Incident at Battle Creek!

[MarkBC]

This happened this afternoon. I was trying to get to Pinto Hot Springs at the northwest edge of the east arm of the Black Rock Desert.
Pinto Hot Springs (via Google Maps)
I've been there before, so I knew that the tiny-but-deep-silty-muddy Battle Creek might make it difficult. One time we built a bridge with a couple of huge planks and another time it was dry enough.
This time it was cold, and it looked like it was frozen solid. It wasn't.

I tried for an hour to get unstuck -- wallowing in the mixture of mud, ice, and freezing-cold water with my jack, shovel, lumber, and crowbar (for breaking up the ice-frozen ground) -- but wasn't making much progress. Note the thick slabs of ice that my truck broke through. The driver-rear tire looks like it would just drive out, but it was spinning on ice.
I gave up and decided to walk back to the nearest ranch -- Battle Creek Ranch. It was within sight, but still was a 6-mile walk by road. The ranch was busy with shipping out hay, and the rancher/owner was a little peaved that yet another stupid tourist got himself stuck and is asking for help. Apparently, this isn't a rare occurence. But he mellowed and agreed to help me. He even went in the house and came out with a big bottle of water "if you're thirsty from your walk". I was thirsty and grateful and we drove in his pickup to the scene of carnage.

It was an easy extraction. After thanking him several times, I told him "Don't worry -- you won't see me again", and he said, "I don't mind seeing you, just don't get stuck again."
It's a deal!

Some people have a winch or modified power train, etc to get out of or avoid getting stuck...but this is the first time that I've gotten stuck in 115,000 miles of exploring with this truck, so I'm not going to over-react and buy expensive add-ons based on one incident.
If I had stopped and scouted the ford I would have seen a better spot 5 feet to the side...but noooooo -- I had to be an IDIOT! It feels good to admit I make mistakes!

BTW: I'm still out-and-about here in NW NV will head north to the Alvord country tomorrow, and I'll post a trip report when I'm done.

More about my Incident later in this thread.

 

[leadsled9]

Don't be so hard on yourself.....we've all been stuck before......and probably will be again.

 

[craig333]

First time stuck? What a noob One thing I can safely say, it won't be the last time.

 

[MarkBC]

First time stuck? What a noob One thing I can safely say, it won't be the last time.

Yeah...I'm just careful.

Counting all 3 trucks I've owned I've probably driven 250 - 300,000 miles of mostly "out-there" driving without getting stuck. I don't deliberately seek out mud or sand -- not for sport, I mean -- so that eliminates one source of stucked-ness. And most of the time I'm by myself, so I take that into consideration when approaching something risky (when driving, I mean -- I've done lots of risky stuff solo on foot/skis...so far, so good (knock-on-wood!)).
The thing that bugs me, I knew in advance that this was a mean spot...but I was feeling cocky for some reason

. Live and learn, they say.

 

[ski3pin]

<snip> but I was feeling cocky for some reason <snip>


full moon?

Great story Mark including the rancher, thanks for sharing. Just another day "out there", just a little more fun than usual!

 

[Lighthawk]

Dude!

Actually reminds me of doing same at Stampede Res. when the water was drawn down low, revealing the deep silty shoreline. After hours of mucking, I finally hiked out with my (then) five year old son. Some deer hunters reluctantly gave us a ride into town, bouncing us around on the metal floor of their truck bed. The fishing tackle box exploded and my son checked out by falling asleep (excellent coping mechanism). I cradled my son's head while gathering loose fishing gear, while bouncing on my fanny as he drove full tilt. Oh yeah! Good times! Funny thing though, he still remembers this and loves to tell the story, twenty years later.

Glad you made it out ok, Mark. Remember, if you don't get stuck, you're not trying hard enough

 

[Darryla]

We have all done it. Even though we got lucky and it only took about 15 minutes to get out, it wasn't looking good at first.

Darryl

 

[Alex]

Good story, glad help is not too far away.

 

[CraggyMan]

Glad you found help, I'm sure it was a nice walk... One of us should post the plank bridges pix from our mid-90's trip to said hot springs.

 

[highz]

Stuck happens. Happy you were able to get out okay. Even if you had a winch would you have been able to use it without another truck to hook to? Looks like only dirt and brush near the truck.

 

[Hittheroad]

Stuck happens. Happy you were able to get out okay. Even if you had a winch would you have been able to use it without another truck to hook to? Looks like only dirt and brush near the truck.


