Sunday morning was bright and clear. The temperature was mild for this time of year. Stephan looked out the window and said, "I must be outside today" (maybe not those words exactly, but the spirit was the same). We had a choice. We could:
a) stay home and clean the house
b) go to the bar and watch the Bear Game
c) drive out to Strawberry Hill Recreation Area and go for a hike
It's obvious which option we chose. Getting there was no problem. It's a 70 mile drive on the highway, and a turn-off onto a dirt road. About 1/2 a mile on this dirt road, you come to a gate. The sign says, "Please Close Gate," which we did. This dirt road was pretty frozen at 11am when we got there. There was very little mud, and the steep hills and gullies were navigated with relative ease by my fearless husband.
At one point, we got to a hill that the 2005 Ford Escape (111,000 miles) just could not climb. It was too steep and the mud was too slick. I swear I then said this to Stephan... "Uh oh! If we can't climb that hill, I don't think we're going to get out of here!"
Regardless, we parked the car and went for an amazing 2 hour hike with the dogs. The views were spectacular, and as every hill became more steep and muddy than the last one, we realized that the 'recreation' was of the motorized type- this is a recreation area for 4-wheelers, dirt-bikes, and all-terrain vehicles. Hey, we thought, we should try that some day.
Mud caked our boots as we climbed back in the car after a short snack. The dogs fell right to sleep in the back- very happy for the exercise. The first few hills were no problem. Then, as we were about 1/4 mile from the gate, Stephan stopped the car. The road rose about 70' in the air at an angle of about 30 degrees (this statement is debateable now, but I'm typing so it's 30). It was covered in wet, melted snow mixed with mud.
The car actually made it up the first few steep angles. Stephan hit the gas and did about 35 miles an hour to gain momentum. Soon, though, the car began to slip backward. He found a modestly flat area, and stopped the car. He took several running starts, and rocked the car back and forth. The car slid sideways, backwards, climbed forward a few inches, then slid backward again.
After about 30 minutes of this playfulness, we called 411 for the number of a tow truck. The first number they gave me was a cattle-towing company. Not so helpful. The second one promised to send a truck out in 30 minutes.
Pete was very helpful. However, he didn't want to bring the big $130,000 tow truck to an area that was that unstable. So he brought a 4-wheel drive pick up, and about 40' of tow chain. Sadly, our car was 80' from the top of the hill. Pete tried getting his truck closer to our car, but the truck started sliding down uncontrollably, and, as he regained control at the last minute, parked the car and decided that wasn't going to work.
He fiddled with our car, and a chain, for another 45 minutes. No luck. the sun was beginning to set, things were starting to get pretty cold. The next idea was for Pete to drive us (with dogs) into Miles City, where Stephan could buy chains for the car, and take a taxi back to the Recreation Area, and try again to drive the car the last 80'. Just as that plan was about to go into effect, Julia and Jerry drive up on their 4-wheelers. Jerry had just bought his new, with a....
BRAND NEW WINCH!!!!
That apparently has a towing capacity of over 1,500 lbs- the weight of the 2005 Ford Escape.
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