After a crossing a bridge from the south side of the Wisconsin river to what we later found is named “Long Island”, we spotted a trail that ventured into the forest. I selected low-range in the Rover’s transfer case and descended down the dirt trail into the forest, only to be thwarted by a large rock – definitely placed there to keep 4WDs out.

Were we going to let a big rock stop our fun? No, we blazed a new trail to the left and ventured deeper into the forest, threading our way between the trees and crossing deep ravines and uneven terrain with aplomb. That was until we discovered the mud:

No, the Rover didn’t break down. We were exploring what we could use to dig the Rover out of the mud – the bottle jack is stored under the hood. We also found some tiny wheel chocks and random sticks that the forest provided. After an hour’s worth digging and plotting, the Rover had only managed to move another 6″ forward, but that came with a price: it was now dug much further into mud hole. Worse, the skies decided to open up, a downpour filled in mud where we had dug it out, soaked us to the bone, and pelted the rover with hail.

With dark approaching very quickly, we succumbed to fail. We hiked back through forest and 3 miles into town, wet and covered in mud. We grabbed a couple beers and a pizza from a gas station and waited for Chris’s parents to pick us up and take us back to Madison, planning how to remove the Rover from the muddy grips of hell the whole way back.

The next day I drafted Nate to our cause and made a run to Farm & Fleet. $228 later, I was armed with steel folding ramps, a 30 foot 20,000 pound tow strap, and a 4-ton come-along hand winch. We met Chris at Sentry and then made the trek back to Lone Rock. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally approached the Rover in its concealed forest resting place:

Plan A: Connect a tow strap to the Rover and Chris’s Toyota and pull the Rover backwards out of the mud whole
Status: Total Fail

The Rover didn’t move an inch with this plan. We tried a few different ways to pull it out, but it was having none of it.

Plan B: Attach the tow rope to a tree and use the come-along winch and steel ramps to pull the rover out of the mud whole.
Status: Great Success.

After trying to pull the Rover out of mud backwards with Chris’s Toyota, we decided the best course of action was to pull the Rover forwards, deeper into the forest, but out of the mud whole. We used shovels to dig out an area of mud in front of the right side wheels so that we could place the unfolded steel ramps in front of the tires and give them something to grip. Then we attached the tow rope to a weird tree and used the 4-ton come-along to put tension on the line between the tree and the truck, allowing me to gently drive onto the steel ramps and finally out of the mud hole:

Here’s the weird tree, with the two strap and come-along attached, that helped to pull the Rover out:

Chris is happily displaying the depth of the soft mud that trapped the Rover in this picture. Some of the depth perception in the photo is lost, but the whole is actually closer to 18 inches deep. You can also see the steel ramps we used to gain traction in the mud:

Alright, now that we’re out of the mud whole, where to next? Nate and Chris are trying to figure out the route to dry land in this picture:

Vehicles perfectly intact, we finally wound our way through the trees and uneven terrain out of the forest. Somewhat better equipped and many lessons learned, we ventured down a few other trails to explore the areas around the Wisconsin river:

I snapped one last picture of the Rover – its natural habitat:

Lessons Learned
1. Never go off-roading alone.
2. Buy a winch.
3. Be prepared – ramps, come-along, shovels, etc.
4. Don’t drive in the mud after a fresh rain.
5. Off-roading on land you shouldn’t be on isn’t a very good idea.

Carlos and Dave:

Carlos and Dave gayin’ it up:

Carlos and his wife Pam:

Adrian’s got some swagger in that step:

The Rover and I:

Dave gayin’ up my Rover:

I couldn’t resist getting a few shots of the Rover in its natural habitat:

My mom found these pictures the other day and showed them to me. On second thought, maybe we did have a bit more snow (yes, that’s me in the pictures).