LESSON LEARNED
February 2013 a fun challenging run turned into an Oops moment when Doug O’s Jeep tire slipped off a ledge and flopped on its side. It was a gentle, slow rollover which was a good thing for his two passengers. Reg was right behind him and was able to winch the Jeep up in no time at all. Unfortunately, Doug had not put the rig in gear and when righted it slid right into Reg’s Jeep slightly injuring the winch which Reg fixed the next day. [Ed]
A tricky spot on Blind Man’s Bluff in March 2011, found our club member Paull in a flop-over situation. It’s one of those moments we hate! Just a bit heavy on the throttle at the wrong spot and all of a sudden you’re on your side. It was a good winching lesson very successfully carried out by club members. Being in a tight narrow canyon, the only option was to get one of the Jeeps on the road above to use his winch line with a long strap attached from way up high on the steep hill on the driver’s side. The rescue rig was backed up by another Jeep acting as an anchor. Everyone was cautious and very professional with the outcome being a huge success. No injuries, except pride of course, and some damage to Paull’s prize-winning Jeep, yup, Paull has a lot of first place ribbons for his beautiful Jeep. Great job everyone. [Ed]
A TRICKY SPOT ON BLIND MAN’S BLUFF
SLEEPING PRINCESS – SHALE HILL RESCUE
In the latter part of 2012 we had two rescues in about the same area of the club’s adopted trail the Sleeping Princess. No photos were taken of the earlier one, but we did get this one. Over the years there’ve been many incidents (of which we are aware) of vehicles (trucks, jeeps, ATVs, etc.) rolling, flopping, or sliding off the road. It is a difficult trail with signs at both entrances warning of possible vehicle damage.This stock truck should never have attempted the trail.
We got a call from the BLM saying they’d been contacted by a fellow whose truck was precariously off the side of the mountain, and could we help? A couple of phone calls possied up Doug O., Bob S., Bill H. and Joan and me (Phil), plus Steve, the survivor/victim. A very large anchoring boulder high on the hill, fifty feet or so of rope and straps securing a snatch block and two Jeeps in tandem from the uphill side were able to winch the rear wheels of the F-150 onto the road. The recalcitrant front wheels and a low front tire, however, seemed to have developed a love affair with the downhill side of the mountain until coerced to their proper place by the third Jeep in front using a chain fall. We had let Steve know that if it looked too dangerous we would not attempt the rescue. It was pretty iffy. It took about 4 hours with Doug and Bob struggling with rope and straps up and down the very steep hillside. Not an easy task although thankfully it was a successful recovery. When not busy with the rescue Bill H. had time to take the photos. No one was hurt, no vehicle damage. Steve’s rig had been stranded for two weeks; had been vandalized; had been pushed further off the narrow road and the gas tank had been drained leaving just enough to get him home. To do such mischief depicts a very low class of individual(s) – shame, shame!