That one time I got stuck in the middle of nowhere
Here is a fun account of a mess I got myself into while out doing photography in April 2021.
At the time, I was newly obsessed with rainy woodland scenes, and I had a handful of spots in mind to revisit once the “ideal” conditions came to a wildlife management area I regularly visit. I’ll start by showing one image I made that day, taken in a downpour so I had to use an umbrella and lots of cloths to keep everything reasonably dry. I won’t get into how I would compose it differently now almost two years later. To me, it’s a fine photo and a good memento.
Dry the Rain, 4/24/21
After making this photo, I decided it would be a good idea to explore a dirt road I’d noticed a week prior, in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring rain. The thought of getting stuck never crossed my mind and I was keen to see where it led. In my defense, I’d driven all over this mountain in both rain and snow and my 4WD had performed perfectly, but the sheer volume of water this day was truly monumental. Of course, rain plus dirt equals mud - something I didn’t consider in my zeal.
So naturally I got my vehicle stuck in the mud backing down from a rise I decided I couldn’t overcome. I called AAA and was told they could send a tow truck, so I waited for almost two hours sitting at an angle inside my vehicle. I didn’t call them again because my phone was low on battery, and my gas tank was a quarter full. I didn’t want to keep my car running in case I needed to sleep in my car overnight and run the engine to keep warm.
I started feeling anxious tapping my fingers as the rain fell. “Nothing good can come of just sitting here”, I thought, so I decided to get out. That’s when things went from bad to worse.
One of my vehicle’s fun quirks is the number of door handles that feature keyholes (its key-less entry clicker key had been broken for years). That number is one, and it is located on the driver’s side. On this particular day, my driver’s side door was pinned shut by earth and, had I been thinking, I wouldn’t have allowed the door to lock as I exited. There are many “should haves” and “shouldn’t haves” in this story.
To get myself out, because the driver side door was pinned, I had to climb uphill toward the passenger side. Thinking back, that challenge combined with my nervous mind was almost definitely the reason I unconsciously locked it, or left it locked. At any rate, the door closed hard behind me due to the slope, I said something I wouldn’t say in front of my in-laws, and did a quick inventory of everything I had on me: rain jacket, knife, dying phone, umbrella. With no way to reenter my car, I called my wife and managed to scare her because my phone completely died mid-explanation. All she heard was “Hey it’s me, I’m stuck..” I also texted a couple of friends who I thought could help.
Hours went by standing in the rain, waiting for the AAA wrecker. Three, four, five. It was now mid-afternoon. My phone wouldn’t cooperate and I was locked out of my car. Chilly rain soaked though my pants and rain jacket, despite the umbrella I held onto. I grew cold, hungry, and anxious. Thoughts were becoming fuzzy and frantic. Was AAA ever going to come? I couldn’t call them or anyone else at this point. Maybe they were trying to find me, so I should hike to a connecting road.
Around hour six I decided to hike out of the forest and down the mountain, and cross my fingers I would run into AAA or someone else who could help. By this point, my wife had already called a couple friends with trucks that might be able to come find me and pull my car out.
[It turns out AAA had tried to get to me after I’d called from inside my car. A few of their voicemails, retrieved days later with my replacement phone, explained their driver had made an attempt but couldn’t get past the mountain roads narrow switchbacks. He had tried calling me, but my phone had died from water damage. Their corporate office also advised they simply don’t service remote back roads like these.]
I walked in the direction of a campsite about half a mile away, certain that nobody in their right mind would actually be out “enjoying nature” in this mess. Thankfully though, one tent was visible and I made my way toward it. No people were visible but cars were parked nearby so I knew someone had to be home, so I said “Excuse me, sorry to bother you…” and a gentleman responded. He came out with his girlfriend, and I nervously explained the predicament. I’m sure they were alarmed by the shakiness in my voice and my appearance, but they were happy to give me a ride off the mountain and into town.
Once we made it to civilization (a small town about 45 minutes away) they kindly drove me around shopping for a phone charger. After visiting a few convenience stores and attempting to charge my phone, we determined nothing would work because my phone had become totally waterlogged. These lovely people unfortunately had forgotten their phones back at their campsite, probably due to the unexpected sight of me and their rush to help. At this point I should have asked to use a convenience store’s phone but the thought just never occurred to me.
Finally, I asked the couple to drop me off at a small, decent-looking diner off the side of the highway so I could get warm and they could get on with their camping trip. I assured them I was fine and thanked them deeply, then walked inside carrying two plastic bags that contained cheap gas station phone chargers, Snickers bar wrappers and empty potato chip bags. Inside, I ordered soup and used my servers cell to call my wife. I garnered some concerned looks from other customers as I hunched over my bowl and devoured my chicken noodle.
After about an hour and a half, my wife and our good friend Mark arrived at the restaurant. I was grateful for the change of clothes they brought me, and the sight of their faces. They poked fun and I happily accepted each dig. We ventured back up the mountain to my car so we could assess how badly I’d gotten it stuck. Rain had continued falling all this time, so when we reached the site, my car was now more tilted and even deeper in mud. Despite his generosity and kindness in coming all this way, picking me up and offering to help even more, there was no way we could justify risking his truck getting stuck in a tow attempt. The rain finally subsided, but it was getting dark so we decided to get out of the rain and rescue my car another day.
But I wasn’t leaving my camera gear. My bag was in plain view in the backseat and, since my car was stuck in the middle of nowhere, any random person could easily break a window and make off with it. I had no idea when I would be back - it could take days or weeks to find someone who could pull me out of the ditch. Using Mark’s hammer I busted out a window, grabbed my bag, left a note and covered the opening with a bit of cardboard and my trusty carpet tile. We went home and I finally warmed up as I went to bed, feeling sorry to have caused my wife and friends so much trouble and concern.
Over the next few days, I tried getting help from local authorities (i.e. game warden) to retrieve my vehicle but was told the road was just too remote. A couple local tow companies said they might be able to do it, but they were booked out for days and would have to charge a lot of money.
Eventually, thankfully, another good friend came through and rallied his neighbors. He and a couple buddies were more than happy to help, and I’ll be forever grateful to Andy and his gang. One such buddy happily drove his large, old school wrecker up the mountain’s windy roads, part of our caravan of trucks and willing souls. At the top of the mountain, he proceeded to smoke a joint, guzzle a beer, then effortlessly pull my car from the ditch. It was nothing for him, a real cakewalk. I sensed his quiet pride and expressed how impressed and grateful I was. We celebrated and hooted and hollered. I was humbled.
A week later, I repaid Andy and his crew with cases of beer and some cash, and Mark with a nice dinner out. I am still repaying my wife for the scare by agreeing with her, any time the story comes up, that I should have been more careful and made better choices. I genuinely should have been more mindful of the road conditions that day, my cars capabilities and my own driving skills.
I no longer drive in mud with my vehicle, no matter how photographically appealing the conditions or how curious I am about some random road in the woods. I now keep mud boots in my car for such occasions, and my new phone is water resistant. I’ll always be grateful to everyone who gave me a hand that day.
I’ll never live it down, but I probably shouldn’t.
