O
Oscar Mike
Guest
Yesterday, 6/21/2015, three of us took off into the desert to do a "quick" pre-run of a guided trail run scheduled for next weekend. As we pulled into our destination at Boat House Cove (9-miles from North Shore Road, Lake Mead, NV) one of the guys got a rush of adrenaline and floored his Jeep in order to do a spin out in the mud. As he did so, much to my dissatisfaction, (knowing Lake Mead as well as I do), his Jeep sank up to the oil pan in sticky, black, clay, mud.
We then made our first mistake, we did not take EXTREME measures to not get a second Jeep stuck in the retrieval process. I then learned of my second mistake, I have a Smittybilt 8,000# winch that did not winch. So we dug as the temperatures rose, we realized our "fatal" mistake. Not enough water, temperatures were expected to rise to 115+ at Lake Mead, no bars on the cell phone, no one from our respective families were told where we were going. We were quickly looking like statistics in the making. Luckily we stopped short of getting the third Jeep stuck in an effort to free me from the mud because I failed to survey the area to ensure the safety of my Jeep.
Lessons have been learned again, fortunately we belong to a wonderful, courageous, and supportive Jeep club, The Desert Wranglers. After several hours of trying to free the vehicles from the unrelenting mud (another mistake in judgement), we finally made the decision to have the third Jeep send out an "All-Call" to the Desert Wranglers. We sent the third Jeep out to fetch water, food (yes we forgot to bring food), and help. Seven hours later Jeeps, and a boat showed up with people eager to assist, each bringing valuable water.
I am thankful today to not have become a statistic.
We then made our first mistake, we did not take EXTREME measures to not get a second Jeep stuck in the retrieval process. I then learned of my second mistake, I have a Smittybilt 8,000# winch that did not winch. So we dug as the temperatures rose, we realized our "fatal" mistake. Not enough water, temperatures were expected to rise to 115+ at Lake Mead, no bars on the cell phone, no one from our respective families were told where we were going. We were quickly looking like statistics in the making. Luckily we stopped short of getting the third Jeep stuck in an effort to free me from the mud because I failed to survey the area to ensure the safety of my Jeep.
Lessons have been learned again, fortunately we belong to a wonderful, courageous, and supportive Jeep club, The Desert Wranglers. After several hours of trying to free the vehicles from the unrelenting mud (another mistake in judgement), we finally made the decision to have the third Jeep send out an "All-Call" to the Desert Wranglers. We sent the third Jeep out to fetch water, food (yes we forgot to bring food), and help. Seven hours later Jeeps, and a boat showed up with people eager to assist, each bringing valuable water.
I am thankful today to not have become a statistic.