Semisane

Corey's recent "What A Scare" post about his truck's battery blowing got me to thinking about the several times I got stranded (actually stranded myself) a few miles down a logging road in the piney woods.

The first time was fifteen years ago. I was crossing a gravel bottomed creek in my little Ford Ranger two-wheel drive pick-up.

I'd crossed this creek a number of times before and never had a problem. It had a gradual slope down to the water, about six feet across and less than a foot deep, and a gradual slope up the other side.

But as it turned out, some jack-leg had his fun in that creek with a big four wheel drive and had both wallowed out the bottom and displaced the gravel. With the gravel gone, the current had cut a foot wide channel down through the sandy soil, and about another foot deep. My front wheels dropped into that channel and I was locked up tight.

It was a five mile walk in the rain back to where I could get help to retrieve my truck. I know - I should have checked that creek before crossing. But I got complacent and stupid. And as I've said, I'd crossed it many times before and "knew" the bottom was solid and the water was shallow.

The other two times were both my fault and just as stupid (also in terrible rainy weather).

How about you? Got a story for us?