norseman Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 Well I pulled a dumb one. Took an afternoon drive, threw in my ruck, recon bag and rifle. Went out the south fork of Sherman road. You guys have seen tons of pics of that place. I tried turning around at MM 3. Wide spot. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I left the hard pack two track. I got several runs at the hard pack portion of the road before she high centered. And the more I dug and tried to rock it? The deeper I got. The Gerber LMF and Woodsmans pal got a work out. Shovel? No. Winch? No. Tire chains? Nope! What an idiot. From about 1:30 to 4:30 I fought it before giving up and stripping down to dry clothes on the dash and melt snow in a pop bottle. All I had in the camper where saltines. After a long and mostly sleepless night I put half dry clothes on this morn. Grabbed my recon bag with my pistol and started hiking out. Luckily I got two small messages out to my wife. South Fk Sherman rd Stuck Of course my inbound messages where flying in even though I only got two messages out. Service was basically non existent. Lots of merry xmas. Lots of texts of my wife freaking out. Uh oh. Concerned friends.... now I feel like a jerk right? My wife had called every one in the county looking for me. She picked me up where the road meets hwy 20. My daughter gave me a big hug. My wife was mad but teary eyed..... Im glad she picked me up. A miracle those 2 measages got out. Otherwise with Covid and Xmas day? I would have walked back to town! It was 13 degrees at the pickup when I left this morn. I tried dozens of times to contact Onstar. Nothing. I had Inreach in the oilfield but my canceled it when I got out. Definitely need something in the future. I was damn lucky to get a message out. So I went back to the ranch. Threw my tractor on my flatbed and went out and recovered myself. 100 HP tractor would not bust that Chevy loose! I had to have her on the throttle as well. Crazy! Anyhow Im good. Was never worried, other than what I was putting loved ones through. Albeit walking all the way back to town would have sucked badly. I need to get more set up for my overlanding adventures. Winch Shovel Axe kit Maxtrax Comms of some sort that dont involve cell towers tire chains (I have them on tractor, roxor, etc, but I dont think in this case they would have worked) On my 3 mile hike out I kept hearing branches breaking. And every once in a while thought I heard some hooting. But then at one stop I heard Ravens. Dunno. Im glad I had my pistol. I check my backtrail alot and kept expecting a Cougar standing there. Only sign I saw was Deer, but lots of Moose in there too. Merry Xmas! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 Once your hung up it’s over lol. No wonder even the tractor needed a little extra help to get you out. Was probably frozen to the ground and your dragging the belly till your out. Glad it all worked out and you have both a lesson and new tale to tell and pass on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 I have to keep reminding myself, the better I make my rig, the further off road I'll be stuck! The last time I did something similar, my daughter and I were 43km off pavement, no cell service since km 9, and walked 10km to find a guy with a Garmin inreach to call out for help. I now have a Garmin myself, and upgraded from a softroader Mitsubishi Outlander to a Hummer H3. Now I'll ne able to screw up waaaay out there. :-( Glad you're back safe at home for Christmas, norse. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatFoot Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Ugh! Glad you are OK. Funny you had BF on your mind even after all of that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Norse, you're a straight shooter, truth-teller, and a born teacher. You were honest enough about your predicament to allow us to learn from your experience how to keep ourselves out of trouble. And being that it's Christmas and all, your story is the best gift to this community that you could have given. Thank you. VERY happy that you made it home safe and sound. I'll bet falling into a real bed felt pretty good, eh? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 4 hours ago, norseman said: But then at one stop I heard Ravens. The Ravens were placing dibs on your eyeballs. Good that you are safe and able to have a food coma. Some vehicles are not 'winch friendly'. I carry MAASDAM pulling products. MAASDAM Pow'r-Pull 1 ton strap puller and 3/4 ton rope puller. Strap length doesn't matter because extra rigging is needed to attach to an anchor point ( big tree ) and the vehicle. The strap puller has to be operated with the drum horizontal or the strap will 'walk' off to the side. I learned that the easy way. The rope puller can handle an unlimited length of 1/2 dia. rope. I have a 5 gallon bucket filled with 1/2 rope. The anchor point is usually a long distance away from a vehicle. Trees bend and yes, it is possible to pull over a small tree. MAASDAM pullers are utility items and not restricted to vehicle extraction. I have been considering buying CB radios. There may be a good chance that vehicles, with 4WD and high ground clearance and CB radios are in your areas. Then there are the HAM radio operators. Norseman, do your trucks have CB radios? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigantor Posted December 26, 2020 Admin Share Posted December 26, 2020 4 hours ago, norseman said: Anyhow Im good. Was never worried, other than what I was putting loved ones through. Albeit walking all the way back to town would have sucked badly. I'm glad you're ok Norse. Merry Christmas! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 26 minutes ago, Catmandoo said: The Ravens were placing dibs on your eyeballs. Good that you are safe and able to have a food coma. Some vehicles are not 'winch friendly'. I carry MAASDAM pulling products. MAASDAM Pow'r-Pull 1 ton strap puller and 3/4 ton rope puller. Strap length doesn't matter because extra rigging is needed to attach to an anchor point ( big tree ) and the vehicle. The strap puller has to be operated with the drum horizontal or the strap will 'walk' off to the side. I learned that the easy way. The rope puller can handle an unlimited length of 1/2 dia. rope. I have a 5 gallon bucket filled with 1/2 rope. The anchor point is usually a long distance away from a vehicle. Trees bend and yes, it is possible to pull over a small tree. MAASDAM pullers are utility items and not restricted to vehicle extraction. I have been considering buying CB radios. There may be a good chance that vehicles, with 4WD and high ground clearance and CB radios are in your areas. Then there are the HAM radio operators. Norseman, do your trucks have CB radios? They do but no one talks on them anymore. Other than construction. Mine are 29 LTD Cobra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWind Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Wow, scary! Glad you made it back in one piece, Norse. Lots of lessons in this one, and I'm not going to preach. It was courageous of you to post. I think you posted it before, but I will post it again for anyone reading this... Stay safe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted December 26, 2020 BFF Patron Share Posted December 26, 2020 Thanks for fessing up and providing the details that could keep forum members out of that kind of trouble. While experience is a valuable teacher most of us would prefer to learn such lessions from someone else. I often think cell phones cause more harm than good when we get to relay on them too much. Glad you got out safe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 https://youtu.be/NKnH0zkCl2I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiiawiwb Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 We all err. It's how we handle it that matters. Just glad that you're safe and sound. Back in July, I committed a rookie error while out backpacking and had to have a friend bail me out. With decades of experience I knew better but decided to roll the dice. It came up snake eyes. Sometimes, it happens--but hopefully not too often. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 A winch and a land anchor is good to have in the summer. Could be a bit tougher in the winter however. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiflier Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 (edited) Norseman, I saw in another thread that your great-great-grandfather had the first car in Index, WA? So would you ever consider that the real cause of your "trainwreck" might be genetic? Here is a first Flanders automobile around Index (seriously? TWICE?) Could there be something to what folks say about the apple not falling too far from the family tree?: Edited December 26, 2020 by hiflier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted December 26, 2020 Author Share Posted December 26, 2020 Im probably related to them for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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