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. 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.

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.

Slide 24 shows view looking west past stock tank. Slide 25 shows view to north. Slide 26 shows view to the west into the Tuscon Valley.

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. Slide 28 shows the view from a different angle.

Fred used the blade of the dozer to remove those pesky 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) .Slide 29 shows.

The only challenge was a bad switchback near the trailhead. Slide 30 shows the approach. Slide 31 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 shows the damage to the driver's side of the vehicle.

During towing, however, we damaged all four quarter panels with the tow chains an 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 its cherry popped, big time.