Recovery went pretty much as planned.
Got to the location at noon and had lunch before hiking up to the Jeep. Brought in a chainsaw, straps, d-rings, come alongs, and a snatch block. The Jeep was lying on its side on a 42 degree slope with the back against a tree about 40 ft down from the edge of the road. The slope increased to 60 degrees at the top and there were no anchor points on the other side of the icy road making removal out the top unlikely without heavy equipment. Below however was a gradually decreasing slope (about 30 degrees at the bottom) and a logging cut about 80 ft below.
Around 1pm we began to set up a bunch of rigging including the winch through the snatch block to a tree above capable of holding the load, a safety strap as backup, and a come along to each side of the rig. We used the winch on the Jeep to pull it off the tree it was resting on and uphill about 2 ft to clear the tree and a stump. We then used a come along hooked to the roll cage to bring the jeep near the tipping point of being back on its wheels. I then tightened a second come along to the passenger side to let it down smoothly. With Jeff on the driver's side giving the last few cranks and me on the passenger side pushing and setting the comealong with enough slack, the jeep tipped and was then lowered softly onto all 4 wheels.
It was then that we could see the extent of the damage to the passenger side which was fairly minimal due to the loose soil and pine needles everywhere. It was also at this point that we verified that the passenger rear tire had come off the bead. We hooked the larger of the come alongs to the rear and pulled the rear of the jeep about a foot to clear the stump. Once the Jeep was clear of the stump we began lowering the jeep a few feet at a time and checking and lengthening the safety line.
The length of the hill and being in a 2:1 configuration with the snatch block meant we had to let the jeep out on the safety line and re-set the winch point twice to reach the bottom. The hill was loose and a mix of clay and ice under the pine needles but being in gear the jeep would actually hold on the hill meaning periodically we would have to lean in the door and push the clutch pedal to get the jeep to roll over the ruts stopping it. Once we were confident that the Jeep was secure on the winch and safety line and after it had been upright for about 45 minutes I bumped the starter a few times to listen for and potential oil in the cylinders. After all the winching we were concerned about the battery but the jeep fired up and smoked a little for about 30 seconds before idling normally. After that we would start the jeep twice more as we went to be sure that the winching wasn't draining the battery too much. Near the bottom we had to pull the rear of the jeep over once more before finally getting the jeep to the logging cut about 4pm.
Once on the logging cut we packed all of the recovery gear in the jeep and began the 1,200ft trip out to the lower road. About 300ft from the road we stopped and Jeff and I made quick work of the brush and saplings on the remaining part of the logging cut. Once out on the road we took a break and I was able to call for the tow truck a little before 5pm. After having to call back because of my phone dying in the middle of the first attempt and a number of phone trees questions, we had the tow truck ordered a little after 5:30pm and an arrival time of 6:47pm.
Once the truck was on its way we separated our recovery gear back to the correct rigs and moved all of the remaining items out of the Jeep to my daily driver. We then jacked up the passenger rear of the Jeep and reset the bead. The 1200ft of driving through brush down to the road had ripped the valve stem out so i was able to use a Colby valve for the first time. With the valve in place and a big ratchet strap around the tire we hooked on an air hose and pulled the tire to the outer bead which caught after maybe 30 seconds of adjusting the tire and set at 20 psi. We then shuttled the Jeep to the pickup point at the trailhead 1.5 miles down the road and came back to pick up my daily driver. We had everything packed and to the pickup point by 6:40pm and then proceeded to wait for the tow truck until about 7:10pm before we drive a few miles down the road to get cell signal and check. Turns out that AAA provided me a map with the correct location but this information was not shared with the driver who simply got a street location. He was about 10 miles down the road and headed up to meet us. By 7:45pm the tow truck was pulling out and we were following.
About 20 minutes down the road i noticed that the truck put on its brakes to enter a turn normally but that I was coming up on it too fast. Just then a deer came out from under the tow truck and we had to swerve to miss it. A small buck had jumped right in front of the truck. The driver stopped and we went to look and found no damage. Jeff and I moved the buck out of the road as it was in the middle of the lane on a blind corner.
Despite the long drive involved, the recovery went well and the damage appears completely cosmetic/tub related. The Jeep is parked and waiting for insurance adjusters to review and some shops to provide quotes. And as the claim wont include a $5,000 bill for an off road recovery, it should be more likely to be repaired than totaled.
I would like to thank Jeff for the help and for trusting my recovery plan. Despite using redundancy and taking precautions, a recovery on such a steep hillside means that it is impossible for everyone to be in a safe location the entire time. Because we were going down and the slope was decreasing, stresses involved were less with every winch re-set and each successful action improved our confidence as we went. I made more trips up and down the hill setting and recovering gear than i needed to in the interest of safety which added time but I feel was worth it. Best of all, we were all home before 11 which makes this one of the more on-time recovery trips.
