Jeep falling off mountain

[.455_Hunter]

Not long after Red Cone opened one year, I went up with a group. Ahead of us was another group of three vehicles. Once they cleared the peak, we went up and hung out. We noticed they went only part way down the descent and stopped. After realizing they weren't going anywhere, we sent down a vehicle to find out what was going on, and if our group could get past them. Turns out they were there to rescue a vehicle which slid off the trail the previous fall/winter/year, and couldn't be rescued before snow closed down the trail. It slid off the trail and down the hill on the north side where it wasn't visible from the peak. They were successful; they had to repair a tie rod end (or something similar), and brought a fresh battery to install. It fired up and was driven back onto the trail and out.

That reminds me of my experience in summer 1996 or 1997 hiking in behind the Carnage Canyon area in Lefthand Canyon. I was walking along when I heard revving motor noises and "beep, beep, beep...". To my surprise, around the corner appears a flat bed wrecker backing-up the road. I follow him for a bit when he stops next to a wide spot. In the ravine below laid a 1995 Honda Passport that had barrel-rolled down the hill. Turns out the owner, earlier in the year, had driven back in there when things were a bit "soft". He pulled into the wide spot and parked, getting out of the vehicle to explore. While gone, his outside wheels collapsed the dirt beneath them and pitched the Passport down the hill. It wasn't a ball of mush like the JK shown above, but every body panel was deformed and windows busted. Even being that new, the tow truck operator said the insurance company had totaled it, and they were extracting it per Forest Service orders.

The most shocking thing was that it DID NOT have any bullet holes yet...