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Could use help from a Tucson area 4X4 owner

Zolgar

By Zolgar
in West and Southwest

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Zolgar

+Zolgar

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I hate bounding in here to ask for help like this, but... a friend and I were out roaming, and .. he likes to pretend his 2 wheel drive Ford F150 is a 4 wheel drive Jeep.

 

He got stuck. We got extracted by PC Sheriff S&R guys on quads. His truck is still there though, shortly past trail marker 4407, on the trail between Mile Markers 26 and 27 on Redington Pass. (I would have GPS coords, but it looks like they were bad)

 

We need help from someone with a larger 4 wheel drive truck, preferably with a winch (we do have a hand winch though).

 

We will of course offer to pay for your gas (round trip), and will try to offer at least a bit for your time.

And the drive is beautiful. if you don't get up that way regularly.

 

It would be super incredibly awesome if we could get the help either later in the day Saturday, or anytime Sunday. (as we had to leave some stuff in the truck due to trecking someplace to get cell phone signal.)

 

If I'm rambling incessantly and making no sense, I apologize, I'll rewrite this after I get some sleep. (about 28 hours awake now)

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Green Achers

+Green Achers

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I hate bounding in here to ask for help like this, but... a friend and I were out roaming, and .. he likes to pretend his 2 wheel drive Ford F150 is a 4 wheel drive Jeep.

Sounds like you need more than a 4x4 Jeep (lest it get stuck beside your 2x4). Better use something with real 4x4, like a Ford Bronco (or a modified Jeep) to rescue your P.U. :laughing:

 

By the way, what are the conditions that took your truck? Mud?? Sand?? Washout?? High sided?? Roll over?? Suspension removal?? Drained oil pan??

 

Photo's and (bad) coordinated are welcome here. Take your camera when you return because you'll appreciate a well documented recovery in the future! :D

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Zolgar

+Zolgar

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I hate bounding in here to ask for help like this, but... a friend and I were out roaming, and .. he likes to pretend his 2 wheel drive Ford F150 is a 4 wheel drive Jeep.

Sounds like you need more than a 4x4 Jeep (lest it get stuck beside your 2x4). Better use something with real 4x4, like a Ford Bronco (or a modified Jeep) to rescue your P.U. :laughing:

 

By the way, what are the conditions that took your truck? Mud?? Sand?? Washout?? High sided?? Roll over?? Suspension removal?? Drained oil pan??

 

Photo's and (bad) coordinated are welcome here. Take your camera when you return because you'll appreciate a well documented recovery in the future! :D

 

Loose rock combined with a hill.

 

A jeep would have been fine for what we were doing. MIGHT even work for pulling him up the hill, but we've got a line on a Land Cruiser to help up, hopefully it'll work. If nothing else we can winch it up with the hand winch (tethered to the landcruiser), hopefully that will give us enough purchase on the terrain.

 

I'll try to get some pics of it before we pull it out though. And if you like I'll post the fully story here, now that I'm awake.

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snowball 58

+snowball 58

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Posted

 

Loose rock combined with a hill.

 

A jeep would have been fine for what we were doing. MIGHT even work for pulling him up the hill, but we've got a line on a Land Cruiser to help up, hopefully it'll work. If nothing else we can winch it up with the hand winch (tethered to the landcruiser), hopefully that will give us enough purchase on the terrain.

 

I'll try to get some pics of it before we pull it out though. And if you like I'll post the fully story here, now that I'm awake.

 

 

Of course we need and want to hear the full Story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;););)

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Zolgar

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Directly from another forum, topis was "Important lesson in life:"

 

Never pretend a 2 wheel drive Ford F150, is a 4 wheel drive Jeep Wrangler.

 

Thursday after work, Roo is like "Let's go up to the mountain." It had been a bleag day at work, and the drive is relaxing. I figure we're just gonna go up the mountain, and come back down the other side, like normal. So, I don't bother grabbing anything other than borrowing my parents power inverter so that I can work some on the D20 Modern game I'm running on the dull parts of the drive.

and I don't bother changing in to blue jeans and boots, instead of shorts and ... sandal-tennis shoe hybrid things.

We did also grab the guns, on the off chance of deciding to stop for a bit of shooting (Redington Pass has 3 official shooting spots)

 

Between mile posts 26 and 27, Torrey spots a little road he's not been down before and decides to take it. For the most part, it's smoothish sailing. A little rough in a few places for the F150, but nothing too bad. Until we reach a rocky slope I'd say it was between a 25% and 35% grade, covered in loose rocks. By the angle of it, we didn't see it until we were right on top of it, and already going down.

There was no way in hell we were making it back up there, so .. well we kept going forward. ended up about 20 miles off the main road, where there was a camp site, and barely a semblance of a road going off the other way, that Roo knew he'd get high sided on if he tried to got that way. So we turn around.. Get maybe .. 100' before the truck gets stuck on a steep incline with too loose of ground to get traction on. Back up, try it again.. get like .. 20 more feet, and get stuck again.

Check our phone signals. Nothing.

