well, think rene (tRustyk5) can relate to a portion of this story... 
well, my buddy asked me to take him out into the forest today and he'd buy the fuel. so i took a couple of buddies out to Goat Mountain today near oregon city, oregon. i was anticipating it not being a very successful day, as i don't have a locker yet, and i knew the rocks were going to be wet.
i forgot that it snows on mountains.
well, we were up in the rocks, and making SLOW progress, but having a good time. i got fed up with that trail tho and decided to take my buddies out to see the view... not from today, didn't bring the camera, but this is where i took them:
well, we went alone today, which is something i vowed never to do, but i was going to just stay on really simple stuff. we continue down the trail a ways, it's super easy riding and there's a significant amount of snow on the ground but it's not slippery and there's tread marks from other wheelers...
then all the tracks stopped. i was uncomfortable backing out of this tight trail, so i decided i'd try to press on as i'd been doing real well in the snow. everything went real well like this for a while, but then i got on a slope and slid down and ultimately got stuck against a tree.
a guy with a jeep came down... he was an idiot, didn't know what he was doing, but he had a winch, so i was nice. well, he got me out. then he couldn't get back out of the trail and was freaking out because my truck was getting close to his... heaven forbid that a so-called off-road truck would get a scratch! anway, after some interaction with him i got frustrated and figured i'd give my idea to keep pressing on another shot. that was dumb.
got stuck real bad. hiked a mile or so thru the snow to get cell service. no boots - just my shoes filling w/ snow. then i realized my phone wouldn't call out because it got wet. my buddies phone worked, but didn't have service or battery!
my wife called and i was able to answer and i told her what was up and that she needed to contact some people for me. then i sent my buddy back to the truck to our other friend who stayed there because he started to panic a bit.
i decided to walk a bit to keep the circulation in my feet, and sure enough the vultures started circling me. that made me laugh. anyway, after waiting a while, a guy w/ a suzuki came by and they said they'd help me out.
so we attatched the winch and pulled me ( we had to attatch him to a tree to anchor him). but i just kept sliding down hill. then he decides he'll try pulling the front of my truck back up the hill... no success. tried puling from behind again, this time i ended up with my drivers door really smashed up against a tree, and before i could have him stop winching, my mirror was shoved thru my window and it shattered.
needless to say i have a crazy dented up door now (anyone out there need to get rid of a driver's door??). i'll get pics tomorrow - it's REALLY hammered. this is why i mentioned tRustyk5. 
anyway, we decided we had to cut down the tree if i was going to get out of there. so, we sawed it down, so i have a date this spring when the snow melts to go plant a douglas fir. well, then i had a helluva time getting up outta there. kept getting hung up on the axle w/ the stump, by this time it's dark and i had to get under my truck and cut that stump down further. we had to dig all the snow away from the truck so i would have enough traction. FINALLY got myself out, no winch. got to the top of the hill, but they didn't feel comfortable having me back up and go out the way we came in for fear of me going back into the same spot i was in - so i was going to have to blaze my own trail thru the snow for quite a long distance w/ snow up to my bumper.
the father of the guy who had the truck has athsma, so it came to a point where they were going to have to get him off the mountain, so i sent one of my buddies with them and made up the excuse that he was super cold so i could make sure they'd come back for me. when they left i started to panic a bit... it was wierd being stuck in the snow alone with my friend. we were in the position where you are able to move forward about 4 feet, then back up, dig the snow out, and do it again.
i had to take a break and warm my feet. my buddy and i prayed a bit, and then i figured i'd give it another go. it was amazing - i went about 400ft thru snow up to my bumper with NO issue at all! it freaked me out and i got stuck again. started digging and got nothing. finally i said, "god, i need a miracle - i'm tired, cold and need to get home." not more than 2 minutes later a group of 4 trucks showed up, 3 guys pushed on the back of my truck and i was off again and made it another 400 feet out of the trail and onto the road with no issue. it was insane!
we took them out for dinner afterward because they spent a good 4 hours or more helping us out.
pics tomorrow of my smashed up door - nothing else was damaged.
