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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 2, 2015 - 08:57pm PT
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Hey folks , thought I'd share a little episode from my trip to Death Valley last week . To be accurate, this happened in the Panamint Valley, which is one valley over from Death Valley , but same general area ...
My dad and I were on a small 4x4 trip around the area, I had previously been up in the Inyo Mtns...
And then the Argus range ...
And finally I was coming out of the small Slate Range...
Down on the valley floor , we needed to cross this narrow wash to reach solid ground on the other side ... looks pretty solid right ?
It was firm under foot , but as soon as I crossed it in my 5,500 lb. 4Runner , I quickly sank into some deep nasty mud...
We didn't have too many options , there were no people and only one lonely dirt road about a mile off, and worse , no natural anchors to winch off. An idea slowly formed , perhaps I could dig a channel , similar to a snow bollard , around one of the many clumps of vegetation growing , this just might work !
I got my shovel out and quickly dug the U-shaped bollard in the soft ground ...
I hoped the dense wet ground , the roots stabilizing the vegetation, and the surface area of the bollard would be enough to winch my truck a mere 15 feet out of the wash ... and it worked ! My truck popped right out ...
All total we were only stuck for about 45 minutes . We got on firmer ground and headed off on the rest of our 4x4 trip in the Panamints. Getting stuck with my dad turned out to be a highlight of the trip , and something we got out of together :)
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Family teamwork & alpine ingenuity, I love it!!
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C4/1971
Trad climber
Depends on the day...
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ahhh, the old sand bollard.....
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Jones in LA
Mountain climber
Tarzana, California
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Whoa! That's seriously stuck. The Mud Bollard was brilliant. Bravo!
Rich Jones
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pvalchev
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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That's awesome! I've actually used a snow bollard to winch my truck out of a snow drift on an ice climbing trip in the Ghost in Alberta (also no trees around)... good times.
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ClimbingOn
Trad climber
NY
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I'm impressed. Great solution!
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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the old sand bollard
I learned to use the Scottish climbing name for them.
Dead Man.
Outside climbing, I've used them to hold down tents in wind, rafts in high & rising waters, but only once to pull a vehicle out of a mud-hole.
At age 15, (about 1963) I foolishly drove the family 1951 Dodge 4 x 4 Powerwagon into a wet field. I buried it to the doors. The only other Dodge Powerwagon in our small Idaho town couldn't winch it out. (what do you expect from a 15 year old?)
I helped my dad sink metal fence posts into solid ground and that "dead man" worked for the Powerwagon to winch itself out.
Shist! I really do need to buy a winch for my 4-runner.
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Lurkingtard
climber
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And people were giving the gym climbers sh#t for parking next to a boulder. Lol
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Psilocyborg
climber
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Lesson for everyone...don't underestimate desert mud. I once had to acquire 10 drunk strangers to manually lift my Tacoma out of the mud.
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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 2, 2015 - 09:42pm PT
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cool story Fritz ... no way I would have been there in August , but if it was August that mud would have been baked through ...
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Chewybacca
Trad climber
Montana, Whitefish
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Nice job on the self rescue.
I've buried my spare tire to use as an anchor before.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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good deal, i fried some points going up townes pass and saw a total of 1 car in a 24 hour period, old folks who did not want to pick up a hippie out in manson country,
bent the two arms together that hold the round contact, bent the breaker plate over a bit and limped over the hill, that valley will get ya,
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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hey there say, dapper dan... wow, this was really something... glad you got the ' ingenuity' and got out... :)
say, you and your dad, look a lot alike, :)
thanks for the share... great pics, too...
i really liked the panamint area... and death valley...
went through there, so many years, so many years, back...
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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TM Herbert has some good stories about getting trucks un-stuck in the Utah deserts...
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Sweet, Virginia!
Wadin' through the waste stormy winter,
And there's not a friend to help you through.
Tryin' to stop the waves behind your eyeballs,
Drop your reds, drop your greens and blues.
Thank you for your wine, California,
Thank you for your sweet and bitter fruits.
Yes I got the desert in my toenail
And I hid the speed inside my shoe.
I want you to come on, come on down Sweet Virginia,
I want you come on, honey child, I beg of you.
I want you come on, come on down, you got it in you.
--From Exile on Main St.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Fun story....creative solution!
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skcreidc
Social climber
SD, CA
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Great story! And a great solution; The Mud Bollard is now part of my "tool kit". When useable, looks easier than a sand spike and comealong.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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A friend once got stuck on loose boulders in 3 foot deep water crossing the Ghost River. He drilled a bolt into a big boulder on the bank then winched himself out.
Never leave home without a shovel
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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the passage of man
leaves an aweful trace.
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