The next morning there was a light frost on the ground. Snow banks were hard as rocks. I walked around the truck drinking my coffee, getting my thoughts together. Susan spotted a young cinnamon-colored bear cub. I wanted to go to work, but we wisely ate some light breakfast and got some water. It was going to be some hard work to get out of this debacle.
Four hours later, we had indeed collected our piles of rocks. Susan was particularly proud of her Oaxaca bag, those ubiquitous plaid mesh bags you see in Mexico. She hauled load after load for me, while I dug a pathway out using my shovel bent ninety degrees. I found out why we weren't able to climb out the night before. The sway bar hangs an inch or two below the rear differential and was embedded in the firm matrix of damp earth and rock. We took turns laying under the truck digging in close quarters.
As MarkBC pointedly pointed out
, I probably wasn't following the guidelines we all discussed after the last guy got stuck. He's right. I thought we were just doing a weekender and no serious off roading was planned. WRONG.
What I didn't have:
- Come-along
- High Lift Jack
- Winch
- A buddy to yank me out
What I did have:
- A good folding shovel, circa WWII
- Two jacks- factory and bottle jack
- A pad to lay on while digging
- A ready supply of useable rocks
- Tire deflator- We went down to 18#, when we finally made it out
- A tow strap, rear shackle, tree anchor (all of which did no good w/o a come-along or buddy)
And most importantly, a willing partner to help get me out of this mess.
Once out, I had to get the mud out of the wheels before I could go highway speeds. A convenient deep puddle on the way out was charged back and forth, and I used a branch to knock out the worst of it. Looking up, I remembered why we were here.
We limped it to Bassets Station to air up, buy some gas and reward ourselves with a double size batch of french fries. Nothing like some salty, greasy food to sooth the tired beast. I washed it down with some Hawkeye Ale and the world was right again.
We stopped to check out the North Fork of the Yuba before heading home.
That's the end of this tale. I feel bad about the damage we caused tearing up the soil, and we're planning to return and do some erosion control. I shoveled in the worst of the trenches before we left, but didn't have the energy to finish the job.
There is another story to be told; one of dramatic skies, overland kayaking, amazing birds, skunks, and more. I guess I will have to write that up soon.