How have you helped or been helped by a stranger on the trail?

[RedPreRunner4x4]

I was camping a few weeks back in the North Georgia mountains. The place I like to go is a spot by the river off of a Chattahoochee National Forest service road. I was taking the 2-hour trail out to go to town and get a few things when I came across a jeep stopped in the middle of a creek crossing with the hood up and two high school age kids standing in front of it. It was not a good sign and I figured they splashed the motor so I pulled around in front of them and pulled them out of the crossing and to a spot where we could look at the jeep. Air filter was dripping wet so I told them we needed to pull the plugs and see if the cylinders would turn over but I left all my tools back at camp in my big box from where I was using them and never put them back before I left. Luckily a group of about 6 jeeps came up behind us shortly after and between all of their tools I had enough to pull the plugs. They offered the boys water and snacks while I worked on the jeep. While I was messing with it we had great conversation and I learned they were riding the Georgia Traverse and I believe at least one of them was an OB member. Anyways, the jeep was hydrolocked so there was nothing I could do except tow them off the trail to phone reception and call a wrecker.

I just wanted to share because I was encouraged by the willingness of the off-road community to band together and try to help another person out. The overland/off-road crowd is truly one of the most sincere, and helpful group of people I’ve ever had experiences with. Helping strangers on the trail without a second thought. You won’t see that just anywhere and I’m proud to be apart of that.

Tell me about a time you’ve helped or been helped by strangers on or off the trail and let it be an encouragement to the whole community.

-Tbone

 

[PB&Me]

Interesting thread topic! Newb here, but I actually do have a story. A few months ago, decided to take one of my first "offroad" trips with the Mrs to an easy 10 mi stretch of beach where vehicles are allowed, so I could test out the 4WD and get the Mrs comfortable driving ofroad. Since getting stuck in sand was a possibility, the day before the trip, I went to my local 4x4 store and bought some Maxtrax. And almost as an afterthought, I get a D-shackle and receiver hitch in case I needed to be towed out. When I get home, I load the Trax in the bed of the truck, and put in the D-shackle receiver ... just 'cause it looks cool.

So the next day, we have a nice drive down the beach, switching off so we could each get some wheel time and experience packed sand near the water, and soft sand near the dunes. It turns out that entrances to the beach are carved into the dunes, and there are signs at the entrance warning against 2WD cars ... that didn't seem to stop a lot of folks in VWs and other sedans from driving in though...

So toward the North end of the beach, we see a car pretty well stuck in the sand at one of the said entrances, a Ford Flex (see image). I offer help and the poor folks eagerly accept, so I get out the Maxtrax and shovel, get them placed under the wheels and ask the driver to back out ... nothing. The car is clearly high centered on the sand and no matter how far under the wheel I set the Trax, there just isn't enough bite. So, I start making Plan B ... get out the bottle jack and dig dig dig out the sand ...

Until another guy in a much bigger truck comes up and says he has a kinetic rope and is willing to pull them out -- but we need a decent tow point on this passenger car. Then he spots the D-shackle on my truck, notices the Ford Flex has a hitch receiver, and I gladly offer up my D-shackle to save myself all the digging.

So we mount the shackle, attach the rope, and he easily pulls the car out like it's a matchbox car in a sandbox. Textbook, and no damage to the Flex other than some embarrassed beachgoers.

It was nice that strangers came together to help each other out , and that what I thought was a cool-looking toy (the D-shackle) was actually useful the day after I bought it!

 

[MuckSavage]

My story is very gratifying. Years ago, due to a snow storm I was off from work so me & my 2 lab. retrievers took a ride in my CJ7 thru some local woods.Eventually, we come across a 2wd dodge truck stuck in a frozen snow covered puddle (broke thru the ice), and abandoned. I get out, the dogs are running around as I blow the horn a few times & yell for however might be hiking away from the stuck truck. I wait for about 10 minutes & decide to leave. As I continue maybe 1/2 mile from this location, I find a man, maybe 80 years old sitting on a log. He's wearing no coat, sweatpants & bedroom slippers. Now, it's about 28 degrees, windy & snowing heavy with maybe 8" on the ground. I ask the man if it was his truck & I could see he was in bad shape, shivering so bad he could barely talk. I tell him to get in the Jeep, give him my hat & coat & place a blanket over his lap & crank the heat. Eventually he warms up to the point where he's more coherent. We go to his truck, I winch it out and he explains that he lives only a few miles away. I follow him to his house where his adult kids meet us in the driveway. They explain to me that he's not supposed to be driving & that he "escaped" their care in the early morning. I felt sad explaining the condition I found him in, feeling I was stealing his last piece of dignity & independence as a man but his family needed to know the danger he was in.

 

[jkxj]

last year around this time i was visiting a buddy up by reno. we went out to do some snow wheeling and ran across a guy driving a kia econobox. he was way out of place on that road and he was stuck in a snow drift. he looked disheveled and pretty upset. so we pull up to him in my buddys jeep and start talking to him. turns out he was stuck in his cabin for 3 months due to the storms. his k10 blazer had crapped out on him and the kia couldnt make it out so it was that day he was going to make a part run because the storm had broke and he was getting a little anxious. we helped him get down to pavement. we followed his tracks to see where he came from, i dont have the slightest idea on how he got back, or even if he did until summer. he must have worked his ass off to get to the point where we found him.

