Thursday, March 16th, 2023, at 11:16 p.m. (PST), an alert was received from Oregon. Sharli, reported having their vehicle stuck in Browns Camp OHV.
The request read:
“Lifted 2003 Toyota RAV4 with 4wd and A/T tires on University Firepower trail in Tillamook.State Forest. Vehicle slid off-trail while attempting to climb a hill. Trail is snow-covered with ruts that are approx. 8-12″ deep. My vehicle has 9″ ground clearance and didn’t have any issues with high-centering. My winch broke and I wasn’t able to recover with Max-Trax or further lowering tire pressure to 8 psi. Rear right tire is off the ground and I don’t have locking diffs (If I did I wouldn’t be stuck, lol) Vehicle will need to be flat-pulled from behind with a kinetic rope, tow strap, or winch. Vehicle has a rear hitch and currently has a D-ring shackle mounted in the 2″ receiver. (Sorry, didn’t think to take photos) I already got a ride off the mountain into Portland. Pickup from Portland preferred, but can probably get a ride to Browns Camp or Coast Range Summit of OR-6. Would like to recover vehicle tomorrow 3/17 or Saturday 3/18/ I’m not with the vehicle“
Since the request was submitted close to midnight, we decided with Sharli to request help from volunteers the following morning. I verified his location and contact information. By 7:00 a.m. the following morning, I activated and submitted the ticket to local volunteers.
By 7:26 a.m., Martin Makela announced he could help in the afternoon; by 9:00 a.m., Richard Schmidt also joined the efforts for the afternoon. Richard offered a ride to Sharli. By 6:00 p.m., they were all with Sharli at the location of the vehicle. By 8:30 p.m., they finished getting the vehicle out and closed the request in our chat room / lobby.
Later that night, Martin sent us a full report with photos and a video. Amazing job guys!
From Martin:
“Richard wasn’t able to fit the F250 up the trail, and was on standby and remained in radio contact at the trail entrance in case we needed any help or gear. The heavy truck struggled a bit on the icy forest road up to the trail, and needed some help from a kinetic rope to make it to the top of the hill.The road conditions were very poor, a combination of icy hardpack and slushy snow and I got the jeep seriously stuck while trying to turn around 2 feet off the trail.
I was able to use a winch and snatch block to get the back end of the Rav4 back into the icy ruts, from where it found enough traction to move by itself. Not apparent in the photos is that one foot from the downhill side of the trail where the Rav4 was stuck, is a sheer drop of about 4 feet. Preventing a rollover due to that was a major concern, but we managed with shovels, recovery boards and a winch.“
