Happy ending

We have had an epic (by western Washington standards) several feet of snow dump this past week. Typical heavy wet and just barely freezing temps.



Yesterday we got a call of a group of 5 folks that failed to return from a day trip into the woods. The area has no cell service. We got the cat out and after a 13 mile run found them sitting in their stuck truck. They had gas, food, and water so they were doing okay. 4 adults and 1 small child fit easily in the cat.



The snow was 3-4 feet deep. It was so soft it sunk rather than floated on top. I had snow over the tracks and rolling up over the headlights. At times it was in first gear with the pedal to the floor. It kept on rolling. Used about 28 gallons gasoline to run 4 hours. It was so deep the snowmobiles got stuck and the tracked side by side broke down. The fuel injection ran great. I'll post pics later.


I have to say they did a lot of things right. Told people where they went and when they expected to return. Had plenty of gas, food and water. Waited for help in the shelter of a warm Toyota Tacoma. One guy tried to walk out and barely made it a mile before returning to the truck. From a rescuer perspective it was perfect.



https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/four-adults-child-rescued-near-goldmyer-hot-springs-area/919242397

PJL,

Did you watch the Super Bowl? I ask because there was an extremely well done ad that was a tribute to First Responders. It has become fairly common today to thank military personnel for their service. I think this is both a nice gesture and long overdue, but First Responders similarly deserve significant credit. Many times they're volunteers, but either way they put their own lives at risk in saving others; and they do this time and again, and they do it willingly.

On the one hand I'm sure it can be rewarding to be thanked quite literally for saving someone's life, but I'm sure it can be frustrating to put yourself in peril to save some knucklehead from his own self-induced stupidity.

I would sincerely like to have a beer, or two with you and listen to some of your stories. I'll bet you have some great ones!

Thank you for your service!!!

Very awesome. They must have been excited to see or hear that cat coming to the rescue!

Must be a great feeling and a fun trip home for rescues with that outcome.

Thanks

Thank you Blackfoot and Addict. Pics as promised.

How does the vehicle and tracked vehicle get out now ?

It is unusual for people to make good decisions after the initial poor one. Had they not provided travel plans to the family,this may have turned out very bad. The news report should reflect the good decisions they made as a public service. Good work PJL and crew.

Gee, what a tale of a rescue. Thanks for posting it and the photos.

We towed the UTV out behind a Pinzgauer. The Tacoma will be there a few more days.

Some mighty happy faces in the back of that cat.
Is that that fancy 4x4 SAR Pinzgauer up in Redmond I've heard so much about??

(Nevermind, I see from his facebook page that it's the same one.)

Yep, same Pinz. I've ridden in it, cool rig. The owner pretty much restored it himself. He drove in my compacted tracks and had no problem.

i'm not sure if I went to wrangell at a good time or not. I hear your pretty busy.



jimvt

Did you hear or know, what had failed on the UTV??

PJL said:

We towed the UTV out behind a Pinzgauer. The Tacoma will be there a few more days.

Click to expand...

Jim maybe you are the smart one.

The belt broke in the UTV. They installed the spare and got a mile out of it. It's going to the dealer to see what's going on.

Pic is a local cat owner returning the favor. Our range was buried. Friend of Jim and I.

Thanks for letting us know what happen. Running machines in deep snow is tough on everything, and we replaced CTV belts yearly.

I clearly need to get out more, I saw the thread title and expected to see a snowcat parked at a massage parlor :th_lmao:

Clickbait. It worked.

I did 2 more trips yesterday.

It was a long week and "Snowmageddon" is finally over. Ran the cat on 3 real missions and 2 more training rides with some new operators. Put about 15 hours on the cat. It ran flawlessly. Only issue was an overheated fuse on a non critical circuit. The 30 year old fuse holder is a little weak.



Got some great PR too. 2 separate TV stations came out to see it and the county executive had to drive it around.



Thanks for the good vibes and the offer from a Tucker owner to drive up and help us out. The former Plumas County Trackmaster even got put to work.