I have two. Both had the same mistakes. I'm a slow learner.
1. When we lived in western Maine my dad and I (at age ~13) drove his Blazer, alone, without even a comealong, to the top of a local mountain's tower site, just to see if we could do it. It was very cold. The trail is very heavily wooded, lots of shade. The crust of the ice held us up fine. We left at about 8, we summited about 11, the top was bare and you could see for miles. We had a snack at the top and decided to head down an hour or so later. By the time we went to pull around and drive back down the snow had softened. The fact that the top is bare the warming day, and the direct sunlight softened to snow around us was the main factor. Down we went. Some creative use of the stock jack and nearby debris and downed trees from the surrounding woods got us back back on top and into the shade where we scooted down the mountain without any issues.
*Also one of my best memories of my old man.
Good things: A lack of panic, two resourceful people, a little luck.
Mistakes: Wheeling alone, no recovery gear, no plan, trying something we both had no experience with alone.
What would have changed it: A come along/winch and/or another rig with straps would have had us up and out no problem. Possibly waffleboard or equivalent. We tried the floormats first and prompty shot those across the clearing...
2. When I was in the military a girlfriend and I took my mildly modifed ZJ, alone again, with no self extraction gear again, into Wharton State Forest (Pine Barrens) as I had numerous times before. This time I somehow found myself stuck hard up to the bottom of the grill in what had appeared to be just another big puddle. It was a little deeper others I had been to, but somehow I spun until I was sitting on the frame. I walked ~5 wet cold miles in the dark out to the road and cell phone coverage, and had to call the girlfriends mom to come get us from an hour away. It was a frosty ride home. There was an attempt made that night by a well meaning person who lived on the road. Using thin steel cable as a yank strap. I now know we were lucky when it broke that it didn't kill someone. The end resolution was calling the local Jeep shop (No Excuses Jeep; New Egypt, NJ) who was super cool enough to let one of their mechanics run to go pull me out with his winch. It turns out that the deep end had some tires in it that I got hung up on and then spinning sank me in the wet sand like quicksand.
Good things: A shop that will help you out when you are a moron. At least knowing where to go for help. I am sure AAA would have banged me for thousands.
Mistakes: Wheeling alone, no recovery gear, no plan.
What would have changed it: A come along/winch and/or another rig with straps would have had us up and out no problem. A hilift and jack points likely could have gotten me out. If I had thought to check all four tires instead of spinning in the first place, I might have been able to do something with the stock jack....
Ah youth. That was 10+ years ago.
Now I run a Warn 12k on my LJ, am much more selective about what I will get myself into, carry enough gear to pull 2 or 3 rigs at the same time, never leave without hilift, shovel and kit of odds and ends like extra shackles, etc... and most importantly I always look at every situation through the lens of "How am I going to get myself out of this if it goes south..."
Thank goodness for the "Superman" semi truck wrecker. We had pulled a couple hundred feet of small diameter hose for a ditch fire, and the packing on the pump leaked way more then it should have and made a perfect mud pit. It was a long time ago, probably taken with a disposable camera, hence the poor quality. The winch on that wrecker was massive to say the least.
