Next morning, we headed out to the trailhead. Fred, Joe and D-4 were there when we arrived. Fred said "It was just low on hydraulic fluid. Imagine that!". I could imagine many things, including a gross lack of maintenance by the yard personnel that would leave us stranded again. Putting those thought out of my mind, we lumbered off to the east, past the slab and toward the wrecker and Blazer.
We arrived in an hour or so and set up to negotiate our exit from the bottom of Agua Caliente Canyon. Once the D-4 was in position, we cabled up the front of the wrecker and set out at a crawl down the canyon bottom. Soon, the triad of vehicles encountered the first upgrade. Fred placed the D-4 in the low range, Bob placed the wrecker in low range and the started up the chute.
Slide 16 Bulldozer assists wrecker/vehicle combo up a steep grade. This grade caused the radiator of the wrecker to break loose and fall into the fan.
As the chute got steeper, I could hear the D-4's engine start to labor. Likewise the old Chevy engine was laboring under the dead weight load of the Blazer attached to its rear. The Chevy did not have enough traction with only the rear axle operable to negotiate the chute, so the balance was made up by the D-4. For the first time during the experience, all I had to was to sit and watch. As the chute got steeper, I heard a small snapping noise that was immediately followed by a loud grinding noise. A noise like sticking a pencil in a fan with metal blades. A noise like the wrecker's radiator falling into the fan.
The steam came from under the hood in billows. Bob honked the horn to get Fred to stop pulling and immediately shut down the engine. We cracked the hood and when the steam cleared, we could see the radiator had broken its high-quality bailing wire connection and fallen into the fan. The fan had dutifully cut a deep circle into the soft aluminum radiator core. Coolant was gushing onto the ground. It was clear we would go no further until the fan was replaced. By this point I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as this comedy of errors played itself out. Poor Bob's truck was getting ripped an new ass. Two broken axles, now this.
Bob's only comment was "Well, radiators are easy to fix. I have a spare back at the yard". Back at the yard?? Another trip out and in?? Fred said "Can't leave the dozer here overnight. Insurance, you know." The though of yet another trip out and back behind that disgustingly slow dozer didn't sit well, but what could I do? Nothing, that's what you'll do. Again, I elected to walk. Back at the yard, I got my now familiar orders "0800. Sharp".
By this time, the trip into the canyon had been reduced from an exciting test of man and machine against mother nature to an act of sheer rote drudgery. We got to the wrecker and Bob replaced the radiator. We used water from the creek to fill the radiator. "Back in business", Bob said. Intellectually bankrupt, but in business.
Again we started up the chute. This time, Bob had done a careful job on wiring the radiator in place - with more (or better) baling wire. The triad negotiated the chute without incident. However, we did discover a fact that would make our exit from the canyon very slow going. The D-4, though a very torquey machine, had insufficient mass to pull both the wrecker and the Blazer up the hills. The tracks turn just fine, but no motion results. The growser bars of the D-4 would just dig to China if no corrective action was taken. Bob concluded that since the wrecker still had rear axle power, it probably be pulled up the hill by the dozer. Then, when the D-4 and wrecker were a ways up the hill, we would pay out the wrecker's tow cable and use the power take off (PTO) winch to pull the dead weight of the Blazer up behind.
Bob's reasoning was correct. The D-4 could pull the wrecker if it helped. And of course, the PTO winch would move a mountain when the wrecker was in low range. So we spent the balance of the day playing a rather perverse game of "leap frog" to the top of the front range of hills. In the end, we did succeed. Once at the top of the hills, we could see the Tucson valley in the distance and a conclusion to the ordeal.
Slide 17 show the leap frog procedure. Above, the wrecker has been towed to the top of the hill and then uses it's winch cable to pull up the damaged vehicle. The land cruiser is also visible in this photo.
Slide 18 shows a dozer-assisted ascent of a "shallow grade".
Slide 19 shows the view looking north from the top of the ridge.
Slide 20 shows the scene at the top of the ridge under tow.
Slide 21 shows a stock tank in a small valley on the ridge.
Slide 22 shows view of Catalina Mountains. The Catalina Highway is visible on the face of the far mountains.
Slide 23. Looking west past the stock tank.
