3 people, 2 vehicles stranded overnight on muddy back roads

Washington County Search and Rescue personnel rescue a man who got his vehicle stuck in the mud on Gooseberry Mesa, Washington County, Utah, Sept. 22, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Search and Rescue, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Three people in two vehicles ended up spending the night stuck in the mud after recent rains made back roads impassable Wednesday and Thursday.

Search and rescue personnel help extricate a couple who got stuck in the mud on Danish Ranch Road, Washington County, Utah, Sept. 22, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Search and Rescue, St. George News
Search and rescue personnel help extricate a couple who got stuck in the mud on Danish Ranch Road, Washington County, Utah, Sept. 22, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Washington County Search and Rescue, St. George News

The first incident occurred around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning when a minivan driver contacted 911 saying he was stuck in the mud on Gooseberry Mesa and wanted help getting out, Washington County Search and Rescue Liaison Darrel Cashin said.

The man had been living in his car and said he could not afford a wrecker.

“He was up on Gooseberry (Mesa) and it started to rain. And of course it’s very treacherous roads and very mucky,” Cashin said.

Deputies responded, but could not reach the man by vehicle. After driving as far as they could, they walked another 500 yards to reach the man. After checking the man’s health and making sure he had food and water, the decision was made to wait until daylight to pull the vehicle out.

Search and rescue crews returned early Wednesday morning and pulled the man and his vehicle off of the mesa.

In the second incident, a couple in a Chevy pickup got stuck on Danish Ranch Road, Forest Road 031 in Dixie National Forest. The dirt road runs between Leeds and St. George, in the foothills of Pine Valley Mountain, north and west of Interstate 15.

“They called into dispatch about 1 a.m. and said they were stuck in the mud,” Cashin said. The couple had called every wrecking company, but none of them thought they could make it into the area, even with four-wheel drive.

The entrance to Yankee Doodle Canyon, Washington County, Utah, photo undated | Photo by Bo Beck, St. George News
The entrance to Yankee Doodle Canyon, Washington County, Utah, photo undated | Photo by Bo Beck, St. George News

The truck was located about two miles west of Yankee Doodle Canyon, Cashin said. The road in this area is steep and winding and borders steep cliffs.

Deputies tried from both directions but could not reach the couple and almost got stuck themselves.

The couple was uninjured, so the decision was made to wait until daylight to get them out.

“They were fine, except they had to wait a while,” Cashin said.

Cautions

“My advice to people is, if it looks like it’s going to rain, don’t take the back roads, don’t take the dirt roads,” Cashin said.

“Because that hard-pack will turn to a very clay-like material and it will stick to your tires,” Cashin said, “and once it’s stuck to your tires you’ll have no traction, you’ll end up getting stuck and you could be there for quite a while.”

In situations where no one is ill or injured, Cashin said he prefers to err on the side of caution when deciding whether to send search and rescue crews out in the middle of the night or wait until daylight when it’s safer for rescuers.

“I’ve been in it (mud), I’ve had situations where if you’re on a hill and there’s a cliff off to the side, you’ll go to stop and your truck will still move.”

If someone had been hurt or sick, search and rescue would have done everything possible to rescue the parties as soon as possible, Cashin said.

Search and rescue crews do not generally pull out vehicles unless there are extenuating circumstances such as a vehicle stuck in a roadway, or near a cliff.

“It’s not something we routinely do.”

Ed. note: Corrected name of Pine Valley Mountain.

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Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

 

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7 Comments

  • .... September 23, 2016 at 4:38 am

    They should all be cited for loitering !

  • [email protected] September 23, 2016 at 9:45 am

    Both of these roads are referenced on maps as potentially impassable when wet.
    The weather forecast had generally warned of thunderstorms in the area.
    It just seems like the S&R folks get called into many situations, like these where there are no life threatening conditions, but caused by simple stupidity.
    At some point, S&R should be charging a fee for service to cover these costs. Pro bono towing services are not in their charter…..

    • Henry September 23, 2016 at 11:53 am

      Spot on comments.

      If the roads had become impassable, why not just place “road closed” signs at the end of the roads? The people could walk back to the main road to be picked up, since the weather was temperate. When the roads dried out, the private wrecker companies can drive in for a tow if still needed.

      • RealMcCoy September 23, 2016 at 2:23 pm

        Why not just use common sense and not take a minivan on a mud road? Or not take any road in the rain if it is made of clay dirt? Or not drive out into the sticks when there is a big storm approaching?

        Remember, a sign isn’t going to stop anyone if they really intend to do something.

      • RealMcCoy September 23, 2016 at 2:51 pm

        Why not just use common sense and not take a minivan on a mud road? Or not take any road in the rain if it is made of clay dirt? Or not drive out into the sticks when there is a big storm approaching?

        Remember, a sign isn’t going to stop anyone if they really intend to do something.

        If the poor guy is living in his van, I feel for him. He just shouldn’t have tried to drive the road in the rain. He could have just waited it out.

        The Chevy guy was just just trying to impress his girl, and THAT’S a recipe for disaster.
        Also note that the Chevy ‘truck’ that got stuck wasn’t a real truck- it was an Avalanche. Chevrolet defines it as a “Sport Utility Truck”…. It’s a yuppie truck made to put groceries in the back and maybe pick up a few boxes from Ikea. It was NOT made to leave the pavement and go off road, let alone go down a 4×4 road. Most Avalanches are only 2-wheel drive.

        It was stupidity that got him stuck.

        Here’s a fun link on the Avalanche, btw: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/why-the-chevy-avalanche-is-the-vehicle-of-asshats-every-1471180393

        • Henry September 24, 2016 at 5:20 pm

          You misunderstood what I said. You put up a sign that the road is closed AFTER they’re already stuck, so 1) you aren’t sending a tow truck to get them and 2) someone else doesn’t go down the road and get stuck too.

          • RealMcCoy September 26, 2016 at 11:49 am

            I did misunderstand. I read it differently than you intended, obviously.

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