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PICTURES - Geocaching Vehicle's Stuck


AmishHacker

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"....ok, Tommy, plus 5 right, small ridge, plus 2 left, don't cut, plus 4 right...oh, wait, that's lefAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" :D:D:rolleyes::tongue::bad:

LOL!

 

I do have to admit to being on a cache hunt in the area and I was in my M3, on a very lovely twisty road, and the old WRC theme came up on my CD player... And I asked my wife if she would mind doing some "co-driver speak", hahaha! Of course, she looked at me like I was nuts. :)

 

Twice I've been out in the car geocaching and hit rough dirt road sections and really wished I had been in the Jeep that day. Never go stuck or even close- thank god! - but the Jeep is just a better vehicle for geocaching. The fact that the fiberglass hardtop is basically radio-transparent is a big help too since it means the GPS works nearly as well inside the Jeep as outside.

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While out caching, yesterday, we came up on an Ford Explorer high centered in the snow on an unplowed FS road. Lent him my fire shovel to use instead of his ski pole. Then we hiked off to place a cache. :rolleyes:

 

PS. We did pull him out before we left. Got to be prepared in the back country.

No pictures. It wasn't that dramatic, normal for spring mountain country.

I could hardly get the shovel out of his hands when we parted company.

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While out caching, yesterday, we came up on an Ford Explorer high centered in the snow on an unplowed FS road. Lent him my fire shovel to use instead of his ski pole. Then we hiked off to place a cache. :D

 

PS. We did pull him out before we left. Got to be prepared in the back country.

No pictures. It wasn't that dramatic, normal for spring mountain country.

I could hardly get the shovel out of his hands when we parted company.

Oh, that's funny! "Here, dig yourself out, we're gonna go find a tupperware box full of McToys in the woods. We'll be back later." :tired::blink::D:D

 

Sorry, don't know why that just strikes me as funny..... :o

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Glad you liked it, Sparky. Please get it right, I was 'placing' a cache. That's more important than finding???? And, the guy was young (mid forties) with no kids or wife along. He even kissed the shovel before he gave it back to me. He was a very happy traveler to get rescued.

I was ready to tow him out after ten minutes, he kept digging away, so I tried to stay busy. :tired:

PS: I'm not known for my patience :blink:

 

My cache is named 'Snow Drift'

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ea2ceb28-7045-4834-a854-2d89309dadc4.jpg

 

That was about a month ago in Michigan's upper peninsula. We were going for a snow caching weekend. Blizzard got to us first. I flipped it on the drivers side. Some snowmobilers helped us us right it but the engine was toast. I should get her back tomorrow. No tow trucks, no rental cars (area is really remote). Finally had to con some friends to make the 7 hour drive to rescue us. Good thing the bar was right across the highway from our hotel and the snowmobilers were on their way back to that hotel. I will never badmouth snowmobilers again! :D

 

edit: for spelling

Edited by Two Geeks and a GPS
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I never thought that I would join the ranks - not because I'm a superb off-roader (I've never done proper off-roading) , but rather there are few opportunities here in MA. However, on a trip to Tucson, AZ: (log for this cache)

 

Soooo, I'm flying out of Tucson that day, and plan to get 10 more caches done before my flight. I get about 3 done, and start of for this one.

 

The car is kitted out with the laptop running Streets and Trips, hooked up to the GPS for realtime positioning, and GSAK - the Palm has all the cache descriptions for when I'm out of the car. I have 5 gallons of water in the back.

 

Driving along the dirt road in my Ford Expedition which, despite being a big car, has done well so far. There's a fork in the trail, with a sign pointing to new real estate - I don't take this one because it's probably (probably...) not the road. There's a pile of gravel and sand in the road. Ahh, what the heck, the car will get over it. Of course, it turns out that the pile of sand and gravel is to stop cars, which it did, very well. I completely beached the car. I couldn't even get out of the front doors. I could not believe that I had been that stupid.

 

867869c9-8e84-4d5f-adaf-87587d33cc2e.jpg

 

I try all wheel drive, 4 wheel drive high, 4 wheel drive low, rocks under the wheels, digging out some gravel, but the car is so well beached the wheels may well have been spinning in air.

 

I finally get hold of AAA, and after much discussion of how to get to me (good job I had the GPS and streets and trips), Joe (the man) arrives. We laugh at my idiocy, and he gets the car unstuck. AAA pay for some on the costs - it only comes to $50 for me... I was lucky, no obvious damage to the car, and I still made my flight. Idiot, idiot.....

