Friday, November 7th, 2025, at 6:02 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in California. The requester, Garrett Colbern, submitted the following information: “I’m stuck in the mud 3 miles off of Ager Beswick Road. I’m authorized to be on the property and the Land Lord has been notified of the situation. I can cover cost of fuel. This is in private property with owners consent. / I’m with the vehicle”
Our administrator, Al Fontan, contacted the requester and verified the contact information provided, GPS location, and current situation before sending the request to local volunteers. In this particular recovery, we contacted volunteers within a 35-mile radius.
From the group of local volunteers contacted we had Corey McNulty and Peter Gannon, marking themselves as engaging and teaming up to go help with the recovery.
Corey was about 50 miles away, Peter was about 40 miles away. The recovery was completed by 8:20 p.m. we later received reports from both Corey and Peter. We are sharing those below.
Notes from Corey:
I was just getting off work on November 7, 2025, when at 1602 HRS PST, I received an off-road recovery request notification on my phone. The request was submitted by Garret C., who reported the following:
“I’m stuck in the mud about three miles off Ager Beswick Road. I’m authorized to be on the property and the landlord has been notified. This is private property with the owner’s consent. I’m with the vehicle.”
Garret also provided three photos of his vehicle — a newer generation Ram 2500 Hemi, weighing approximately 6,000 pounds (over three tons). Based on the photos, it appeared the truck was on relatively level ground, simply bogged down in the mud. I figured I could take my 2001 Jeep XJ, attach a recovery strap, and pull him free — a quick and easy recovery, or so I thought.
Since no other volunteers were available at the time, I marked myself as “engaging,” contacted Garret, and began the 50-mile trip from Mt. Shasta, CA to Ager, CA to assist.
Upon reaching the base of the road leading to his location, I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be a simple situation. The road started at an elevation of roughly 2,600 ft and climbed to about 4,400 ft in less than three miles — steep, muddy terrain with grades approaching 20 degrees in several sections. After navigating the inclines, I arrived at Garret’s location around 1730 HRS, just as darkness was setting in.
Garret’s truck had slid 2–3 feet over the edge of a 20-degree slope, with its tires sunk deep in slick mud and the frame resting on the ground. Any further movement could have sent the truck down aseveral-hundred-foot drop, likely totaling the vehicle.
I positioned my Jeep slightly downhill from his truck and used my winch to anchor to a tree about 25 feet ahead. The goal was to pull the Ram uphill and back onto the trail (see attached photo). However, I soon discovered I didn’t have my snatch block, which made the recovery significantly harder. I attempted to run the steel winch cable through a D-ring, which worked briefly — we managed to move the Ram about a foot — but the sharp angle caused too much friction. Instead of pulling the Ram back up, the tension began dragging my Jeep uphill toward it.
At that point, I requested backup from another member, Pete G., who was standing by. Due to the steep, slippery terrain, I couldn’t position my Jeep above Garret’s truck without risking sliding down myself.
When Pete arrived, he had a snatch block, which made all the difference. With it, we were able to redirect the winch line and successfully pull the Ram’s front end back onto the trail. After repositioning, we hooked onto the rear axle and winched the truck fully onto solid ground.
Once recovered, we packed up our gear and carefully backed down the mountain until we could safely turn around. Back at the base, Pete aired Garret’s tires back up before we all headed out. Honestly, if it weren’t for Pete and that snatch block, my XJ wouldn’t have been able to get the Ram out.
Takeaways:
- Photos can be misleading — they rarely capture slope, depth, or true terrain conditions.
- Always double-check your recovery gear before heading out. You never know when you’ll need that one item you thought you wouldn’t.
Notes from Peter:
This recovery was on very steep terrain. Involved a heavy 4 door 4×4 Dodge 2500 pickup. The recovery vehicle was a stock Jeep XJ with a winch. Backup was my Jeep TJ. Not needed to assist.
The Stuck individual is a Cell tower technician and was accessing an internet cell tower relay station at the top of a mountain in a remote area. Very muddy steep trail. To complicate his stuck he ended up off the trail while trying to back down and hung off the cliff. As you already know pictures just can’t document the 3 dimensional situation. His Pictures
The method chosen was a winch pull forwards to get the front back on the trail. Then a rear wheel pull sideways to slide it back on the trail. Then assisting the driver as he finished backing down the extreme steep grade. It was difficult because of the size of the vehicle and continued uncontrolled sliding in the mud. Slow and steady finished the technical recovery with one rig solution.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to Corey and Peter for their exceptional work. We are truly humbled by the remarkable efforts of our volunteers in every recovery.