[Hahns5.2]

So it started snowing after work on Tuesday, I tried giving my friend Chris(build thread here) a call, his phone and my other buddies phone went straight to voicemail as if they were out of cell service. So after several hours of no contact I ask Danny's parents if they know where they are, they said they had said they were "going up in the mountains". Next morning (Wednesday) they still were no where to be found so I got the parents involved and after the 24 hour limit was up I started packing up my truck to go search for them as I had a good reason to believe they went to our camp spot in the Gifford Pinchot National Forrest.

Complicating matters, Chris was on leave from the Air Force and had to fly back today. As his step dad went to the sheriffs office to report them missing they received a call that the Forrest service had picked up 2 men walking out of the NF-93 road, where I thought they were. Once we had confirmation it was them we drove up to the little town of Cougar and picked them up.

Turns out they had gone down the little dirt road that our camping spot is on and as he was driving his ranger though one of the rutted spots in the road the ice in the ruts gave way, high centering his rig on a huge block of ice between the ruts, at that point it started snowing (there was no snow on the ground before). All they had was one of those worthless folding army shovels, very little food, no blankets, ect. After 5 hours of digging they went to bed, starting the truck every hour to keep warm.

It snowed over a foot that night. The next morning they started walking, the nearest town, Cougar, was 25 miles away. They walked 8 miles until they got to where the road was plowed, it's an evacuation route if St. Helens blows so they only plow up until the last cabins up there. A Forrest service truck spotted them and drove them into town.

So Thursday we loaded up my B2, Danny's Cherokee and another friends FX4 and set out on a recovery mission. I chained up my B2 to take it down the steep dirt road our camp spot is on while we left the other rigs up top and pulled out his Ranger. It proceeded to get stuck in another set of ruts on the way out and I pulled him out again, all in all I think it was a good learning experience..

Ranger's Icy tomb.

B2

The block of ice it was sitting on.

Muddy river parking lot after recovery.

Having some fun.

Muddy river bridge.

Ranger extraction

Another tug.

 

[IndyDurango]

Tires on that Ranger seem very ill equipped for that possible type of condition.

Did he get back to the airforce before being late?

Glad it turned out okay. Could have been a lot worse.

IndyD

 

[Hahns5.2]

It's got 31x10.50 Pro-Comp Xtreme A/Ts, they're decent and it has a rear locker, it's the second most capable rig of the bunch next to my B2, it just got high centered very badly.

Yes, we got it out yesterday and he flew out today.

 

[project_dog]

Sounds like alot of fun. Glad to hear everyone is good and not frozen.

 

[ajjacobs]

Glad it worked out for ya, but your friend should have never been anywhere near that strap when ya were yanking it out. Could have been very bad if it snapped.

 

[Hahns5.2]

It's a 30,000LB strap and I was hardly yanking, had I been getting a lot bigger runs at it and/or been using a cable or chain, I'd agree.

 

[hdridinas2]

I have seen 30,000 lbs straps break with less of a tug. All depends on how stuck it is, not how heavy the truck is. May next time he will go wheelin with another truck? I always had at least one other truck with me when I would go wheelin.

 

[03SXT]

Glad it worked out for ya, but your friend should have never been anywhere near that strap when ya were yanking it out. Could have been very bad if it snapped.

x2. my buddy has a dent you can almost fit your fist into on his tailgate from one snapping like that. the force and moment well exceeds the load rating when a 4000 lb truck is snatching against a stuck vehicle that weighs close to the same and isnt giving too much.....better safe then sorry. glad it all worked out though.

 

[Hahns5.2]

I'm well aware of what straps do when they break and that the forces increase when under shock loads, I've been doing this for a while. They were in far more danger venturing out by themselves than a huge fucking strap breaking under a minor recovery.

 

[DAKSPORT1PA]

Love that Bronco II. Always been a big fan of those.