Sunday, April 26th, 2026, at 3:08 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Washington. The requester, Daniel Chum, submitted the following information: “My ’23 Lexus GX460 is stranded at the provided coordinates. I was attempting to descend a slope when my tires went off the tracks and paved into soft snow- which eventually hardened into ice with nightfall. I got a ride home from a family member, and had officially left the vehicle at 9PM of 4/26/26. The car is 100% operational, but dug into snow. From solid ground, there is a patch of gravel roughly 700 feet away, with plenty of room to turn around once the GX is recovered. There are many trees surrounding the trail, and I believe a winch pull with a snatch block would solve my situation. I am not with the vehicle, but at home in Mill Creek, which is roughly two hours away from the trail. / I’m not with the vehicle / I can help cover the cost of fuel.”
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 contacted volunteers, Curtis Shepherd volunteered to take over the recovery. He was approximately 55 miles away, which would take him about an hour and a half. He was at work until later in the afternoon, so initially, he marked himself as available. Later, around 3:15 p.m., we contacted him, and he indicated that he would be engaging in our lobby and loading up to assist us. By 6:30 p.m., the request was closed. Curtis completed the recovery and announced in our lobby that everything went well.
We want to thank Curtis for helping. Awesome job!
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
During the summer, we generally received very few requests. However, it’s still a good idea to share old recoveries that we’ve successfully completed, even if they’re a few months old.