Saturday, April 18th, 2026, at 10:29 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Oregon. The requester, Priscilla Son , submitted the following information: “We’re high sided on a big tree that we thought we could drive over. We were pushing the tree like an idiot and thought could drive over it.. don’t ask. Now, we think the car is potentially un-driveable as it’s leaking fluids— could be transmission or coolant, but coolant level isn’t dropping and transmission dipstick is reading high.
So basically stuck as of now. Lifting vehicle and pulling log is seemingly best option but not sure…
Also probably need to somehow to get to the main road as we are on an offshoot of a drivable forest road but currently in a pretty curvy road leading up to a campsite. We are warm and secure right now, but hoping to get recommendations or support tomorrow. Thank you! / I’m with the vehicle / I can help cover the cost of fuel.”
Once we received the request, right away we 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 were ready to contact volunteers within a 25-mile radius. Since this recovery was submitted pretty late at night, we discussed with the requester, and they informed us that they were camping and were comfortable spending the night at the location. and trying to get help in the morning.
The following morning at 7:30 a.m. we made contact again with the requesters, they confirmed the still needed help, so we decided to jump in and take care of this recovery ourselves since we were planning to drive to that area anyway.
The recovery was pretty straight forward, we arrived to find their camping setup on the right side of the trail, and the vehicle a few feet further stuck on the tree just as described. They have tried to cut the tree but even with the tree almost completed severed the vehicle was still high centered on it. The owner also explained, they had a hi-lift jack but it was locked with a lock they had misplaced the key.
Knowing the situation, I’ve brought some ramps to facilitate this recovery. I positioned my jeep from behind, connected my winch, and had Myrian sitting on my jeep, braking while I filmed and operated the winch. The vehicle gradually crawled over the ramps and the tree trunk, eventually becoming free in no time. We also accompanied them all the way to highway 35, as the vehicle had a damaged connector and was leaking coolant. Once they were safely back on the road, they called a towing service to complete their journey home.
Here is a quick video we made of this recovery…
If you would like to receive a text message when we get an offroad recovery request near you, create your account here: offroadportal.org/signup