The plan was to enter through this gate one last time for the 2014 season.  But that had to be revised as the day progressed.  This is the Big Spring area and I took another shot of the spring from a different angle to show you the size of it and why I call it Big Spring…

It’s a very big spring indeed!

Out on the trap line I did not expect to catch any rats and was pleasantly surprised to find a rat in one of the traps…BONUS!  And as I continued up the line from the far end toward the beginning, the traps were coming up empty just as I suspected.  And then I made a great decision!  Why should I go around this one area, when I can drive across it and be where I need to be to pull more traps…makes sense right?  Well, what seemed like a good decision at the time turned ugly really quick.

In one of my business classes the questions were asked:  “Have you ever made a good decision that turned out good”?  “Have you ever made a bad decision that turned out good”?  “Have you ever made a good decision that turned out bad”?  “Have you ever made a bad decision that turned out bad”?

In my life time I have made all of these questions come true and yesterday I really proved the last question can come to be.

These 4 wheel drive little buggies are great, as long as you have clearance under the carriage, they will go anywhere.  They save a ton of work, time, effort and everything good in life.  I have enjoyed the freedom of this toy for years and years without a hitch…oh, there was one time when it tipped over on its side when I didn’t know there was a deep rut in the mountain road that was covered in deep snow, but other than that the wheels have always been under it.  This time the wheels are still under it, but there is nothing the wheels are touching but wet and sticky mud and the frame is solidly stuck in the slime.

The poor thing seems to be sinking as I’m standing there.  The mud gods must have felt a need to be riding it more than I and they sent me on a full mile long hike to get help.  This picture shows what it looked like when we arrived to pull it out and I do think it has sunk in a couple more inches as it sat there.

I think I gave you a bit of a heads up as to my plight and the brief undertaking of getting Weasel and Wapiti to assist my dire need in my PM report yesterday, so I won’t go into that here.  My decision to save 5 minutes cost me 3 hours of time I really thought I needed to close out my trapping season for the year.  But when one makes a bad decision that turns out bad, what more could be expected than something like this.  The biggest thing that came from this is the re-naming of this portion of my trap line…Instead of calling it the East line of Big Spring, it has officially been renamed “The Big Stuck”!  A very appropriate name for sinking a toy in over the hubs.

The trusty and powerful winch on the front of the rig is absolutely worthless in a situation like this.  It can only help “recover” if there is something solid to hook it to and in this case I don’t think little weeds like you are seeing here are strong enough to try it.  I did not need my “decision matrix” to find that out.  And so, my good decision to go and get help turned out to be the good decision that turned out good.

My trek back to the truck also taught me how I can cuss myself out and really get down to some hurting statements and teach myself a good life changing lesson.  That lesson is this:  If you have to think about it before doing it, it probably should not be done.  If there is an inkling of doubt anywhere in your mind about the outcome not being a good outcome, don’t do it.

And so, my saviors have come to my rescue.  Wapiti has brought the big and powerful rig owned by Edjukateer, a 650 horsepower work machine that vibrates the ground around it when it’s running.  The only thing it lacks is stabilizer pads and a backhoe.  A machine that can do anything the operator isn’t afraid to do.  Along with that he has loaded up his big long heavy duty chain, a brand new 6,000 pound tow strap with hooks on both ends and a “pretend to be good” ratchet strap that is all of an inch wide.

Weasel!  Bring the Chain!!!!!!

Take all of those things and hook them end to end and add my 30 feet of “made in Brazil, out of recycled plastic” rope and you can see we will prevail!

You are probably wondering how we got all of this stuff out near the Big Stuck with only one big powerful machine, plus us three guys….

Way over there is my toy hauling trailer and that is as close as we could get it without getting it stuck too.  It carried not only boards, chains and rubber gloves, it carried the Weasel…a lot of bouncing around to get here, but without it we would have had to make several trips back to the trucks to get materials.

We were “all hooked up”, so to speak and I had one last council session with Wapiti.  I said something like this to him: “Now Wapiti, “if” the rig starts to come out and it looks like we are making ground, don’t stop pulling me until you are sitting on very hard and dry ground.  I’ll try to keep from tipping over as I drive it backwards, just keep going”!!!!  He nodded in agreement.

And THAT is how it’s done!  Good Lord willing and the creek mud don’t rise!  A BIG HEARTY THANK YOU TO WAPITI AND WEASEL FOR COMING TO MY AID!

Bears Butt

March 16, 2014