It all starts around 9pm with a night of heavy overcast to cover the light of the moon. Add a bit of drizzle and rain with a bit of cold fridged air and finally one comment: "you know, I've really only been muddin' with 4-wheelers." You soon can end up like the above picture without even trying hard.

After a 1/2 mile walk out of the old strip mine of solid mud, then a 3.5 mile hike back to town (with only a small flashlight, mind you) you begin to realize that fun is only fun to an extent... then it can turn into one of those great lessons in life.

After getting a buddy with a Nissan Pathfinder and leaving my S-10 Blazer near the entrance (in case we buried the Pathfinder too) we finally ventured to the back of the strip mine where the final stage of mud was lying in wait for it's next victim.

With 2 new tow straps, 2 shovels, and a set of come-alongs we attempted to release the Ford from the mud. We couldn't get the Pathfinder all the way back to the truck so we were forced to try to use the trees for anchors. Working all night and most of the morning... we finally gave up when the come-alongs broke about 3am. One the way out we learned the S-10 Blazers 4 wheel drive wasn't working... after a bit of stress it crawled out in 2 wheel drive luckily.

About 4 hours later when the sun was up and the vacuum hose that came off the Blazer was fixed.... we headed back in to see what we could do in the daylight. Below is what we saw:

The deal was happily made (didn't even have to pay him first!). We cut the straps off the front of the truck since the handle broke on the come-alongs and we had no other option to release the crazy thing.

Shoveling was rough... the mud wouldn't come off the shovels much less anything else. A combination of shovels and hand digging finally produced a moat around the truck. Being the lowest spot in the valley it filled with water naturally. This was a problem as the winch mounts in the drop hitch. Scooping the water out of the hole resulted in water running right back in.

So the only thing I could think of was to dig ANOTHER hole beside the truck that was deeper for the water to run into.... dig, dig, dig.... we actually dug to some trenches the truck had already left... before it got stuck. Yup, the truck actually backed up and pulled forward 3 times before finally sticking.

This small trench we had dug was actually working.... just needed to do it more. So we dug and dug some more. We kept going to the easiest place we could, until we finally connected another set of tracks left by another 4x4 when it was obviously less muddy. While this made the funniest looking trench you ever have seen (6 feet to the right - angled 8 feet back past the starting point - then 4 feet back to the right - 2 feet straight back - then 1 foot to the left to finally hit the 4x4 track) it eventually was enough to drain our little pond enough.

I wish I had more pictures of the removal process, but I was helping instead of taking pictures... so now we have to skip to the truck finally being dragged out and sitting along side the hole it was in.

Here is our proud owner carrying his tailgate back to the "safe" area as it had to be removed so the wench power cable could reach his battery.

Let's try that winch one last time shall we? With all that mud and clay caked into the tire tread it got stuck again trying to back out.

Here's a picture just to show you that the truck does actually have tires! Also it shows you the amazing little winch that saved an expensive tow truck bill. I believe the guy said it was an 8,000lb. winch that he doubled with a pulley.

This is a valuable picture here... shows some of the tools destroyed in this adventure, and also shows the owner showing his IQ while venting a bit of frustration. See by the time we get to this picture, we had 4 more people here. When one gets all excited that his truck is now in the clear and he can start talking big again about how tough it is for getting that far before it "finally" got stuck, and then you get in the truck and it won't start because the battery is dead... everyone there busts out in laughter! Truly a light moment that was much needed from the work.

Here's my Blazer after jump starting the truck and making their way home. Not too bad, but I'm certainly glad Gaylen figured out what was wrong with the 4 wheel drive. It was much needed to get home.

Finally we have our Fearless Ford safe and back on the road.... they really should have left that 302 in a mustang where they found it. LOL

Until our next adventure! C ya :)