My first thought was stolen/abandoned. Hopefully it isn't pillaged and left for scrap by summer.
My first thought was stolen/abandoned. Hopefully it isn't pillaged and left for scrap by summer.
Seriously...
That picture reminds me of pics one of my old co worker had from this time working in Antarctica.
If that rig belongs to a Rising Sun member, then I would imagine that RS folks will organize a recovery run. If not, then maybe we can offer to do it, but that would reflect pretty badly on RS if they can't get enough folks from their group to help with a recovery of one of their members rigs. Anyone on the RS forum can post any updates. If it was this forum, the rig would have already been recovered before they closed the pass.......
I just re read the article about the frozen woman in Minnesota that Chris posted. Take a really good look at what she is wearing. Figure that she was driving around in Minnesota in the wintertime with sub zero temperatures (or at least extremely cold). Now take another good look at what she is wearing for winter in Minnesota. Personally, I do not have any sympathy for someone who isn't bright enough to carry extra (or not even extras....maybe just a winter coat) winter gear in a place like that. Darwin has some good points to make. People that ignore the basic stuff get what they deserve.
Most of the 'rescues' that I have done that involved stuck wheelers (luckily not from this group, and mostly from getting flagged down on a road somewhere), the 'wheelers' have been in a spot, usually alone, that they shouldn't have been in in the first place, they were woefully unprepared as far as clothing, recovery gear, extra food or water, and basic knowledge of anything regarding the outdoors. Most of these were younger people, in t shirts, with no jackets or warm cloths, no knowledge of first aid (there were usually some broken bones, cuts, separations, dings and bruises), etc., and alone. They usually didn't have sense enough to start a fire, even though they had plenty of matches/lighters and smoked. They were all almost universally unraveled to the point where they weren't even especially rational.
I emphasis this a lot, and am going to do it again here:
Be prepared.
Let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return.
Carry extra cloths, food and water.
Carry a first aid kit and know the basics of first aid.
Carry a compass in addition to your GPS, plus a map that shows elevations, not your crappy MVUM
If you go out alone (which I like to do, BTW, hiking, rock/ice climbing, snowshoeing, wheeling) be prepared to 'suck it up and deal with it' if things turn to ****. See 'be prepared'.
It isn't the end of the world if things go wrong, even if you have something broken or dislocated miles from help....if you have the right mental attitude. It isn't a big deal to have to spend an unexpected night out....if you have some minimum survival gear/skills....and the right mental attitude.
Someone like this woman, dressed for a Minnesota winter in her cute mall clothes, pretty much deserves to die simply due to stupidity in my book. I don't think I would have wasted any time trying to thaw her out simply because she might, at some point, reproduce. We have enough stupid people around already....
I'd go and recover that, hell yeah!
I'd go and recover that, hell yeah!
Keep in mind that automatically 'recovering' a rig doesn't mean that it is yours. If you were to simply 'recover' the rig and take it somewhere, you have basically committed grand theft auto as the rig either belongs to the owner still or is now owned by the insurance company.
Remember a few years ago when a bunch of folks on the forum went out to recover a member's rig that had been stolen and driven off the trail, found by the FS, and left all winter long? The owner said (more or less) that he wasn't interested in it, recover it and keep it if you want to, insurance paid for it, etc. So a bunch of folks got together, spent a bunch of time and money to get the rig, then, when all was said and done and the rig was safely located at another member's garage, the owner decided he wanted it back..
I remember that mainly because it was a really crappy, cheap, and ugly piece of business on the part of the owner, and still think so. Shitty way to do business. I think you should remember this rather well also, as I think you helped with the recovery...
The owner is not a RS member and the LC has been there since October. I linked the RS thread earlier and they're discussing a hike to check it out and see if there's anything they can do to mitigate the damage thst's been done and that will happen with the freeze thaw cycles coming. Everyone appears to agree that it's not feasible to try to recover the truck until Spring.
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Chris in Florida
Definitely good to know that they made it ok and no one was stuck in the unit.
No argument, Kenny, and no argument about pitching in to help. The point I was making is that most groups tend to do their own recoveries and it he was member of any specific group, then that recovery is already in the works. Recoveries work the same way as rescues. Get too many people involved and it takes twice as long, doubles the confusion and there end up being way too many bystanders.
If someone knows how to get in touch with this guy or gal, then by all means do so and there will be people here who will step up and help out, including me if time and money allow. If 50 people want to go and recover this rig, then count me out as I have seen way too many Chinese Swarm Screws when it comes to rescues of any kind, people or rigs.
Brody,
I understand the chinese fire drill all to well. Since the owner is not part of a group RS has stepped in to try to recover it and handle the recovery effort. I don't want to get politickal but that is the recovery effort at this time from what i understand. Right now there are only a few folks working on the recovery with plenty of volunteers at the ready. More to the fact that the area and conditions take certain equipment, skill and knowledge. I don't think you will see me up there with a Soft Top that has plenty of gaps and only a few good snaps holding it down and no heat trying to fight the 60 plus winds even though my rig maybe more than cable to help on the extraction. RS has discussed getting up there by hiking, snowshoeing or skiing in and get the snow out of it and plastic wrap it to try to mitigate the damage till it is possible to get up there and pull it out. Just keep an eye on the RS thread and like i said if anyone has resources that may help please post up. See you on the trails.
That's pretty dang scary to think about "what could have happened" but I am glad the owner is safe/alive. Equally interesting to think of the (apparently) solo-hiker who found the thing... guess he knows what he's doing; hiking above treeline in winter conditions and so on. If I found that, I don't think I would have opened the doors either... a little too spooky. At least the guy is owning up to his mistakes and not trying to pass off the blame; here's hoping he applies what he's learned on his next trip.
>>Dan
Looks like the 80 has been rescued. http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-te...oderators.html
Plopped in a new battery and drove it home!
Pretty cool, some RS folks did it the other day: http://risingsun4x4club.org/forum2/s...ad.php?t=15082
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Chris in Florida
27 pages worth of yapping about it, really? I didn't think it was that much of a big deal. But, I guess they had to be over anal about every last little detail almost down to what they were going to wear...
Wow, that's a really entertaining story!
I just can't believe that yoda was not stripped down to the frame after being there so long. Does this mean there is hope for the human race? Or is Mexico all filled up on yoda parts?
SOOOO cool that noone messed with it. RS did a great job of recovery. Glad it turned out to be so easy and that the owner has his truck back in good shape.