 

[Mike56]

Last May I was camping in Greenridge Maryland. I run self- supported ultra marathons.
So doing some training with my load, food,water sleeping gear,etc. I’m back at camp and it’s just starting to get dark and a voice calls out. Turns out to be family of three, Dad, Mom, and a three year old. Their suv battery died. I’m starving after 2 days of running and eating what I carry. So I take the truck and jump start the suv, its not charging. So get it to my camp site and charge the battery with the truck and we have dinner. Nice couple, but no cell phone service to call somebody.
It’s dark now, Mom and Dad are worried. So I follow them out to a servicey/gas station about 15 miles away. Had to jump the suv once more to charge up the battery, I wanted to swap them out but it was a no go due to size and location in the suv.
The outcome, everyone is good, uncle shows up, I end up with a 6 pack and a good nights sleep.

 

[MuckSavage]

Cool how our stories might have saved a life. Hats off to y'all!

 

[RedPreRunner4x4]

Interesting thread topic! Newb here, but I actually do have a story. A few months ago, decided to take one of my first "offroad" trips with the Mrs to an easy 10 mi stretch of beach where vehicles are allowed, so I could test out the 4WD and get the Mrs comfortable driving ofroad. Since getting stuck in sand was a possibility, the day before the trip, I went to my local 4x4 store and bought some Maxtrax. And almost as an afterthought, I get a D-shackle and receiver hitch in case I needed to be towed out. When I get home, I load the Trax in the bed of the truck, and put in the D-shackle receiver ... just 'cause it looks cool.

So the next day, we have a nice drive down the beach, switching off so we could each get some wheel time and experience packed sand near the water, and soft sand near the dunes. It turns out that entrances to the beach are carved into the dunes, and there are signs at the entrance warning against 2WD cars ... that didn't seem to stop a lot of folks in VWs and other sedans from driving in though...

So toward the North end of the beach, we see a car pretty well stuck in the sand at one of the said entrances, a Ford Flex (see image). I offer help and the poor folks eagerly accept, so I get out the Maxtrax and shovel, get them placed under the wheels and ask the driver to back out ... nothing. The car is clearly high centered on the sand and no matter how far under the wheel I set the Trax, there just isn't enough bite. So, I start making Plan B ... get out the bottle jack and dig dig dig out the sand ...

Until another guy in a much bigger truck comes up and says he has a kinetic rope and is willing to pull them out -- but we need a decent tow point on this passenger car. Then he spots the D-shackle on my truck, notices the Ford Flex has a hitch receiver, and I gladly offer up my D-shackle to save myself all the digging.

So we mount the shackle, attach the rope, and he easily pulls the car out like it's a matchbox car in a sandbox. Textbook, and no damage to the Flex other than some embarrassed beachgoers.

It was nice that strangers came together to help each other out , and that what I thought was a cool-looking toy (the D-shackle) was actually useful the day after I bought it!

That’s awesome man, you can never have enough D-rings!

 

[RedPreRunner4x4]

My story is very gratifying. Years ago, due to a snow storm I was off from work so me & my 2 lab. retrievers took a ride in my CJ7 thru some local woods.Eventually, we come across a 2wd dodge truck stuck in a frozen snow covered puddle (broke thru the ice), and abandoned. I get out, the dogs are running around as I blow the horn a few times & yell for however might be hiking away from the stuck truck. I wait for about 10 minutes & decide to leave. As I continue maybe 1/2 mile from this location, I find a man, maybe 80 years old sitting on a log. He's wearing no coat, sweatpants & bedroom slippers. Now, it's about 28 degrees, windy & snowing heavy with maybe 8" on the ground. I ask the man if it was his truck & I could see he was in bad shape, shivering so bad he could barely talk. I tell him to get in the Jeep, give him my hat & coat & place a blanket over his lap & crank the heat. Eventually he warms up to the point where he's more coherent. We go to his truck, I winch it out and he explains that he lives only a few miles away. I follow him to his house where his adult kids meet us in the driveway. They explain to me that he's not supposed to be driving & that he "escaped" their care in the early morning. I felt sad explaining the condition I found him in, feeling I was stealing his last piece of dignity & independence as a man but his family needed to know the danger he was in.

That’s incredible man! You absolutely saved that man’s life. Something you or his family will NEVER forget!

 

[RedPreRunner4x4]

last year around this time i was visiting a buddy up by reno. we went out to do some snow wheeling and ran across a guy driving a kia econobox. he was way out of place on that road and he was stuck in a snow drift. he looked disheveled and pretty upset. so we pull up to him in my buddys jeep and start talking to him. turns out he was stuck in his cabin for 3 months due to the storms. his k10 blazer had crapped out on him and the kia couldnt make it out so it was that day he was going to make a part run because the storm had broke and he was getting a little anxious. we helped him get down to pavement. we followed his tracks to see where he came from, i dont have the slightest idea on how he got back, or even if he did until summer. he must have worked his ass off to get to the point where we found him.

Haha, I’m glad you found him when you did. It’d be a long way back to the cabin!

 

[RedPreRunner4x4]

Last May I was camping in Greenridge Maryland. I run self- supported ultra marathons.
So doing some training with my load, food,water sleeping gear,etc. I’m back at camp and it’s just starting to get dark and a voice calls out. Turns out to be family of three, Dad, Mom, and a three year old. Their suv battery died. I’m starving after 2 days of running and eating what I carry. So I take the truck and jump start the suv, its not charging. So get it to my camp site and charge the battery with the truck and we have dinner. Nice couple, but no cell phone service to call somebody.
It’s dark now, Mom and Dad are worried. So I follow them out to a servicey/gas station about 15 miles away. Had to jump the suv once more to charge up the battery, I wanted to swap them out but it was a no go due to size and location in the suv.
The outcome, everyone is good, uncle shows up, I end up with a 6 pack and a good nights sleep.

Beer is always an acceptable reward! Cool story man. I always rest easy after helping somebody too. There’s always an overwhelming peace even if “no good deed goes unpunished” it still never seems that bad.