Friday, March 8th, 2024, at 8:16 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Oregon. The requester, William Howell, submitted the following information: “Got stuck in a 2023 grey Tacoma up in Lolo pass. It’s about 10 miles up the pass, with a second red Tacoma that is NOT stuck. The 2023 Tacoma slid into a drift and got buried, but it is still on the road. There’s a couple feet of snow. The vehicle is still fully functional, just buried in the snow. We are currently at Zig Zag Inn in Rhododendron, as we had to walk off of the pass. / I’m not with the vehicle.“
David Mrak processed the request. He contacted the requester, confirmed the location and situation, and shared it with local volunteers.
By 8:40 p.m., Martin Fulop offered to help with the recovery. By 11:00 p.m., they all came down, Martin shared: “We could use more help. The snow is about 10 inches deep a slick. I’m at the 76 station in welches. They don’t have gas after hours. I’m heading back up with very little gas. I have a one gallon can in the back. If someone comes up if they could please bring a gallon or two. Thanks”
Chip Dodge, another volunteer who went up shared: “There both are with me and I will take them into town“
Martin also shared that night: “Let me if I can be of assistance tomorrow. My Tacoma didn’t do very well in the deep snow this evening. Good night“
The following morning, at 7:12 a.m., David Mrak, reactivate the lobby with a quick note: “Thanks for the update, that’s probably a good idea. Let’s see who is avalable for tomorrow and what equipment/vehicles would be most capable.“
At around 10:00 a.m., we have some volunteers heading up Lolo Pass, we a bit of lack of coordination. Martin went up around 8:30 a.m., the requester went up around 9:00 a.m., and 9:30 a.m., Mikah Barnett, joined in. He later shared this quick note: “Requestor and someone else left the meeting spot before I arrived. So I headed up Lolo by myself, but stopped short around 4 miles from the vehicle. With no other rogs and no cell service I stopped and waited about 45 minutes. Never saw anyone so I headed back down.“
At 11:30 a.m., the request was closed; Martin sent a quick note to let us know they all went out and down safely.
A few days later, Martin sent us a few photos of this recovery.
I wanted to thank all the volunteers who participated in this recovery. It is hard to track how many exactly went up or showed up. But to all of you who did, THANK YOU. (offroad recovery in Oregon)
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