Slide 24 shows the vehicle near the stock tank. Bob is at the left. Note the collapsed side of the door due to the roll.
Slide 25 shows view to north of our position toward the Santa Catalina Mountains. The Catalina Highway is visible at the far left in the photo above.
Slide 26 shows view to the west into the Tuscon Valley. The Tucson Mountains are visible in the west.
On the down slope, Fred led the triad with the D-4. The Chevy, thanks to gravity, didn't have any trouble pulling the dead weight of the Blazer down hill. And, fortunately, in low range, the engine had enough braking power to slow the descent of the entire mass.
Slide 27 shows a view down the slope. Tucson valley is visible in the distance through the haze.
Slide 28 shows the view from a different angle. Note the bashed berms.
Fred used the blade of the dozer to remove those pesky erosion control berms that the rancher had so skillfully assembled to prevent runoff damage to the trail. (Note: it was later established that the U.S. Forest Service, not a local rancher had built the berms) . The only challenge was a bad switchback near the trailhead.
Slide 29 shows the approach.
Slide 30 shows vehicles under tow.
The balance of the egress was a piece of cake. Bob called ahead for the trailer and Joe was waiting when we lumbered and growled down the last grade to the trail head. Once on the blacktop, we stopped the recheck all equipment before heading off the yard and dropping off the Blazer at the body shop.
When I finally got a chance to assess the damage to my truck, I came to the sad realization that we had done far more damage to the Blazer the extraction that I did in the original accident. The original accident had only caused the passenger side door panel to be pushed in - a simple repair. And, the Mesquite that save our lives had only caused superficial scratches that probably would have buffed out with rubbing compound. Slide 24 above shows the damage to the driver's side of the vehicle.
During towing, however, we damaged all four quarter panels with the tow chains and/or cables. Both dents and deep gouges. The front bumper was bent from the wrecker. The back bumper had been dented by the dozer. In short, my virgin truck had it's cherry popped, big time.
The truck was delivered to the body shop and I began my jousting matches with the insurance company to get the vehicle repaired to its "original condition". For a short while I kept in contact with Bob. His bill to the insurance company that covered towing was $1100. This price, he claimed, covered the wrecker, the wrecker damage and the rental of the D-4 and Fred. And a profit, of course.
Amazingly, the insurance company paid the bill. They, also removed the towing clause from insurance policies for four wheel drives. So now, when you can't get towing covered on your four wheeler, you have me to thank.
In addition to dealing with the insurance company, I also got a call from our friends at the local office of the Coronado National Forest (administrated by the U.S. Forest Service). They were very interested in understanding why their erosion control work had been summarily erased. And, they were also very interested in understanding who was going to pay for the restoration of said erosion control berms. I, pleading ignorance, said that you should really talk to the wrecking company that orchestrated the extraction. They, I claimed, would know more about this issue. Wincing at the thought of siccing the Feds on Bob, I really didn't know what else to do. The worse case, I reasoned, would be that Bob would have to re-hire Fred to go repair the damage he caused. And, of course, this would be billable to the insurance company as part of the extraction expense.
I felt so bad about poor Bob's predicament, I went and bought him a new "Mr. Coffee" as a present for efforts "above and beyond the call of duty". "Son, I do this for a living". I never saw or talked to Bob again after I gave him that present. And, 20 years later at the time of creating this web page, I do not even know if he is still alive. Given the fact that he was in his mid-50's when this happened and he was a heavy smoker, I have my doubts.
I guess if there is any good to be found in this series of events, it was the experience I gained in dealing with tense off-roading situations and with people. The message is "Don't get into a situation you can get yourself out of". Poor grammar but good advise. Additionally, I learned about what insurance companies do, or don't do as in this case. Old Blaze was never really restored to its factory quality. The body shop cut corners at every chance. The stereo was replaced with an inferior quality unit. Tires were replaced with the cheapest brand available, and so on. Perhaps I was being punished for "gouging" the insurance company on the towing bill. After all, $1100 is a sizable towing bill. Perhaps it was due to the fact I had to report to my first out-of-college job in San Diego during the repairs and was not able to oversee their efforts. Either way, the lesson is that "this type of situation is best avoided." And, to this day (1998), I have never repeated anything of this level of severity. Several near-death experiences happend subsequently, but that is a story for a different day.