Die Another Day

Before I begin the tale of this weekends adventure, I have to apologize for no pictures. We had the camera along, but believe it or not, I didn't have a chance to take any pictures. So I hope you enjoy reading a good, real-life thrilling, cliffhanger...literally.

What good is an adventure without a little risk involved, right? Well, usually I like to keep the risk factor to a minimum, but Saturday night we tip-toed on the edge - pun intended! After spending the morning and early afternoon hiking in the mountains we decided to see about getting to the top of a mountain and looking for a geocache. Around 6:00 we were on our way up and enjoying the ride in the Canubaru on the nice logging road. We made notes of a few places to hike every few miles, and a few places still had a few small patches of snow on the north facing sides. We crossed a few patches of slush around 9 miles and thought we might be having some fun getting to the cache through some snow. The Subaru is an all-wheel drive car, so it handles quite well on snow, ice, mud, sand and seldom gets stuck. It was around 65 degrees and earlier in the day we had been hiking with temps around 75, so we didn't mind getting our feet in the snow.

Around 10 miles into the mountains we DID get our feet in the snow. As we approached a corner, I noticed a drift stretching from the left bank into the middle of the road. The corner took a turn to the right and the road was concealed by trees, so I couldn't see the entire corner. As we started into the snow, I stayed to the right side to stay in the slush and keep the car from getting stuck - we rounded the corner and saw deeper snow patches up the road for several hundred feet and realized we would not be able to get through the snow or be able to turn round. So I stopped. I noticed the car slide to the right a little, but only a short slide and nothing to be concerned with. So, I asked Laura how much room we had to work with and she responded "Looks like about three feet before the edge."

I thought to myself "ok, three feet is plenty of room to get backed up and get out of this snow." So I put the car in reverse and looked over my shoulder. As I began backing up, I noticed the back of the car wasn't moving, but the front of the car was now sliding towards the right edge of the road.

If you don't drive mountain roads, then you might not know that when roads are built they are often slanted at corners to allow melting snow to drain off the road. Most roads are actually slanted to allow proper drainage, but more so in corners to keep water moving and the road dry.

Now that the car was slightly at an angle on the road and the car was backing slightly uphill in the snow, I realized things were getting a little hairy. I had Laura get out of the car to help me keep an eye on the edge of the road, which was now closer to two feet away. I told her to stand back about 20 feet and let me know if there was trouble. Once she was stationed, I gave the car a good shot of gas and let clutch go. I backed up about two inches before the front of the car really took a swing to the right and I slammed on the breaks! I turned around and notices the front passenger side of the car was quite low, much lower than it previously was. I looked back over my shoulder at Laura who was just starring at the front of the car and her jaw was hanging open. After a few moments of sitting in the car and waiting for her to give me a report, I leaned towards the passenger window and yelled out "How'my doin?" I really didn't need her to respond, I knew good and well that the car was not going the direction I wanted and things were getting real bad. As Laura walked up to the passenger window I asked "How much room do I have over there?" Laura looked down at the tire and responded, "Umm, not much!"

I jumped out of the car and ran around the front to see the tire now off the ice, but sitting on mud and rocks and slowly sinking into the mud. Now, up to this point I hadn't payed much attention to the ledge we were toying with, but I took a moment to look over the edge. I quickly guessed the initial drop to be around 25 feet, not straight down but darn near! From there, the trees might stop anything coming down the embankment, but a few breaks in the trees would allow for a car to pass through and likely keep going...I didn't care to think much past that so I didn't look any longer.

I looked up at Laura, who was standing with her arms crossed, in her t-shirt and shorts, she looked like she was getting cold. I agreed with her, I was in my shorts and t-shirt and wondering if we would be spending the night walking down the road and calling a tow truck. I mentioned the tow truck to Laura and I think that is when she realized we really might have ourselves a problem. She seemed to be a little more worried at that point, but I decided to give it one more try before throwing in the towel.

I went for the shovel in the back of the car and started clearing snow away from the tires. After I had a clearing around the car, I went to the edge and dug up some dirt and rocks and threw it around the tires in hopes of getting some traction. I created a run of several feet with the muddy rocks and then checked the passenger tire, which was still slowly sinking into the mud and sliding ever-so-slightly. I looked at Laura, trying to decide what to do. She was still standing with her arms crossed and had a slightly worried look on her face. I decided that the best route of action was going to require someone to pick the front of the car up and get it out of that muddy hole, and someone was going to have to drive the car forward... Seems like a simple plan right?

Let me explain my predicament to you. *Que flashback* When Laura and I were dating in the summer of 2004 we went for a drive in the mountains around Cody, Wyoming. As we went to the top of one of the mountains we encountered a very steep grade which really put us back in our seats, but clearly still drivable. Well, Laura was driving and began panicking, I told her to just back up and we will park the car and walk to the top. I was a little confused as to what the trouble was so I inquired to her worry. She explained to me she was afraid the car 'was going to tip over backwards.' I had to fight hard not to laugh, because she was clearly a little shaken and knew that laughing wasn't going to improve my status with her, but now that we are married I like to poke fun at her about that.

So, having that knowledge in my mind, I told Laura "You're going to have to drive the car and I am going to have to lift the car out of this hole." The look on her face was priceless, I wish I could have taken a picture because she was so horrified that it was almost funny. She looked at me with that look people people give you when you make some outrageous comment, as if to say "do you remember I am the one who was afraid of the car tipping over backwards, and now you think I am capable of driving this car out of this problem after you couldn't!!!! You are nuts!"

I explained to her that she wasn't going to be able to pick up the front of the car, and she would be just fine, which I believed she would do just fine, we were gonna get outta this one way or another! I was concerned that the car might roll over me if she didn't go forward and slid sideways so I took a moment to clear my mind and think about what was happening. I could tell that my concern had crossed her mind as well, but told her this was gonna work. As I rocked the car up and down, I was standing on about six inches of soil, and a lot of air below me. The rocking was working though, Laura began moving forward and the front wheel rolled out of the hole and up onto the road! Laura drove the car forward a few more feet and I put my hands out to push the back of the car farther up the road - like it was going to help. We did it! We had the car away from the edge and safely sitting on the road again! Sweet relief.

The problem now, was we had to back up past the area we had just slid into, but at least we had another chance. As I started clearing snow with the shovel I heard a car coming up the road. I continued to clear the snow from around the car, and the guy mentioned he didn't have any chains, towrope, or a shovel to help but he would push if needed. Just then another truck came up the road. He said he had some chains we could try, so he returned to his truck to get them. Laura talked to his wife while we lined up our options, as he returned with the chains he looked at our tracks along the edge of the road and said "Are those your tracks!!? Whoa, that was an ass pucker'er!" He got that right, that was the closest I have ever been to taking a short hike off a tall cliff!

The chains were too big for the car, but we decided to lay them on the ice and back over them. I kept putting mud and rocks behind the tires as well. I backed up a few feet and we moved the chains, then backed up again and moved the chains. The third time we passed the ice and I backed the car out onto the gravel on the logging road! FREEDOM! After a round of 'thank-yous' we were headed back down the logging road and making a b-line for home. That was enough excitement for the weekend.

Sunday, I sat in front of the tv and watched the NASCAR race at Talladega. Then I did some gardening outside, followed by more sitting on the couch and watching King of the Hill and The Simpsons to round out my weekend. I think we will both be ready for another adventure by next weekend, once the excitement of our mountain travels wears off. Until again

-=Nolan=-