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This was while going to be FTF on a cache..: (Gaby'sBMP

 

393dfa7a-8c2f-4c14-8a1c-78db7bdd2584.jpg

 

As if that was not bad enough.. I had a long walk home.. a couple of weeks later the kids and I were going for a different cache and I pulled over to answer the phone then started backing up.. Off into the sand we go..:

Lonesome Bush

 

7e536e3b-606c-4ac5-b2d8-26cade550d95.jpg

 

I now own a jeep! :P

Edited by ShadowAce
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Never been stuck caching, but I plan to place some caches this summer that anyone with a less equiped 4x4 better hike to instead of driving. <_<

 

Here's me having some fun

rock6.jpg

 

When it comes to serious wheeling I get stuck bad enough to need a winch or a tug five or six times per year, but consider that some of the trails I do have NEVER been completed without winching.

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As if that was not bad enough.. I had a long walk home.. a couple of weeks later the kids and I were going for a different cache and I pulled over to answer the phone then started backing up.. Off into the sand we go..:

Lonesome Bush

 

7e536e3b-606c-4ac5-b2d8-26cade550d95.jpg

 

I now own a jeep!  :lol:

I remember that one...although, why would you have pulled off the road?

Too answer the phone since cars were coming down the dirt road.

 

:lol: Besides, re-read the cache, I was not the last person to get stuck there :lol:

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Divine Posted on Jul 20 2004, 04:49 AM

  Not quite stuck, but this happened recently in Austria, close to this cache, but not the same day we went to search for it:

<pic Removed>

 

Glad it didn't hit the fan! 

 

Looks like something scared the poop out of the vehicle. Was it a tough hill?

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Snip

Just remember not to drive at highway speed until you fill <sic> the tires back up.

This is very important to remember. One of the major reasons Ford had a problem with Firestone tires on the Explorers failing was Ford was recommending lower than proper inflation pressure (to counter SUV's being more likely to roll over). Low air pressure at highway speeds causes overheating and catastrophic failure of a tire.

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snip

On the highway in a snowstorm they think they’re invincible in their 4X4’s. All 4 wheel drive means is when you don’t have the right mind set getting stuck in a 4X4 mean your well and truly stuck

Definately!

I recall, back around '87 or so, a few years after SUV's were becoming really popular, I left VT one afternoon for a drive to NJ in my Land Rover just as one heckuva snowstorm was starting. It snowed like crazy the whole way (so bad I had to stop at road junctions and beat the snow off the signs to know which way to go). I saw more 4WD vehicles in ditches than any other (no, I wasn't one of them :) ) people thinking, of course, "I have 4WD, I'm invincible!" Not realizing it doesn't help squat when you apply the brakes.

 

I've been off-roading since '72, you learn alot in that time. In my case mainly how stupid I can be. :o

Edited by roveron
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snip

On the highway in a snowstorm they think they’re invincible in their 4X4’s. All 4 wheel drive means is when you don’t have the right mind set getting stuck in a 4X4 mean your well and truly stuck

Definately!

I recall, back around '87 or so, a few years after SUV's were becoming really popular, I left VT one afternoon for a drive to NJ in my Land Rover just as one heckuva snowstorm was starting. It snowed like crazy the whole way (so bad I had to stop at road junctions and beat the snow off the signs to know which way to go). I saw more 4WD vehicles in ditches than any other (no, I wasn't one of them :o ) people thinking, of course, "I have 4WD, I'm invincible!" Not realizing it doesn't help squat when you apply the brakes.

 

I've been off-roading since '72, you learn alot in that time. In my case mainly how stupid I can be. :)

Yup! When I worked as a paramedic, we saw more SUV's in the ditches upside down than any other vehicle. My call area was a rural area between two major cities, about 20 miles from each. We figured all the bad drivers took themselves out before they ever got out of the city, and all the calls we had were people in SUV's that thought they were invincible.......

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My theory is that SUV's just give people a feeling of safety allowing them to do even stupider and more dangerous things than they'd normally do...

Interesting theory...

 

Of course, there are many cases when people have survived accidents in SUVs that would not have been survivable in a car. Greater mass and a strong frame does have its benefits.

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Lot more going on than a driver not watching the spotter.

The driver (Tracey) was not used to driving on sandstone, so the idea of being able to driver herself over backwards was not even in her head. She lost sight of the spotter just as he started directing her to go to the passenger side. With her viual clues gone and no audibles she had no idea she was doing it wrong, and her instincts were telling her to keep moving because stopping on something that steep is dangerous on most terrain .

Part of the problem was not knowing what to expect on the obstical, part of the problem was relying too much on the spotter instead of the feel of her rig, part of the problem was the spotter being in a position that made the driver lose sight of him if the wrong line was chosen, and part of it was just bad luck. Making occasional mistakes is part of progressing as a driver, you just hope the mistake doesn't cost you too much.

