Looking at the huge ravine with penetrating fog through the trees , everything is wet and still , what an incredible view . A peaceful spirit came on us , like our conquest is a righteous one . As we traverse on , very quickly heavy rain comes and starts to rush down the trail , and in my mind I was thinking about the possibility of being trapped by mud on this trail . I can hear the engine whine as we negotiate , the steep , windy , rocky trail . Going around the corner I see the police blockade in the valley below , so many cars stuck from people trying to cross the thick muck .’
Finally my wife and I get to the end of the trail , as we pass the house at the foot of the trail we see the home owner waving us down . I pull up to him and roll down my window , “ There is no way you can get out , another mudslide took out our road .” Oh no , my wife looks at me with utter despair , going all this way just to get stuck . I continue on and sure enough , a 4 foot thick by 30 foot wide slide stood between us and the main highway . I notice on the other side of the mud a red quad stuck up to the handle bars and man trying to rig it with a chain . Through the wall of rain I see the man frantically waving at me . As I open my door I inspect the slide and notice that it was not moving . First step my foot is submerged in mud , next thing I know is the mud is at my waist but I continue to press forward .
Once getting to the man , he asks me if I could give him a hand with his quad . Looking at his chain and his 4WD I figure that I can trade help for help . “ Not a problem once I get you unstuck can you stick around just in case I can ’ t make it past the mud ?” “ Oh yeah sure ” he replies with a big grin . Sloshing through the mud , I look at the way he had his quad rigged . “ Around the front tire ?!” I think to myself . Knowing that he would just rip the tire off , I changed his rigging . I yell at him , “ When I wave at you start driving !” Acting as a counter balance , I give him the signal to go .
My ears are tuned into the the revving of his engine . I begin to feel the quad move and tilt from the battle between the mud and SUV . “ IS THE QUAD IN NEUTRAL ?!” he screams out . “ YEA ! KEEP GOING !” Inch by inch , foot by foot we go . Finally we get it out of the mud . The man runs over to me and thanks me for my help and I again ask him to stay just in case . Making it back to the Jeep , my wife chuckling says , “ You ’ re filthy .” I start to smile but something stops it as quickly as it came . The man whom I helped was gone . He must have took off when I was trudging through the mud . I start to feel sick , “ why did he leave ?”
“ Honey , I ’ m not sure if I ’ m going to make it across .” I see the expression of my wife ’ s face when I said that , she ’ s scared . Taking a deep breath . I put the Jeep into 4-low , lock both axles , and begun to pray . “ Are you ready ?” I ask my wife . Her voice so comforting answers , “ Yes .” I floor it .