Wednesday, March 6th, 2024, at 6:55 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in California. The requester, Sean Collins, submitted the following information: “WE ARE NOT with the vehicle, we have returned home safe. Sunday night March 3rd my son got his white 2022 Ram Big Horn (2WD with no chains) stuck in the snow on Bartlett Springs Road in Lake County. He was evacuated by Lake County Sherrif late that evening. Attempted to recover the vehicle today, 3/6/24, but no local tow vendor was willing to help. The vehicle is at 2,9986 ft elevation. The vehicle was traveling south-bound on Bartlett Springs road, coming from Indian Springs lake, heading toward the Nice/Lucern area of Highway 20. The truck’s front tires are in a ditch and truck is horizontal to the road way, blocking the entire road. I am worried about vandalism or theft. Accessing from the Highway 20 side could have as much as 12″ of snow as the pass is close to 4,000 ft in elevation. Accessing from Indian Springs is preferred, but close to 35 miles. We live in Placer county and have the vehicle keys with us. Is anyone available to help this Saturday March 9th? Would be glad to pay a reasonable amount for assistance. The snow could be between 2″ and 6″ on the behind the vehicle and 6″-12″ on the road between Highway 20 and the vehicle. The snow could also be melted by SAT. Also looking for any suggestions to get the vehicle out. / I’m not with the vehicle“
Our administrator, David Mrak, organized this recovery, verified the location, contacted the requester, and submitted the ticket to local volunteers.
Since the vehicle was left behind, there was a bit more time to find volunteers. The requester was 2 hours away from the vehicle. Elan Moyal took over the request. He coordinated with the requester to perform the recovery the following day, on Thursday. Although they projected, the road to be clear by then, they discussed potential points to connect a winch if necessary.
The following day the recovery was performed. We received a quick note from Elan.
Elan’s note:
It’s a heavily trafficked fire road that connects to many homesteads so someone came through within the last 3 days and recovered the pickup out of the ditch. When we arrived, it was already placed gently to the side of the road for us and the wheels were chocked with rocks. We just arrived, hopped in and drove away without taking pictures.
We appreciate Elan’s willingness to help. Awesome job!
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