Sketchy Road Stories

[i count eye guards]

Here's a fun one.

I used to take my Mercedes glk350 rwd hunting on all season tires.

So there I am, following the on dash gps in the Oregon coastal range, down a road that is clearly not the road I want to be on in early December with snow falling and iced over ground.

I remember saying to myself as I went down a hill: "man I hope this road goes through, because if it doesn't I'm ******"

20 seconds later? Dead end.

It's been about 90 mins of driving since the last sign of another human. The sun just set, and I'm at the bottom of a 300 ft run up icy muddy hill that I know I won't even come close to making it up.

I back up as far as I can, roll on the throttle to keep wheel spin down, get to about 45mph, and get stuck about 1/8 of the way up.

Anyone that's been stuck knows the more you work the trail, the more difficult it becomes to find traction.

I try again.

And again.

And again.

It's easily 20 miles of hiking to get out of here, which I'm not doing at night.

So I try again, and fail.

I park it, and try to figure out how I'm going to survive the night. I don't have a sleeping bag, and my clothing is on the lighter side for the season.

This is going to suck.

I'm fuming at myself, so I sarcastically let off the brake and idle towards the hill. I'm talking mad shit to myself and my grandma car.

"You stupid ****, why would you think this was the main road?"

I'm going as slow as you can to be legally considered moving.

But it's moving

As i pass my previous high mark, my bitterness starts to warm into hope.

I'm only going 1/2mph, the car alternating which wheel has traction, climbing the hill like a rockclimber scales a wall.

But it's moving.

And it makes it.

I got that thing stuck so many times haha. Traded it in for a raptor shortly after that.

 

[idahohikker]

Here's a fun one.

I used to take my Mercedes glk350 rwd hunting on all season tires.

So there I am, following the on dash gps in the Oregon coastal range, down a road that is clearly not the road I want to be on in early December with snow falling and iced over ground.

I remember saying to myself as I went down a hill: "man I hope this road goes through, because if it doesn't I'm ******"

20 seconds later? Dead end.

It's been about 90 mins of driving since the last sign of another human. The sun just set, and I'm at the bottom of a 300 ft run up icy muddy hill that I know I won't even come close to making it up.

I back up as far as I can, roll on the throttle to keep wheel spin down, get to about 45mph, and get stuck about 1/8 of the way up.

Anyone that's been stuck knows the more you work the trail, the more difficult it becomes to find traction.

I try again.

And again.

And again.

It's easily 20 miles of hiking to get out of here, which I'm not doing at night.

So I try again, and fail.

I park it, and try to figure out how I'm going to survive the night. I don't have a sleeping bag, and my clothing is on the lighter side for the season.

This is going to suck.

I'm fuming at myself, so I sarcastically let off the brake and idle towards the hill. I'm talking mad shit to myself and my grandma car.

"You stupid ****, why would you think this was the main road?"

I'm going as slow as you can to be legally considered moving.

But it's moving

As i pass my previous high mark, my bitterness starts to warm into hope.

I'm only going 1/2mph, the car alternating which wheel has traction, climbing the hill like a rockclimber scales a wall.

But it's moving.

And it makes it.

I got that thing stuck so many times haha. Traded it in for a raptor shortly after that.

Great story. And not many guys make that kind of transition in vehicles. Haha

 

[Squamch]

Those

There’s a Facebook page and group devoted to off-road recoveries here in Colorado. Some of the pictures of the situations people have gotten into make you wonder just how dumb people can be.

While snowmobiling, I’ve seen late model pick ups abandoned with snow over their hoods. That’s got to be a bad feeling knowing you won’t be able to recover a vehicle until spring and worrying about it all winter.

I grew up doing a bunch of 4 wheeling in the 70s in southwest Colorado, but have gotten pretty conservative these days. As much as I don’t really like the side x side ORV trend in recreational vehicles - I can see the practicality of those things. Those side x sides are much better suited to traveling on difficult roads than the full size pick ups that most of us are driving today.

Those damn golf carts are the worst thing to happen to off roading. Second would be dealer modified jeeps. Finance $35,000 (or $70,000 for a heep), of offroad equipment, and none of the skills necessary to utilize them. More people getting in WAY over their heads because their wallet took them further than their abilities.

 

[Squamch]

Here's a fun one.

I used to take my Mercedes glk350 rwd hunting on all season tires.

So there I am, following the on dash gps in the Oregon coastal range, down a road that is clearly not the road I want to be on in early December with snow falling and iced over ground.

I remember saying to myself as I went down a hill: "man I hope this road goes through, because if it doesn't I'm ******"

20 seconds later? Dead end.

It's been about 90 mins of driving since the last sign of another human. The sun just set, and I'm at the bottom of a 300 ft run up icy muddy hill that I know I won't even come close to making it up.

I back up as far as I can, roll on the throttle to keep wheel spin down, get to about 45mph, and get stuck about 1/8 of the way up.

Anyone that's been stuck knows the more you work the trail, the more difficult it becomes to find traction.

I try again.

And again.

And again.

It's easily 20 miles of hiking to get out of here, which I'm not doing at night.

So I try again, and fail.

I park it, and try to figure out how I'm going to survive the night. I don't have a sleeping bag, and my clothing is on the lighter side for the season.

This is going to suck.

I'm fuming at myself, so I sarcastically let off the brake and idle towards the hill. I'm talking mad shit to myself and my grandma car.

"You stupid ****, why would you think this was the main road?"

I'm going as slow as you can to be legally considered moving.

