Mission Report: Stevens Gulch

One of this weeks clients wrote this up, and we asked to share it. What a wonderful story and tribute to our amazing volunteers and members. Check it out, and more photos by Jim R on our website www.co4x4rnr.org !

“I had been planning to get up Grays and Torrey peaks for about 2 months and was pretty prepared for the long day of 14.5 miles round trip high altitude winter hiking (both are 14’ers). When I got to the only road that went up into the trailhead, and since the snow was pretty good, I foolishly thought I could cut some distance on this very long day by driving just a little further instead of stopping and walking. I managed to go 2 miles up and into Stevens Gulch Road (an unimproved heavily rutted dirt road) when whoops, I’ve been driving on snow that’s probably 2-3 ft deep, and fell into a snow bank. Oh, and I forgot my shovel.

After 2 hours of digging by hand and foot, and failing to free my ride, I had to abandon and hike down to cell signal to ask Aimee E to come pick me up (2.5hrs of driving away). It goes without saying how awesome she is and how lucky I am.

I knew I had screwed up big time, and there were was a very real possibility that I would have to leave my ride there for a month or so until things warmed up enough for me to try and get it out. I know now that too was wrong.

Lucky for me, I had reached out to Colorado 4×4 Rescue and Recovery http://www.co4x4rnr.org/, a non-profit volunteer organization filled with passionate, talented, and inspiring great people that have been helping folks get out of everything from run of the mill ditches to [cheek] clenching cliffs. They do this because they love to and it’s pretty amazing.

In a matter of hours a rescue team was organized and we planned to meet the next day around 4pm to crawl up and recover my ride. 4 very capable Jeeps showed up with 35 to 40 inch wheels, winches, and willpower.

The only thing is, when I mindlessly drove up the mountain it was 7 am or so, very cold. By the time we got started it was around 6pm and the snow had been warmed all day in the 50 degree temperatures. Think slushy, soft, and very deep snow.

It was not looking good for our rescue team’s effort to get up to my ride. At one point, we discussed reorganizing for another team to make a go at 6am. Aim, the kids, and I were leaving for Scottsdale to visit the grandparents for Easter at 3:45pm. Not exactly the best timing for a rescue attempt, but defintitely the best time of day for driving conditions. Remember the mindless morning driver?

In the end, Jason V broke trail fighting the whole way, inch by inch, skirting some very gripping road conditions (imagine tumbling off a cliff if you make a mistake), while Gunar H, Jeff S, and Charlie A with his wife Nikki, 4 year old son Bronc, and experienced 4wheeler buddy Cody all followed in their vehicles or on foot. Oh, and Aimee E was riding shotgun in the rear jeep.

Unbelievably, we made it up, extracted my stuck truck, turned it around, and eventually after some harrowing moments that get you hyper focused like when you are run-out way past your protection on a dicey trad climb, drove it out of the mountains safely. It was epic. So in the end, I learned a lot about driving in the Rockies, and made some cool friends 😉.” -Jim R

Photos also by Jim R

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