Don't go out alone - and bring your recovery gear.

Blaise

Well-known member
Went out for an easy trail run this weekend near Liberty, WA. Lucky for me, I was with two other rigs, and I was in the middle.

Unlucky for me - we went over a nice little 'whoop' which happened to have a large puddle behind it. A very large, very deep puddle. In November. At 5200 feet.

As you can see, the ice was 4-5 inches thick, and it cracked under the first truck, then broke when I crossed. I had no idea how stuck I was.

IMG_2163.jpgIMG_2162.jpgIMG_5033.JPEG

Took nearly an hour of two rigs with winches, 4 guys, shovels, 3 sets of maxtraxx/TredPros... and me slipping into the 'puddle' all the way to my knees before I was out.

Moral of the story? Any trail can become impassable without notice. Bring your recovery gear, ALL of it - and never go alone.
 

REDROVER

Explorer
Dang
Glad you are ok man,
Last year I spent a night in my Tacoma and walked 18 miles to get help, I have been on that trail over 10 times before.
Road conditions always change.
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
Yeah, it happens...

I’m up along the Oregon coast today, watching some poor, clueless guy (probably from Portland) trying to get his buried axle deep little Subaru out of the loose, wet beach sand before the tide comes in any further. Must of seemed like a good, fun idea initially to take the whole family out for a quick spin along the surf line (hey kids, watch this!). Now, I’m betting he really wishes there was some place in town where he could rent some Max Trax in a hurry.

As they say down in Alabama, “Roll Tide, Roll!”
 

Blaise

Well-known member
Yeah, it happens...

I’m up along the Oregon coast today, watching some poor, clueless guy (probably from Portland) trying to get his buried axle deep little Subaru out of the loose, wet beach sand before the tide comes in any further. Must of seemed like a good, fun idea initially to take the whole family out for a quick spin along the surf line (hey kids, watch this!). Now, I’m betting he really wishes there was some place in town where he could rent some Max Trax in a hurry.

As they say down in Alabama, “Roll Tide, Roll!”

Didn't give him a pull? :(
 

DieselRanger

Well-known member
Luckily we got it out and kept going. Once it was out we had one of the armored trucks go through the puddle at speed and broke up all the ice.
Glad you saved your truck and the trip.

Same thing almost happened to me - got one wheel stuck in a deep ice hole with the other three on the ice, on a solo "three hour tour" with my 8-year old son not 5 miles from civilization...but well out of cell phone range, and there was NOBODY out that day. Luckily it took only about 10 minutes of ice-breaking with a Pulaski and some finesse with the long pedal to get out. Once I got unstuck, about 10 more minutes of ice-breaking allowed me to get back through on the return trip without drama.
 

roving1

Well-known member
I go out alone almost all the time.

Rule #1 be prepared. Carry what you need. I have a 15.5K winch, straps, d-rings, shovel, tire plugs and patches, air compressor, tools, and maxtrax.

So do I. It would be nice to go with a few friends. But most of the time I can't or I am far from home/out of the country. Deciding to go alone has allowed me to take more trips in the last 3 years than I have managed in the previous 20 easily.

I am frankly tired of being told I will surely die when I have more gear and food and water and ways to keep warm than entire families did on the Oregon trail circa 1800's :rolleyes::ROFLMAO:
Better risk assessment and appropriate gear are the take home lessons here. Proclamations about never going anywhere alone are silly and besides the point.
 

gatorgrizz27

Well-known member
I usually go out with just my vehicle, but a friend riding shotgun. Not a major help if you get stuck, but a big help if you get injured. I always carry a shovel and go-treads, as well as having the ability to air down and back up again. I also carry a strap and shackles in case someone passes by, and trauma and small survival kits.

I am much more cautious when in only one vehicle, I get out and walk a lot, and am not hesitant to turn around if something looks tricky. It’s a good way to explore and have a list of fun/challenging places to go when a buddy in their vehicle is able to come out also.

In any case, a PLB is a great investment if you spend much time out of cell phone range. Not to be used for the “Hey, I’m stuck in perfectly fine weather, but it’s been an hour and I’m bored” situations.


A winch is on the short list of next items to purchase though.
 

DieselRanger

Well-known member
In any case, a PLB is a great investment if you spend much time out of cell phone range. Not to be used for the “Hey, I’m stuck in perfectly fine weather, but it’s been an hour and I’m bored” situations.

I have a Garmin InReach SE. Was $399 and the service costs $12/month. Can't send pictures but you can text or email anyone from any location on the planet, Pole to pole, including through triple-canopy jungle. Can definitely be used for "Hey, I'm stuck in perfectly fine weather, but it's been an hour and I'm bored" situations. And it sends your location with your text /email. Pairs with your smartphone, has a mapping app, weather app, and if you're a narcissist and so inclined you can post updates of your journey to social media as often as once every ten seconds.

It also has an SOS feature - Garmin staffs a 24/7 watch center in Texas and coordinates with SAR and/or Law Enforcement in your area. I have used it to evacuate someone suffering from rapid-onset HAPE who was hours from death and could not walk, so as far as I'm concerned it's paid for a thousand times over. No...a million.

Some friends and I each bought one after a backcountry ski trip nearly turned tragic - we ended up in a drainage that looked beautiful but had thin coverage over willow brush and we were breaking through up to our chests, then we got into a gully with running water under snow bridges...we ended up literally skiing out through dense forest with headlamps. When we finally got back to cell phone range we were 4 hours late with weather moving in rapidly, and the wife of one of our party was literally on the phone with SAR as they were spinning up the helo to come look for us. That would have endangered them more than us, so it would have been nice to be able to text our families and say, "Hey, just checking in, we were dumb so we're running late, but everything is fine."

Sorry for the diversion but thought it was relevant to those who prefer to travel solo or in a single vehicle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T337A using Tapatalk
 

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