Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

When given directions, FOLLOW them

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • When given directions, FOLLOW them

    The triple A disaster thread reminded me of a mud bogging trip near Minong a dozen years back or so. Particular location we were planning on camping at is totally unimproved, basically an open clearing at the end of one of the big mud fields. There's a network of offroad and 4x4 trails that all intersect this big field and clearing. No real roads, the clearing is at least a mile of muddy path from the nearest gravel fire road.

    Most people don't bother bringing a camper, or if they do, it's a junker that can get beat up. My muddin camper back then was a pop up we had "boat sealed" after the floor fell out. AKA, we used epoxy and scrap fiberglass to turn the bottom of the pop up into a waterproof tub. We discovered how well it held water when the canvas failed during a storm. Everyone in the camper wound up moving to the cook tent for the night, we found a good 6-8" of water standing in the bottom in the morning.


    My best friends brother in law, now here's where the story really begins. Couple days before the trip, we're at the bar for a planning meeting, talking about who's bringing what. BF gets serious, "guys, I've gotta warn you in advance as well as apologize. I'm being coerced into bringing my BIL along." His BIL isn't a bad guy, but he's kind of seen as a rich yuppie. Doesn't fit with our crowd the greatest, but we can make do. If you remember the rich kid up the street from childhood who always had the bestest toys and delighted in showing them off, turn him middle aged and you've got BIL. He got booted from our racing circuit 5 years ago because he wouldn't obey the rules regarding $$. The circuit(since closed) was designed around affordability, we had size and expense limits. We discovered that he had had an engine built specifically for his car at the upper limits of performance when the engine builder came to the track on a show day. Nothing like having a car in an 8 car heat with an engine that cost more than the other 7 competitors entire vehicles put together.


    Cue the day of the trip, plan is to meet up at our local WM @ 7am and start the convoy from there. BIL is running late, via the phone tells us to get going, he'll catch up on the road or meet us there, he's got the maps we gave him(with the easiest route in highlighted).

    Five hours later we stopped at Links for the obligatory Jerky ends and any last minute groceries. AKA, beer, booze, n ice. Checked in, and BIL was running a good 3 hours behind. We'd have chilled for a half hour, probably even an hour, but the mud was calling us. It took about an hour to get to the clearing from Links, though the distance is something less than 15 miles as the crow flies. We got to the clearing and it's like someone poked an anthill, we're all scrambling around to drop campers and gear, get the cook tent and screen houses up, pull the ATV's off their trailer, we even swap out tires on two trucks(mud lugs are NOISY on pavement).

    A good couple hours pass, we're all having a blast. Had to break out the winch a couple times, but nothing out of the ordinary. At this point, dusk is setting in, as is hunger, so everyone starts congregating back at camp. Clothes changed, mud washed off, cell phones finally start to get checked.

    There's a few messages from BIL, starting with the "hey, i'm at links", "I'm at the trailhead", "I'm lost", "I got directions from a guy on an ATV" and ending with "my camper's stuck and my phones almost dead. I'm gonna unhook and drive in"

    While we were in the process of debating what to do, we hear yelling from down in the mud field. One of the searchlights gets pulled out and we see BIL, covered head to toe in mud and missing one shoe. One of the guys with an ATV runs out and picks him up, brings him in and we get the story.

    Somehow he managed to miss the turn to the easy route, despite GPS coordinates and a marked map, and continued on the fire road, which swung a gradual loop, eventually leading him to a clearing at the end of the fire road. If the mud field were an exclamation point, the campsite would be at the top and the clearing at the end of the fire road the dot at the bottom. It's not uncommon for people to park their truck, trailer, and/or camper in the clearing. That's what the ATV rider he got directions from assumed he was planning on doing(he came by when we were laboring)

    If only BIL were that smart, lol. Should have left the truck and trailer and came to the campsite via his ATV, we would have retrieved his stuff and brought him back down to the right trail. He brought the full rig down the ATV trail. Ram 2500 towing a 30 ft 5th wheel toy hauler. He managed to get the 5th wheel wedged between two trees on opposite sides of the trail while going around a corner. One tree wedged in front of the tires, giving it a pivot point, upon which it rotated until the tail hit another tree. Tried to power it out, to no avail. All he managed to do was pack mud under the front of the camper. At this point, he dropped the 5th wheel and took off in his truck to come get help. Should have calmed down first, he wound up turning the truck sideways on the trail, dropping the tail into the swampy shoulder. It high-centered on the edge of the trail, leaving the front wheels in the air.

    By the time he finished explaining, it was full on dark. No way we were going to get anything done at that point.

    We started down the trail to survey his situation at about 8 in the morning. Get there and everyone's just shaking their heads. It takes effort to screw up that badly. BIL retrieved his now charged phone from the camper and went about trying to get a tow truck. Between the crappy reception and the horrible location, he didn't exactly have much luck. Usual response was along the lines of "dang, you're screwed" The response from triple A made me laugh. "Our coverage only applies if you were driving on actual roads" Had one company suggest we go rent/borrow a tractor. BIL even tried calling logging companies, see if one of em had a skidder around. Nope, no luck.


    Yay, we get to rig it out ourselves?!
    Getting the truck and camper loose was so much fun. All told, it took about 6 hours. First off, we had to free his truck. Fairly straightforward, snatch block on a tree so we could pull the truck back onto the trail and level. Once it was sort of on the trail and mostly flat we set up and spun it in place by chaining the rear to a tree and hooking to the front with the winch. Only needed to get about 30 degrees of spin, enough so we could jockey the truck back and forth. Once the truck was free we had to back it all the way to the 5th wheel, as there wasn't space to turn a full size pickup anywhere. Getting the 5th wheel free was more time consuming than difficult. We had to take down three trees and dig out all the mud he'd packed under the camper. We had to use the trees under the trailer jacks to get enough lift to get the truck under the hitch. Once he was connected back up again we slowly went down the trail. Wound up correcting his drift via winch a couple times, rather than trying to have him jockey back and forth. When we got him to the mud field we knew he'd get stuck without help, so out came the tow straps. The two trucks with mud tires drug him to the campsite without any problems.

  • #2
    What are the chances he will ask you to foot the bill for repairs after you 'damaged' his gear freeing it?
    "If anyone wants this old box containing the broken bits of my former faith in humanity, I'll take your best offer now. You may be able to salvage a few of em' for parts..... " - Quote by Argabarga

    Comment


    • #3
      Minong? holy crap yer just down the road from me! haha small world!

      Comment


      • #4
        And both of you are not too far from Sasquatch.
        Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

        "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

        Comment

        Working...
        X