Last mile problem
/ 3 min read
We hoped to snowshoe from Echo Lake to Aloha Lake last weekend. We did not succeed. An incident report:
04:00
Started driving our 2001 Acura CL.
07:45
See sno-park. Should we park here? No, road looks plowed.
07:49
Continue driving on plowed road.
07:50
Snow seems a little deeper? But we're only 0.4mi from Echo...
07:51
Car stuck. Why wasn't there a no-plow sign?
07:52
Attempt to rock car, throw blanket under tires, and other high jinks. Unsuccessful.
08:28
Walk back down road. Meet Tim and Renee driving up in their Tesla.
08:35
Tim and Renee help us rock the car. We get even more stuck.
09:05
Call AAA. System indicates 1 hour wait.
09:10
AAA wait down to 7 minutes. :O
09:17
0 minutes. Nobody is here. :(
09:30
Call assigned AAA shop. They inform us that AAA does not service the road we are on. :/
09:32
Call Lake Tahoe Towing (LTT). Apparently we are the first to get stuck on this road for the season, but will not be the last.
09:48
Car approaches. We say, you shall not pass. Car retreats.
10:01
$X LTT quote finalized. We have made an expensive error.
10:45
Local #1 approaches. He has been making angry calls to the city demanding a no-plow sign. Takes a photo of our car as documentation.
10:50
Local #2 walks past, asks us where we are from. We say SF. He shakes his head and he walks away.
11:15
LTT truck #1 arrives. Tells us he cannot drive his humongous truck over a berm we have seen 4+ cars drive over, including our sedan. We wonder why trucks exist.
11:18
LTT backup is called. 1 hour wait.
11:20
Walk down to Echo Lake to pass the time. Tim and Renee ski past us.
12:00
Local #2 walks past our car and offers to tow it for $X/2. We shake our heads and he walks away.
12:15
LTT truck #2 arrives. Winching begins.
01:00
We are unstucked.
We didn’t end up doing the hike we planned, but had a fun if slippery afternoon on a nearby mountain.
We learned that Tim and Renee have a big outdoors presence. Check out their blog.