 

BTW the Jeep was pulled back on it's wheels and then it finished the trail. Damage was mainly cosmetic.

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Not sure if  this counts as "stuck". Definately counts as not watching your spotter.

For you Jeepers  :blink:

Dead link. Very, very dead link!

LOL Yup, very dead link indeed. Between the time I posted, and you checked, they removed their archives (I always check links I post because I know how frustrating dead ones are).

 

QUOTE (Chris S.)

Lot more going on than a driver not watching the spotter.

The driver (Tracey) was not used to driving on sandstone, so the idea of being able to driver herself over backwards was not even in her head.

 

If that's the case, then, since she was in a group of experienced people (I hope) someone certainly failed her in not reviewing the risks with her before her attempt. But I watch people even driving around Atlanta and can tell that your average driver hasn't a clue about physics in the real world. Put them in a place where it's even more important to understand it and you have an accident waiting to happen.

 

She lost sight of the spotter just as he started directing her to go to the passenger side.

 

Of course it's hard to tell for sure from the video angle, but it sure looks like he started indicating right well before she lost sight of him. Then again, I wasn't there.

 

snip

Part of the problem was not knowing what to expect on the obstical, part of the problem was relying too much on the spotter instead of the feel of her rig, part of the problem was the spotter being in a position that made the driver lose sight of him if the wrong line was chosen, and part of it was just bad luck.

snip

 

Feel is only gained by experience (as you imply) but when you can't see the nuanaces of where you're tracking, you must rely on your spotter (as I'm sure you know). I too have had bad spotters. They have to know where your wheels need to be, but also anticipate the implications of what will happen if you go off track. Sometimes the obvious placement isn't actually the best. If I feel a spotter isn't aware of those things, I stop before I get in trouble, and explain the situation to them. Usually they appreciate it.

 

BTW the Jeep was pulled back on it's wheels and then it finished the trail. Damage was mainly cosmetic

 

Yeah, I thought the damage was most likely cosmetic. I rolled one of my Land Rovers on an icy back road one winter in VT and was only two hours late for work (decided to go back home first and replace a broken window and check all the fluids). Just goes to show that even the "experienced" can get into trouble. (also the importance of a roll cage in some places :blink:

Anyway, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Cheers.

Edited by roveron
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My theory is that SUV's just give people a feeling of safety allowing them to do even stupider and more dangerous things than they'd normally do...

If you ever had someone rear-end you or otherwise crash into you while driving an SUV you would change your theory.

 

True, some folks are just thick......and SUVs are NOT sports cars and cant be driven like sprots cars.....But if driven as intended a crash in an SUV is much safer than in a econobox.

Edited by shadango
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My theory is that SUV's just give people a feeling of safety allowing them to do even stupider and more dangerous things than they'd normally do...

Interesting theory...

 

Of course, there are many cases when people have survived accidents in SUVs that would not have been survivable in a car. Greater mass and a strong frame does have its benefits.

You mean like in the Ford Exploder? :blink:

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Two points to make here.

 

One is a person typically drives by the seat of their pants. I watched a show on PBS/Discovery/TLC/whichever about driver safety. A basic underlaying premise is people will drive to a certain comfort level. The safer you make a road, the faster they will drive. The more confidence you give a driver in their safety, the more chances they will take. It's not just the car, it's the perception. Basically, driver safety is a perception. A lot of people feel safer in a larger car not knowing a truck with a higher center of gravity is more dangerous.

 

Personally, I'd say if you want to feel more confident in a vehicle concentrate on your driving, continually be aware of those around you outside your vehicle, and drive to the conditions 12 seconds in front of you. Then you'll be safer.

 

I can't fathom the reason people buy these huge SUVs to tote kids around when a mini van is much more convenient and safer. I laugh at these little women, or anyone for that matter, who have to take 2 or 3 pull ups to get their SUV into a parking space. I see a lot of SUVs hugging the right of their lane not knowing just how big their vehicle is. The missus and I laugh, point, and say "Too much vehicle for them!"

 

Second point. Yes, the occupants of the larger vehicle is typical less likely to get injured, but let's follow this logic out. A semi truck is larger than any SUV. Is that the next step? If this is the real reason, why not buy a full-sized van? They are larger. Want to have a better view of the road? Again, a full-sized van. Need the extra capacity? Full-sized van. Amenities? Full-sized van. Passenger door on a driver's side. Well, you got me there. If that's the only reason to buy a SUV over a van, then that's a poor choice. Heck, a mini van is a much better choice for most people than any larger SUV.

 

Face it, I'd say most people who drive an SUV do so because it is the "in thing" to do.

 

One last point, for every person who buys a larger vehicle just to feel safer, you just made the little guy less safe.

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