Hunting with my brother on the last Saturday of Vermont muzzleloader season, I drove onto a seasonal road in the Willoughby State Forest. Someone had plowed enough space to park, leaving a snowbank that I recklessly drove through onto the unplowed road. Seeing fresh deer tracks, I got out and told David to drive up to the place where we park. As he drove away, I realized that I’d left my gloves in the truck. Trying to follow the deer across the brook, I broke through the ice and cold water soaked my foot. I would have radioed David to retreat, if I had brought the radios. Lacking that option, I squished on. Snow was knee-deep. Trying to climb a small bank, I slipped and broke my fall by plunging my bare hand into the snow. Muttering unprintable expletives, I staggered through the woods and discovered that no deer were there. When I reached David’s location, I learned that he’d gotten my truck stuck.

I had a come-along, a tow strap, a tow chain, a Handyman jack and a snow shovel in the back of my capped pickup. I also had two tire chains with chain tighteners, but I’d purchased them years ago for my previous pickup, and I wasn’t sure that they’d fit my current tires. I thought we could chain the come-along to a birch tree across the road and hook the tow strap to the truck to winch it out. David suggested that we try a few other things first. Since the snow was light and fluffy, he figured the frame wasn’t hung, so he dug out around the wheels, then pushed while I tried to drive it out. This didn’t work, so we decided to try the tire chains. We attached one to the left rear wheel, and it provided enough traction propel us out of the ditch and onto the road. Hooray! When I tried to drive up a small hill to a place where I could turn around, however, the truck couldn’t climb the hill with only one tire chain. I didn’t want to try backing down hundreds of yards, so we attached the second chain to the other rear tire. That did the trick. We reached the turnaround, then drove out to the plowed road to remove the chains before driving home so I could change into dry socks and boots.

Michael Hahn Band varies in size from a duo to a six-piece band, depending upon the size and budget of the venue. They love to make music for any occasion. For bookings call 802-754-8889.
Upcoming Gigs:
First Night in St. Johnsbury on New Year’s Eve, time TBD
Bull Wheel at Jay Peak on Saturday, January 31 from 4 to 7

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