congrats... you made it thru my book!
well, my buddy asked me to take him out into the forest today and he'd buy the fuel. so i took a couple of buddies out to Goat Mountain today near oregon city, oregon. i was anticipating it not being a very successful day, as i don't have a locker yet, and i knew the rocks were going to be wet.
i forgot that it snows on mountains.
well, we were up in the rocks, and making SLOW progress, but having a good time. i got fed up with that trail tho and decided to take my buddies out to see the view... not from today, didn't bring the camera, but this is where i took them:
well, we went alone today, which is something i vowed never to do, but i was going to just stay on really simple stuff. we continue down the trail a ways, it's super easy riding and there's a significant amount of snow on the ground but it's not slippery and there's tread marks from other wheelers...
then all the tracks stopped. i was uncomfortable backing out of this tight trail, so i decided i'd try to press on as i'd been doing real well in the snow. everything went real well like this for a while, but then i got on a slope and slid down and ultimately got stuck against a tree.
a guy with a jeep came down... he was an idiot, didn't know what he was doing, but he had a winch, so i was nice. well, he got me out. then he couldn't get back out of the trail and was freaking out because my truck was getting close to his... heaven forbid that a so-called off-road truck would get a scratch! anway, after some interaction with him i got frustrated and figured i'd give my idea to keep pressing on another shot. that was dumb.
got stuck real bad. hiked a mile or so thru the snow to get cell service. no boots - just my shoes filling w/ snow. then i realized my phone wouldn't call out because it got wet. my buddies phone worked, but didn't have service or battery!
my wife called and i was able to answer and i told her what was up and that she needed to contact some people for me. then i sent my buddy back to the truck to our other friend who stayed there because he started to panic a bit.
i decided to walk a bit to keep the circulation in my feet, and sure enough the vultures started circling me. that made me laugh. anyway, after waiting a while, a guy w/ a suzuki came by and they said they'd help me out.
so we attatched the winch and pulled me ( we had to attatch him to a tree to anchor him). but i just kept sliding down hill. then he decides he'll try pulling the front of my truck back up the hill... no success. tried puling from behind again, this time i ended up with my drivers door really smashed up against a tree, and before i could have him stop winching, my mirror was shoved thru my window and it shattered.
needless to say i have a crazy dented up door now (anyone out there need to get rid of a driver's door??). i'll get pics tomorrow - it's REALLY hammered. this is why i mentioned tRustyk5. anyway, we decided we had to cut down the tree if i was going to get out of there. so, we sawed it down, so i have a date this spring when the snow melts to go plant a douglas fir. well, then i had a helluva time getting up outta there. kept getting hung up on the axle w/ the stump, by this time it's dark and i had to get under my truck and cut that stump down further. we had to dig all the snow away from the truck so i would have enough traction. FINALLY got myself out, no winch. got to the top of the hill, but they didn't feel comfortable having me back up and go out the way we came in for fear of me going back into the same spot i was in - so i was going to have to blaze my own trail thru the snow for quite a long distance w/ snow up to my bumper.
the father of the guy who had the truck has athsma, so it came to a point where they were going to have to get him off the mountain, so i sent one of my buddies with them and made up the excuse that he was super cold so i could make sure they'd come back for me. when they left i started to panic a bit... it was wierd being stuck in the snow alone with my friend. we were in the position where you are able to move forward about 4 feet, then back up, dig the snow out, and do it again.
i had to take a break and warm my feet. my buddy and i prayed a bit, and then i figured i'd give it another go. it was amazing - i went about 400ft thru snow up to my bumper with NO issue at all! it freaked me out and i got stuck again. started digging and got nothing. finally i said, "god, i need a miracle - i'm tired, cold and need to get home." not more than 2 minutes later a group of 4 trucks showed up, 3 guys pushed on the back of my truck and i was off again and made it another 400 feet out of the trail and onto the road with no issue. it was insane!
we took them out for dinner afterward because they spent a good 4 hours or more helping us out.
pics tomorrow of my smashed up door - nothing else was damaged.
congrats... you made it thru my book!
Now I don't feel quite so dumb.