But it's moving

As i pass my previous high mark, my bitterness starts to warm into hope.

I'm only going 1/2mph, the car alternating which wheel has traction, climbing the hill like a rockclimber scales a wall.

But it's moving.

And it makes it.

I got that thing stuck so many times haha. Traded it in for a raptor shortly after that.

My brother had a chev half ton with junk tires on it (they matched the rest of the truck), he went out hunting solo one day, and got stuck down a 200 yard grassy hill after a rain. He ended up driving up it about 3" at a time, using his floor mats for traction

 

[Werty]

Doing 60 out of Eagle River headed to Wasilla. I hit black ice, sliding sideways down highway in crew cab long box pick up. I was lucky to pull out if it. Still remember that day.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

I've driven over every back road west of the continental divide, in every kind of weather....slid off the road more times than I can count...once had a 400-mile tow truck bill in northwest Canada....got caught in a flash flood in a honda civic on the Navajo res...commute on Alaskan roads all winter....and none of it holds a candle to the 2000- mile road trip I took through Mexico....holee shee-it, mang.....

 

[kiddogy]

I was once climbing a lil two track road that was a solid sheet of ice spun out just shy of the top . when I pressed the brake the truck simply slid backwards down the hill . with me holding the brake it wanted to turn towards the edge nothing I could do but let off the brake and try to steer it down straight . went backwards about a hundred yards or so before I got it stopped ,right on the very edge of a five foot drop. wouldn't have kilt me but it would have made my truck ill and it would have left me walkin 10 or so miles. made it over the top the second run

 

[Azone]

I've driven over every back road west of the continental divide, in every kind of weather....slid off the road more times than I can count...once had a 400-mile tow truck bill in northwest Canada....got caught in a flash flood in a honda civic on the Navajo res...commute on Alaskan roads all winter....and none of it holds a candle to the 2000- mile road trip I took through Mexico....holee shee-it, mang.....

2000 miles through Mexico? Come on man you cant leave us hanging on that one. Baja 1000 type stuff? Cartel check points? Crooked cops?

 

[Rich M]

Slid sideways down a logging road in the snow and ice, one side went up at 80 degrees other side down at 80 degrees. No idea how I made it off that mountain.

I slow way down now.

 

[Fatcamp]

One of mine was this past Sunday/Monday coming back to MN from an AZ archery elk hunt. SD is much too large a state to drive 45mph across it. They only seem to plow within 10 miles of Sioux Falls?

We were on the road that same day. It was rough for sure.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

2000 miles through Mexico? Come on man you cant leave us hanging on that one. Baja 1000 type stuff? Cartel check points? Crooked cops?

Come on you know I don't remember half of it....

 

[weaver]

Good thread subject.
I thought I was the only idiot who pushed the limits of his vehicle way to far.
Most memorable is driving the jeep trail from engineer pass down to ouray in a full size pickup. Bottomed out more than a few times. Lots of "good luck with that" looks from people on quads.
Also slide 40' sideways on a muddy hillside in Idaho a few years ago. Thought for sure I was gonna roll. Was able to get turned around and out and retreat without issue so wasn't too bad.

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[kiddogy]

gotta do what ya gotta do to get to where you need to be.

 

[NateK]

Log trucks and mountain roads. That’s all I have to say.

 

[i count eye guards]

Log trucks and mountain roads. That’s all I have to say.

Right up there with rock trucks

 

[glass eye]

Deer hunting on Lana'i Hawaii and my friend drove into a deep narrow washout that was hidden by tall dry grass. The truck was precariously teetering on the edge of a deep gulch supported only by the foot rail contacting a boulder. Some kids on bicycles came by and I sent them to call for a tow truck. Tow truck shows up, looks it over and says " Nope". He leaves and comes back with this.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Oh man I get nervous just thinking about some.

Once in CA X10 I think we slalomed the ram 3500 down some roads with trees on every turn. Couldn’t slow down. Finally got stuck and had to use the come alongs on almost every turn. Probably hiked at least 2 miles behind the truck just waiting for it to get stuck.

This year in Wyoming the road was so muddy my tires might as well not have been on the Jeep. We slid until one rear tire was only 2” in the road. We built a big stone pile behind it and powered out. The whole drive was sketchy down that road. I was 90% sure we were hiking out and calling for help in the morning. Oh and it’s heavy grizzly country.


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[Terrapin]

We drove all the way across Seattle during rush hour on the busiest travel day of the year. I sweated through all my layers. You can’t go forward and you can’t stop, no convenient tree to use to poop or pee, angry people everywhere honking and swearing...
It made me miss the time we slid a couple hundred feet down a steep mud road, only coming to rest when we went off the edge of a landing with the front wheels hanging into space over a thousand feet of the steepest clear cut in central Idaho. We crawled out the back window, grabbed a handful of medicinal beers out of the bed of the pickup and had a great time waiting for a buddy with a long ass winch cable.


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[Mac7]

We drove all the way across Seattle during rush hour on the busiest travel day of the year. I sweated through all my layers. You can’t go forward and you can’t stop, no convenient tree to use to poop or pee, angry people everywhere honking and swearing...
It made me miss the time we slid a couple hundred feet down a steep mud road, only coming to rest when we went off the edge of a landing with the front wheels hanging into space over a thousand feet of the steepest clear cut in central Idaho. We crawled out the back window, grabbed a handful of medicinal beers out of the bed of the pickup and had a great time waiting for a buddy with a long ass winch cable.


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LOL. Yep I get far more stressed driving in traffic than crappy mountain roads.