My son and I sort of rescued a young woman whose car had been stuck in the mountains for two days. No other vehicle had been up that road till we came along.
My son took me cougar hunting today and nearly 20 miles up a snowy mountain road we came to an SOS spelled with rocks.
(https://i.imgur.com/X4RVYEZ.jpg)
An arrow pointed farther up the road.
(https://i.imgur.com/nrQuBXw.jpg)
It had snowed on the rock sign, aging any boot or vehicle tracks. We suspected a prank and drove on up the road looking for lion tracks, intending to go to the end or as close as the deepening snow would let us.
Two miles farther we came on a second SOS and arrow. Hmmm.
A mile beyond that we came on a Subaru stuck sideways in the road and a young woman frantically waving as she ran toward us. She'd been stuck there for 48 hours, sleeping in her vehicle. She's a tough spunky gal but she had a few relieved tears.
She had good clothes and sleeping bag, but no tools to get her out of the hard frozen snow and ice. She had tried to turn around and got high centered on frozen snow humps with all four wheels spinning in ever deeper slick ice wells. She had run out of snacks, and planned to hike out to a traveled road today, which she expected was 25 miles. It is more than 20 miles to cell phone service.
She was cheerful and in excellent condition and she worked as hard as we did in digging her out. I was impressed with how well she had done. She had saved her gas and still had enough to get back to town.
(https://i.imgur.com/fLEWexS.jpg)
We chipped and dug the ice from around the wheels and from under the rig. Then we hooked on a chain and pulled the rear of the Subaru around till the vehicle was straight in the road, sliding the rear wheels sideways on the lumpy ice. We dug gravel from the road bank to give her starting traction, and then she backed 1/3 of a mile downhill to a place to turn around. She followed us to town and the nearest gas station. She wanted to pay us but my son told her that a stranger had towed his son out of a remote blizzard and that this was repayment to him.
Wow! Give a woman a Subaru and they think they are ready for Mount Everest. Well done Sir.
That is a great service that you provided to her. She might have made it out and then again she might not have. So, I say that you saved her.
pretty interesting. awesome job coming to aid of a stranded person. glad to see she was able to survive. IDK many people would. I know a lot of friends that head to the mountains with limited gear. Anytime we went upstate I remember dad carrying a chainsaw and shovel no matter what. I still do that usually it was my battery operated dewalt chainsaw but since I picked up a newer echo that goes along with a short d handle spade. a chain is another well used tool.
I go fully loaded, tow straps, guns, satellite communicator, flashlights, axe/shovel, etc. I save those metal popcorn drums that you get around the holidays and put toilet paper and trail mix in them, that way the mice can't get to it. And plenty of water. I'm guessing the young lady didn't tell anybody where she was planning on going either.
(https://iili.io/3xh7th7.md.png) (https://freeimage.host/i/3xh7th7)
I pay $20.00 a month during the warm weather when I'm out and about more. In the winter time when I stick close to home I deactivate it and pay four dollars a month.
Good job Oke :bowingsmilie: .
I'm kinda/sorta wondering if she was cute and ya maybe blew a chance at a reward. :wo:
I enjoy people who don't know what they are doing but have the money to pay for their experience.
I once rented a shovel to a pudgy dude from Calgary that didn't or couldn't explain how he got stuck where he did. That was a very enjoyable day and I dambed near died laughing when he thanked me for the use of the shovel.
Back when I was younger getting stuck was fun now I try to avoid it :innocentwhistle:
Good deed done well.
Sounds like she knew what to do and it worked well to her advantage.
Can you imagine if you thought it was a joke, didnt go up any further, then read about the inevitable a few days later in the paper? :whew:
Quote from: FinsnFur on March 19, 2025, 09:20:58 PMGood deed done well.
Sounds like she knew what to do and it worked well to her advantage.
Can you imagine if you thought it was a joke, didnt go up any further, then read about the inevitable a few days later in the paper? :whew:
Yep! We knew we had to go check it out, and were heading for the end of the road anyway. If we didn't find anything we were going to report it to the Sheriff or somebody. That's why I took the first pic of the SOS, to show it to search and rescue.
Sure was an interesting experience.
Pitw, she is cute. Perky cheerful little petite gal, big smile, confident and not timid. But she sure was glad to see us!
I had a Subaru Forester, it was really good offroad and in the snow.
Quote from: nastygunz on March 19, 2025, 04:06:24 PMI save those metal popcorn drums that you get around the holidays and put toilet paper and trail mix in them, that way the mice can't get to it.
That's a good idea, kind of a duh that I had not thought of it, and I know well the mess that mice make of TP and any snacks left in the vehicle.
I will check out the Zoleo. Thanks. I have the InReach now, satelite texting from almost anywhere.
The popcorn is pretty damn tasty too :biggrin:
Hard to believe in this day and age but we still don't have good cell coverage up here and no cell coverage at the hunting camp.
I think that pitw, nasty and several of the folks here would have gotten unstuck the first day, even without big tools, mainly because you would not have gotten stuck so badly. You would not have tried to turn around there, and you would NOT have spun the tires so much to dig the vehicle down into the frozen snow. Spinning her tires got her stuck a lot worse.
She planned to try her cooking pot to dig gravel and throw under the tires. Good girl! Use what you got! If she had done that before she spun the tires in so deeply, I think she would have gotten herself out. She had put branches under the tires but it was too little, too late.
With tools and three of us working, it took over an hour to get her vehicle unstuck.
I hope I am analyzing more than criticizing. She did well. She came out of it way better than 90% of people would have. Apparently no one knew where she was nor would notice if she did not come home. There is more to her story somewhere though we never asked. She is a singer in a live music place, and lives several hundred miles away. If it were closer, I'd go catch her show!
Unprepared people die and or have to be rescued up here constantly even in the summertime. Amazing how naïve some people are when they head out into the great outdoors.
Knowing what situation your are in is prob as much a skill as how to get out of it. For whatever reason I cannot even get my wife to keep a set of boots and jacket in her vehicle. She pretty much works from home now but it wasnt anything for her to go out in the snow in flip flops and a light jacket. She would ask me why do i need boots and a heavy jacket. one night she allmost got stuck on a back road in bad cell coverage. I said if you would have had boots and a jacket atleast you could have walked the half mile to a house. We are not in the middle of the wilderness like some of you guys. but my wifes survival skills are pretty short.
I have a big old canvas seabag that is my winter vehicle bag. In it I have a heavy duty parka, heavy duty mittens, a wool full face mask and hat, and insulated boots, and some jars full of trail mix. When the weather warms up I just hang it in the basement and wait for next winter.