On Monday at 2:26 p.m., (PST) we received a recovery request from Arizona. Our new administrator there Rick Cooper, jumped into action and took care of handling the ticket. He contacted the requester, Meg Myers and corroborated all the information. We didn’t have a ton of volunteers in the area but he submitted the ticket to small group right away.
He also learned, Meg had already a tow truck coming the following day, so we will be in standby until the next day. Rick also confirmed she was ok spending the night there with enough food and water to last for days. The following day, John Scott, one of our local volunteers assisted in the recovery with the tow company and they got Meg back on the road.
Here are the original notes from Meg:
RWD Ford Econoline E250 Extended, high top. Gold with windows all around (can’t miss me).
I’m 4 miles past Jerome, AZ on Forest road 318. At the cattle guard, there is a little spur that leads to a camp spot. It was attempting to get to the camp spot when I became stuck. The van is high-centered on a rock on the passenger side. The rock is against my propane tank. The tank is scratched but in tact.
The passenger rear wheel has spun out in the soft dirt. The drive-side rear wheel is not spinning. Front tires appear to have good purchase, but it’s a RWD van. To extract, the van needs to be towed backwards about two feet to clear the propane tank. Then, I’ll need to continue forward for about 20 yards to a turn around spot, then re-navigate this spot back to the forest service road.
I have tried:
–Rocking back and forth (no longer any movement)
–Unloading all weight from the back of the van, letting air out of the tires, jacking up the van to get blocks and a rubber door mat further under the back tires, lowering the van and backing out (did all of this one one go)
–Using the “Save my Vehicle” service via a SPOT GPS tracker – roadside assistance cannot find a tow company that will come up this far.
–Jerome police (Office Lohman) have advised they cannot help since safety is not a concern.
Special thanks to John Scott for helping on this recovery! Awesome team work guys!
