Cars on relatively narrow aggressive treaded Michelin® and Blockley® radials had no trouble at all. Some of the 427 Cobras were on BFG® tires with aggressive tread patterns and they did okay. There was some slipping and sliding but no crashes or off road adventures. (Off road would have been bad because in most places the terrain dropped off quickly after the pavement stopped.



A few car owners decided not to attempt the snow covered two lane road rural mountain pass and rerouted down the Interstate and caught up with the main group that night at the hotel.



Several of the owners in the tour have been driving original Cobras since the 1960s. They have slightly propped open their hoods during cold wet driving for decades to let warm air escaping the engine bay warm there windshields. It works and no the hoods will not blow open, at least not up to 80 mph they won’t.



Cars/car owners from Alaska, Montana, Maine, Ohio, Missouri, California, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Alberta (Canada), and Michigan were represented. Worm and sector skinny tires on CSX20xx cars through giant frog squasher tires racers and CSX33xx cars participated.



It was a lot of fun despite the weather"

End of quote

Pictures to follow ASAP.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy.

This thread should be a sticky.

Rick?

Add: First try at photos.



"My wife Martha took this picture over the windshield. All the cars did have their hoods propped slightly open so engine heat would melt the snow on the windshields






To: 'rickbin24hourcampfire.com' <rickbin24hourcampfire.com>
Subject: I tried to register and kept getting error messages on any name I tried to use



I wanted to respond to a thread I found.





https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...0/3/cobras-in-a-blizzard-only-in-montana



There were in fact twenty six (26) original 1960s cars, a mix of Cobras and 427 Cobras street and race, stopped in Wisdom. In fact we stopped there twice, once on our way north and once on our way south. Our round trip was over 1,000 miles from Sun Valley Idaho.



We were in our original Cobra on the tour and yes we got caught in snow going over some passes".


Dang my copy and paste attempt captured only the text of the E-mail from the Cobra Club participant to me and not the picture of the Cobras traveling in the snow!
I will try again later.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: Just got another text from the Cobra Club participant who clarified for me that INDEED when new the Cobras had both heaters and defrosters but most got removed for performance (racing) enhancement!

Tag

Has there been an apology yet?

No dog in this fight other than to support VG's weather report. I was camped southwest of Wisdom Thursday night preparing for the moose opener on Friday morning. Got lucky first thing on Friday morning about 5 miles southwest of Wisdom and report over 8" of snow. If I knew how to post a picture, one can see both the moose and the snow.

Toolek: I saw a dandy Bull Moose in Yankee Swamp a few years back - maybe that was a little further west than where you got yours?
Congratulations on the Moose harvest - good for you!
By the way I am getting closer to absolute "proof" of my veracity (for anyone who needs it!) here are some photos from one of the Cobra Club participants on the recent tour:

www.clubcobra.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/88363][img]


Please copy and paste to go to the photos.

Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: If you heard a distant roar about 10;30 A.M. on Friday while you were cleaning your Moose that was the main flight of Cobras hightailing it for lower elevation down Idaho way.

Mac84: Not as yet and I checked my P/M's just now!
I will give the main miscreant ONE more day then I will P/M him telling him exactly what a small man and coward he is - and then post it publicaly 24 hours later her.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

(SF-on) I'm sure that will really help the civility, comradeship and information we all get from here. (SF-off)

I hate to say "it's the internet" and yes some people continue to poke each other but do you really think that will make a difference to you, him or anyone else? Some of the finest people I've ever met face to face, and not met face to face yet, are here. When they post it is obvious that they are interested in teaching, learning, laughing and grimacing over what we read and post here. I have certainly had my low points but strive to behave similarly.

Learned a bit about Cobras on this thread. Also learned some more about some people's character.

I am quite sure all I heard at 10:30 Friday morning was the chattering of my teeth. My archery gear is not well suited to blizzard conditions. I admit to having both ears open as there have been several Grizzly bear sightings in the area. I had visions of making the Wisdom Dispatch....of course my mauling would have been on the second page (the photos of the Cobras would have grabbed the front page).

Toolelk: Indeed ANOTHER Montana archery Hunter was mauled yesterday (September 18th) - or so says the headline of a daily paper for sale here in Dillon read.
I have never purchased a newspaper in my life (a fact of which I am EXTREMELY proud!) so can't give you any more particulars - an archery Elk Hunting friend of mine said this latest Grizzly mauling took place in the Gravelly Mountains (again!).
I don't know - I am seeing more and more Grizzly's and Grizzly tracks in areas I Hunt - I may even start carrying my S&W 629 in the future on my archery Hunts?
I think it is time to start teaching the more and more prevalent Griz to respect/fear/avoid humans.
Again congratulations on the Moose venture - do you know where Yankee Swamp is?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Pugs: I agree with you 100%!
buttfubarski for no reason what so ever became inexplicably "uncivil" and "uncomrade" like for no reason what so ever.
Shameful that.
I have also learned much about the legendary Cobra vehicles and the adventurous get off your butts and go enjoy life people who own them and drove them through the heart of the Rocky Mountains last Friday from this thread and sites I have gone to from here.
Good for that.
And indeed I have hosted at least 20 folks I have met through the internet (most from the Campfire!) and traded lodging, guns and goods with them no end.
Virtually all of them are A-one class folks.
Sadly the buttfubarski's of the world interject themselves now and then and interrupt the "civil" flow of experiences and knowledge hereabouts.
Don't let the buttfubarskis of the world disillusion you - but also don't let them get away with the perversion of this site.
I know "I" won't let him get away with it.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

the feelgood thread of the year.

Best callout thread since the exposure of safarcee man.


mike r

I don't think there were any issues with the original brakes. IIRC, at the time that it was introduced, the Shelby Cobra had the fastest 0 to 100 to 0 time of any production car. Per links below, somewhere in the 11 to 14 second range. For comparison, the Bugatti Veyron with 1000-1200bhp holds the current record at 9.9 seconds. The Cobras did pretty well running 1960's technology and half the horsepower...

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/1965-shelby-cobra-427-road-test

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1071933

http://newatlas.com/go/5805/

0-100-0 while the top Ferrari was still getting to 100

I'm waiting to see you on Nightline.