Unexpected Vehicle Recovery

This story begins with a beautiful sunny but cold spring day in Northern Michigan. My work for the day was complete so I decided to recon some trails in the Sturgeon River Valley. With no real plan other than to record tracks on Gaia GPS for some trails I’ve previously seen in this area, I set off in the FJ Cruiser. Now our dedicated Overland Vehicle, most of the gear is already on board and ready to go. Including vehicle recovery and medical gear. After a couple of hours probing some of the tighter trails in the area, I decided to close the loop and start heading in the direction of home. That’s when I came across a flat bed tow truck in the middle of nowhere.

Establishing communications

The operator frantically flagged me down and walked up to the passenger window. Asking if I had any cell service, I checked my phone…only one bar. Apparently he had both AT&T and Verizon phones, but neither had a signal in the Sturgeon Valley. It seems the weBoost 4G-x OTR Signal Booster I recently installed might work after all. Turns out, the tow truck operator is also a volunteer firefighter and needed to call 911 dispatch. Apparently, several firefighters, along with this gentleman, have been trying to locate a vehicle out here that activated their OnStar emergency protocol. Once contact was finally made to the local 911 dispatch, the Latitude and Longitude of the vehicle in distress was relayed to us.

Search and Rescue

Using the iPad mounted in the FJ, our main source for navigation, I input the coordinates into the Gaia GPS app. Although one bar of 4G may be enough to make a phone call, it isn’t enough signal to search the internet. To improve the signal, I decided to drive to higher ground about a mile up the road. Once there, the signal booster was able to grab a stronger LTE signal and the lost vehicles location was now indicated on my navigation screen. Returning to the tow truck operator, we decided it was best to continue the search in the FJ. The location of the lost vehicle wasn’t far from our location but appeared to be on a windy two-track road. No need to get the tow truck stuck as well.

As we closed in on the coordinates, we came upon an unmarked fork in the road. Looking at the map, I decided to just honk my horn…and heard a faint honk to the right. Know we knew which direction to head. As we veered right and crested the hill, a white Chevy Equinox lay dead in the water. Stuck in the middle of a mud hole way too deep for a vehicle like that. So we hopped out to size up the situation. Inside the vehicle was an elderly woman in tears. Her vehicle stuck and the footwells flooded with cold water. She had been sitting there hoping the OnStar button she pushed three hours ago had gone through. Fortunately for her, it did.

Vehicle Recovery

With no way to get the tow truck to this remote location, using the winch became the best course of action for vehicle recovery. As I positioned the FJ and prepped the Warn Winch, the tow operator utilized my soft shackle and hooked it to the rear wheel of the Equinox. Placing the FJ in neutral and applying the brakes, I began to reel-in the winch and pull the stuck vehicle from the water. Back on dry land, the drivers door opened with a gush of water as the cabin drained. The grateful lady came over and gave me a big hug. I felt good about being able to help and started tidying up my recovery gear. The tow operator turned her vehicle around and drove her back to his truck. And she found a better route home. I later found out that it was OnStar that provided her directions in the first place. Crazy!

After Action Review

The bottom line is being as prepared as you can be when heading out into the wilderness. Whether in a vehicle, a bike or on foot. Having the correct tools to not only help yourself, but possibly someone else. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And was properly equipped to communicate, locate and recover a vehicle in distress.

Like all soldiers, I preformed an after action review (AAR) on my ride home. To self analyze what went well, what didn’t and how could I have been better prepared. It was then that I realized I had to remove one of the Warn Epic Shackles from my bumper in order to attach the Factor 55 Pro Link to the soft shackle. Which slowed down the recovery process a little. I should carry a spare shackle in my recovery bag. I also failed to place a damper on the winch line in case of a line failure. Something I neglected to add to my kit. So I could have been better prepared.