I always bring a come along but as you say no anchor points in sight. Any ideas? One could dig a hole and bury something. Has anyone used those auger like tree tie down stakes? I fully expect to be in this situation before I re-retire so I want to think my way out of it before I get into it. The nearest ranch may not be only 6 miles away.

 

[SunMan]

Don't be so hard on yourself.....we've all been stuck before......and probably will be again.



x2

I'm thinking a hi-lift might have gotten you out using that wood (or your carpet), not terribly expensive.

 

[pods8]

Gonna send the Rancher any sort of Thank You?

Even if you had a winch would you have been able to use it without another truck to hook to? Looks like only dirt and brush near the truck.


Bury a "dead man" anchor, same as in the snow.

 

[Barko1]

Glad it worked out, better send that rancher an xmas present, Victoria's Secrets?? Could you have gotten through there with more speed?

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

We have all been in some sort of "stuck"situation.My scary story is.In 1967 I was in the navy in Bremerton Wa.I had just picked up my brand new ordered '67 mustang fast back loaded.At the time I was living in Belfair Wa. on the Hood Canal.Well one day during the winter low tides I thought it would be nice to take a picture of the "new" car on the beach at sunset.Now the tides at the very end of the Hood Canal go way out ,8' tides the norm.So i drove the car onto the "pebbly" part of the beach,well below the high tide mark.So after the photo shoot and as darkness was falling it was time to drive the car off the beach,oh I forgot to mention the tide was now coming in,still far enough from the car as not to worry.Well I moved a few feet and the pebbles gave way in the sand and I was stuck.

After trying a few things it became apparent that my new car wasn't going to make it off the beach without a tow help and I couldn't leave it as it would be under about 4' of water in a few hours.

I called a local tow company and they sent out a regular truck.No problem except he decided to drive onto the beach I tried to explain that the beach might not hold the weight of his truck.But he knew all about these things,he was the pro.Well he also got stuck.It was hard not to laugh after all my car was still below the high tide mark.The driver called his company and asked for assistance.Luckily they had a "truck" wrecker handy that they could send in an hour or so.No problem high tide wasn't any time soon but coming.As the water was licking at the wheels of my car the new tow truck shows up and with a smarter driver.He stayed parked in the apartment parking lot and ran out about 100' of cable hooked it to the first truck which was in turn hooked to my car and pulled us both out.

I thought I would get a huge bill but instead the first truck driver was balled out for getting stuck and I was only charged a normal tow charge.

All's well that ends well.The tide did in fact come in that night and a very high one to boot.The water was up into the parking lot about 4" deep.I don't have any pictures but it was quite a sight.

See we all do crazy stuff.This is after using a rental car in Hawaii to try and drive around the north shore of Ohau back in the days when the road ends in mud and swamp like areas.But that's another story.

When out and about these days and a situation comes up that looks bad I think back to the "stupid" days of youth and say may be there is another route.

Frank

 

[highz]

Bury a "dead man" anchor, same as in the snow.


There don't appear to be any logs or the like to bury in the photos. Are you suggesting carrying a built ground anchor? I'd be interested in hearing about relatively lightweight designs for ground anchors.

 

[pods8]

There don't appear to be any logs or the like to bury in the photos. Are you suggesting carrying a built ground anchor? I'd be interested in hearing about relatively lightweight designs for ground anchors.


I see boards sitting in the photos.

Off the top of my head: Carry a piece of steel box tube/pipe probably 4'+ and a shovel (a pick would be better) if you want to be prepared. Should work fine for most relatively solid soils, just gotta go down deep enough. Otherwise you'd need to do something with a bigger anchor type footprint for soft soil or sand.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Are you suggesting carrying a built ground anchor? I'd be interested in hearing about relatively lightweight designs for ground anchors.


PullPal

If you want to be very ''expo'' about it you buy a fancy bag to carry it in.

 

[Desert Rancher]

A hi-lift jack works wonders.
Been stuck on the beach so deep (Punta Final, Baja) that I had to set my hi-lift on the center of my spare wheel to keep the jack from sinking...By the time I was able to pull out, the ocean water tide come in and had reached the inside door of my camper!

 

[highz]

PullPal

If you want to be very ''expo'' about it you buy a fancy bag to carry it in.


Thanks for the info! I don't think I would spring for one of those, but it's giving me some vaguely formed ideas about using my Max Ax pick and pulaski heads as the basis for a ground anchor.