I decided this afternoon to take my laptop to a nice, quiet spot to write a couple of brochures for work. I grabbed two 45-cent tacos and a fish taco from Dell Taco at the Tooele exit on I-80 and headed west to "my office" (the Dugway exit). I paralleled I-80 west for a ways, then turned north and crossed the railroad tracks. I decided I'd like to get a picture of a train passing. I found a dirt road that followed the utility poles east and then a path, or at least tire tracks, that led back to the south, parallel to the highway and right to the railroad tracks. I figured this would be a good place to eat lunch and watch for trains. 
Unfortunately, I was watching the distance to the tracks and didn't notice that the trail went from dry to wet. As soon as I noticed the wheels slipping, I tried to head for the highway berm, but it was too late. The two left wheels sunk to the axles in cement-like clay mud, and I was stuck. Four-wheel drive does no good when all four wheels spin like inner tubes on water.
I had forgotten to throw the shovel that I used to keep in the Tahoe into the Toyota, so I found a small piece of plywood and started to dig a path out. I also stuck rusted steel and other garbage under the right wheels, which were in only a few inches of mud, trying to find some traction. This did not work at all.
Two guys in a DWR truck with ATVs stopped and asked whether I needed a ride somewhere. I asked if they had a shovel. They did. I bought it for $20. I started digging a trench. I also found a large pile of crushed rock the railroad had left by the tracks for road bed. I hauled several buckets of rocks and dumped them into the trench and under the right tires. This was not working. The tire treads were completely filled with the dense mud so the tires were like greased slicks spinning against the gravel. I also had a hard time keeping my shoes on my feet, as the mud kept trying to suck them off.
A tow truck heading out to Mag Corp stopped. He had to call his boss to see whether it would be okay to pull me out before he headed out to where he was supposed to be. His boss wasn't happy but said it was okay if it was a simple straight-out pull. He backed up his truck and handed me the cable hooks (he didn't want to get his cowboy boots in the mud). I slipped the hook into the Toyota's right tow loop. I couldn't connect the left hook, because the loop was right on the mud.
The tow truck driver turned on the winch, and his truck started sliding down the roadside. I gave the Toyota some gas and it slowly moved forward. I turned the steering wheel to the right to go up the highway berm, but the Toyota kept going straight toward a utility pole.
After three tries from three positions, we got the Toyota onto dry ground. I gave the driver $50.
I took a picture of a train as it passed.
When I got onto the highway, mud flew everywhere, and the Toyota drove like it was on severe washboard. Apparently mud was packed into the wheels, taking them way out of balance. I drove to the other side of the freeway, where a very bumpy road heads up the side of the mountain to a point that overlooks the freeway. I thought this might knock some mud off. A ton of mud fell onto the bumpy road.
As I headed up the mountainside, I scared up these animals. I think they're female bighorn sheep. Two guys standing by their truck at the top asked if I had seen anything interesting. I said, "You mean like some sheep?" They said, "Yes! We've been looking for them." I told them that I'd scared them up the mountain, and the guys took off, but I think the sheep were long gone over the top by then.
At the top of the point, I decided to pull the left two wheels to scrape out the remaining mud. Notice the wheel is off the Toyota. Notice the jack is to the left of the wheel. Notice the wheel rotor is on the ground and the bumper is sitting on a storage box. This is not good. After I got the wheel off, the Toyota rolled off the jack. Fortunately, I was able to get the jack out from under the fallen truck. Unfortunately, the frame where the jack needed to be placed was too close to the ground to fit the jack upright. Fortunately, the frame bends upward behind the wheel and I was able to get the jack under there. Unfortunately, even though I put the jack on a rock, the jack wouldn't lift the truck high enough to install the wheel. Fortunately, I found a big square rock that fit under the frame in front of the wheel well, so I was able to rest the truck on the rock while I moved the jack to its proper position.
I scraped at least 10 pounds of mud out of each of the left wheels. This mud is like thick, wet cement. It really sticks. 
All is well that ends well. The wheels are back where they belong. I drove to the car wash on 9th East and after $10 was able to wash most of the mud off. All is back to normal with no damage.
Except my gloves, hunting knife, and shoes. They still need some cleaning. And now I have to get caught up on my work.
2 comments:
I've been in similar situation before.
There's nothing a good car washing won't fix.
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