 

Fortunately Roo keeps a decent first aid kit and some water in his truck. We took stock of everything, and loaded what we needed in to our backpacks (we both carry them to work), rigged a shoulder strap for my shotgun, and started walking at about midnight.

 

It was an overcast night, so the light was dim, but fortunately Roo and I both have decent enough night vision that we really didn't need a flashlight (we had one though).

 

Around 1:30, Roo needs a bit of a break from walking (he's asthmatic and in poor shape), we're near the peak of a hill, so I leave my bag with him and stay within ear shot, take the light, shotgun and phone up and get 'emergency service only'.. Good enough (like I said, 20 miles from the main road, and there another .. couple to even get to someones house, we had 3 liters of water between the two of us, no food, and an asthmatic. We would have been lucky to make the road before it got too hot to keep going) I .. try 911 a couple times, signal is flaky, and never fully get through. So I head back down, rest with Roo a bit, kinda hoping thy could get the location from my phone. After an hour I head back up, in this instance I actually manage to get a .. good enough signal, I am able to stay on the phone with the operator for about 4 minutes, get a rough description of where the truck is and where we are.

 

Roo wants to keep going, thinking no one is going to come. I manage to convince him to stay put (they can get our approx. location from the cell phone), this is about 2:30.

Around 3-3:30, an airplane goes over head and circles us a couple times, by that point even Roo knows we have to stay put.

As the sun starts coming up Roo starts worrying, thinking they're not coming for us. I try to tell him to be patient 'cause, first it's only been a few hours, and second, that road is a treacherous one in the dark, and they didn't even get our location until the spotter plane found us. So I toss him my phone and let him go up and make the call (figuring that if he gets through it might calm him down a bit). The operator more or less tells him to relax, they know where we are and help is on the way.

Somewhere between 8 and 9 AM (time sorta blended together there, especially as I eventually drifted to sleep a bit), a couple guys from Pima County Sheriff's Search and Rescue ride up on quads, get things situated and one of them heads off to the truck to get the GPS coords (which I think were bad, really don't think it's the right area).

 

From there it's about an hour on the quads back to their trucks, and from their trucks it's about an hour down to the nearest Circle K, where Roo is able to call his grandmother to pick us up, and we send a quick call to our boss telling him what happened.

 

about 2 hours later I'm finally home, get a long shower, post on the GeoCaching forums hoping someone with a decent 4 wheel drive truck can help us (need to get Roo's truck out of there, and don't want to pay for an off-road tow truck >.>)

Then promptly pass out, and don't really wake up until about 6 AM saturday.

 

... If you're lucky I'll post the videos we were taking on YouTube. >.>

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Zolgar

+Zolgar

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*update*

LandCruiser fell through for today. (Our boss is an idiot)

 

If there is anyone with a 4WD vehicle that could at least get us up there so we can clean the truck out, it would be incredibly appreciated, as we have some valuables we had to leave in the truck due to hoofing it far enough to get a signal.

 

If you think you can help us, give me a call at five two zero four one nine seven nine three nine

Edited by Zolgar
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Zolgar

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*further update*

 

... due to eh.. retarded family s*** we'll say. We have to recover the truck tomorrow (Monday) after work.

 

We're offering $200 (cash) for someone who can get the truck out for us. Preferably starting mid evening, however if you need to start earlier it can be arranged.

 

It will probably take 5-7 hours, so it is a bit of an undertaking.

 

We have a potential lined up, however, neither Torrey or I want to do business with him after tonight. Was supposed to get us tonight.

Left us hanging and jerked us around for 3 hours.

Little hope that he'll be any better tomorrow, and unless we have to, neither of us want to pay him, anyways.

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Zolgar

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I've passed this info along to some friends from AZ. Not sure if any can help or not, but one of them might be able to help. Do you have some way they can contact you since none are Geocachers?

My phone # is 520 419 7939, it'll be on me all day at work.

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Zolgar

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Posted over on the Jeep boards. And.. I'm presuming one of ShowStop's friends just contacted me.. With luc, we'll get the truck out tonight.

 

 

Don't forget to take lots of pictures.

 

Sadly pictures weren't on the mind when we were pulling it out. >.>

 

But, we did get the truck out thanks to a couple of equally crazy chaps, most likely ShowStop's friend. ;)

 

Thanks for the help folks.

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Zolgar

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I do have coords for where we was stuck though: N 32 23.934 W 110 36.439

(Don't use the geocaching google maps, will jump you to Summerhaven-ish area.) Only about 10 miles off the road actually..

 

Torrey's estimate of 20 was horrible. >.>

 

Dan and Weston were a huge help, and .. a lot better than the loser tow truck driver we were going to get. Splitting up once we got back tot he road kinda sucked, because.. they were sorta awesome. :grin:

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Zolgar

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I do have coords for where we was stuck though: N 32 23.934 W 110 36.439

 

 

Looks like a cool area.

 

It's beautiful out there.

 

If I had a vehicle that could make it there and back (other than the bicycle), I'd so place a cache where we got stuck.. and maybe where we were able to get a cellphone signal. (has a nice view :D )

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