Idiot In The Entiat!

[WAmuleyHunter]

ENTIAT – It’s taken two days, 3,000 feet of winch cable and 4.5 hours of careful hauling, but the jeep that was stuck on a hillside north of Entiat is now safely back in its garage.

And owner Mark Brandt is overwhelmed by the generosity of others.

“Ninety nine point nine percent of the people out there are good, honest, decent folks,” says Brandt, who says he’s received offers of help from as far away as Minnesota.

“They just want to help you out,” he said. “They don’t want to mess with you. They don’t want to hurt you. And, if given half a chance, they’ll help you. To a person, that’s how things have gone.”

Brandt was exploring U.S. Forest Service roads in his new Jeep on Feb. 19, when he strayed from the roadway and got stuck on a steep, unstable hillside overlooking Highway 97A, just above Ribbon Cliff Orchard.

He abandoned the vehicle, but left a sign in the windshield with his name, phone number and the message, “Gone for help.”

Off-roaders posted news and photos of “the stuck Jeep guy’s” predicament on Internet social media and tipped The Wenatchee World. Word got around that “the stuck-Jeep guy,” as Brandt says he’s come to be known, needed help.

A Forest Service official initially declined to let Brandt back on the sandy hillside. The Jeep, he told Brandt, may have to airlifted off for safety.

That changed Friday, when they discovered a quicker route to the Jeep through Entiat’s Crum Canyon. Brandt hired Randy’s Towing of Wenatchee to extricate the vehicle.

Ray Caveness, location manger for Randy’s Wenatchee office, called the recovery the most technically challenging of his career.

“That hill was just kicking our butts,” Caveness said Tuesday. “Everyone’s knees were just aching. If a line would have snapped, and something would have gone bad, that jeep would have gone down that hill at 60 mph.”

Fortunately, it didn’t. The crew arrived Friday to begin hauling lengths of heavy, steel tow cable down the hill on foot. They needed 3,000 feet of the cable — about 7,000 pounds worth — to stretch between a medium-duty tow truck and the Jeep, stuck at an elevation change of 1,800 feet below on unstable ground, he said.

They finished laying cable and started the 4-hour job to winch the Jeep up the hill by mid-afternoon Saturday, but didn’t get their cables collected and off the hill until after 7 p.m.

Brandt says he still doesn’t know what the recovery will cost. Caveness says it will be “pricey.”

Brandt says his auto insurance will likely cover it.

Through the ordeal, he’s discovered that the looks of a hillside can be deceiving.

“I’m an old elk hunter,” Brandt said Monday. I’ve been on snowy, muddy, rutted roads. I’ve seen all kinds of bad roads. But this didn’t look anything like that. It just got so steep so fast.”

His advice to other adventure seekers: “Have a good map. Have a good plan. If it looks sketchy, don’t go in there. Don’t do it.”

[bobcat]

[haugenna]

good to see our insurance dollars are there to replace stupidity.

[Jonathan_S]

"If it looks sketchy, don't go in there"  Sage advice.

"strayed from the roadway" YA THINK? 

"I've been on snowy, muddy, rutted roads but this didn't look anything like that..."  Well maybe because you weren't on a road   

[WAmuleyHunter]

It is a little alarming that he doesn't seem to think that what he did was wrong and illegal.  And the reporter doesn't seem to want to write that angle into this article either.  My guess he knows some fines etc are on their way and doesn't want to stir the pot???  Or should I just start driving where ever I want ?

[NOCK NOCK]

I think he had plenty of time to think up a good PC story. If he was truly "seasoned" in the mountains he should have  known better than to do what he did. He is playing it up good. IMHO

[Curly]

I wonder what his insurance company will say when they get the bill? 

[TheHunt]

I am glad it is out...   

Now the evidential fines how are we going to find that out?   

How much the tow?   "Pricey" was not very declarative. 

[NOCK NOCK]

Am hearing Wenatchee world online is saying tow bill is $17,200...

[Woodchuck]

 

[bearhunter99]

Seems pretty expensive for a couple days work with a medium sized tow truck..........

Probably should have gotten a quote first

[WARHORSE]

Am hearing Wenatchee world online is saying tow bill is $17,200...
[/quot


Hahaha that will teach him.

[Woodchuck]

Seems pretty expensive for a couple days work with a medium sized tow truck..........

Probably should have gotten a quote first

Well consider that truck is out of service for anything else. Plus at least one guy as well for those 2 days. How many other calls would that truck have made? I looked into a tow truck recently, you might be shocked what it costs just to have one. I would have flat told him "it will cost what it costs".

[cbond3318]

Am hearing Wenatchee world online is saying tow bill is $17,200...
[/quot


Hahaha that will teach him.

Oh yeah, rape him into submission... works every time. 

[fishngamereaper]

Havnt posted since page 16 so thought I would chime in

That's cheap for two days. Once that truck left the shop the meter was running. $160-$180 an hour on average, wages for an extra guy or two, added costs for the high angle work and dangers involved... the math works out. Heck, sound like he got a discount