The 1804 misadventure

1804 is a road through the Rolls OHV area near Four Peaks. It's easy to get to from the Pobrecito parking area near Saguaro Lake. I hadn't planned to go there when I left the house yesterday. I was going to see if the Salt River was still low, and I did that. I took a few pictures and decided to drive a little further.

The river is still very low.

Fall colors.

Since there was still some sunlight, I decided to drive out into The Rolls a little way. It had been about a year since I had been out there. As I drove along 1804, I went across some really soft spots in the sand. I decided to get out before I got stuck, but I needed to find a spot to turn around. I felt like if I stopped in the sand, I wouldn't get moving again. Before I could turn around, I got bogged down. The rear wheels sank as they dug in. I kept moving forward slowly and eventually the tires got back on top of the sand and I started moving again. Shortly after that I got to a wide spot with relatively firm sand and turned around. I headed for the soft spot as fast as I could go, but it's hard to get up much speed on that stuff. Of course, I bogged down again but was making very slow progress. I tried rocking back and forth. I tried scooping sand out from in front of the tires. I tried putting rocks under the tires. Nothing was working. I eventually dug deep enough that the differential was resting on the sand and the tires couldn't dig any deeper. I managed to back up from that, but I was stuck. I could only go back and forth a little. The truck wouldn't turn, either.

I wasn't planning to go for a hike when I left the house, so I didn't have my backpack. My SPOT is clipped on my backpack. It has a button to call for assistance and I could have used that yesterday. Of course, it would have been useful because I didn't have a cell phone signal. I knew I could get a signal about 2 or 3 miles northwest of where I was. Maybe somebody going along Bush highway would give me a ride. First, though, I went to the top of a small hill and checked for a signal. I had just enough to call Skid. Whew! He was on his way with his 4WD Silverado. I walked to the Pobrecito parking area to meet him there. We hooked up a tow strap and he pulled me out without any effort. It sure felt good to be rolling again. I almost got bogged down again a few times on the way out.

It's at times like that that I think maybe I ought to get a 4WD truck, but then I remember what my father always said. "Having four wheel drive just means you can get stuck better before you have to call somebody to pull you out." Most of his experiences with 4WD were as a doodle-bugger. He had to go places that he could get impossibly stuck. I rarely drive in mud out here, though. Maybe I will get 4WD some day.

2010_11_11