WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Run Silent, Run Deep: Recovering Ed’s LJ20 Stuck 40 Years In The Sierra Nevada Mountains
byVanderleunonMarch 23, 2022
Once upon a time there was an 80+ chain-smoking geezer name of Ed. Ed was everyone’s favorite geezer. Worked around the place down at Matt’s Off-Road Recovery Yard in Hurricane, Utah doing, well, doing whatever older guys living in a trailer in the yard do.
Long time back Ed was a professional prospector in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Ed had a sort-a jeep to get to and from his claims deep in the mountains. One winter long ago a landslide closed a logging road that led to the claim. The slide stranded Ed’s jeep deep in the mountains. He hiked out.
Trapped in the Sierras the sort-a-jeep weathered snow and storms and long summer nights. For forty years. Then one day folks at Matts’s Off-Road Recovery decided they would find it and “recover” it.
Their motto for this epic effort? “No problem. We’ve done this thousands of times.”
They said that they were going to use snatch blocks in the river, but then they pulled right down the stream and got it stuck…and THEN they used snatch blocks (after Lizzie got soaked…none of the guys would do that, because they all knew that their testes would instantly turn to ovaries, damned cold in that water…).
A couple of cringe-worthy moments, especially when Ed was standing in the bight of the line…don’t want to be there.
The whole episode was true use of brute force, but for much of it, there was no other way. The old boys I work with on foresty-type stuff are master riggers, and I dare say could’ve done some things a bit different, and of course you would’ve seen a whole lotta beer in our video.
Always amazing when we’re doing it to see the ingenuity, and I always learn so much.
Fun work, but during that kind of work, lots of anxiety.
Beer helps.
billrlaMarch 23, 2022, 11:45 AM
I doubled the playback speed and, sure enough, I got the old Suzuki out faster.
BradoplataMarch 23, 2022, 12:10 PM
Good channel, no drama and everyone seems to get along but it gets hard to get stuff unstuck in different ways. I still subscribe anyways.
gwbnycMarch 23, 2022, 12:37 PM
“Ed was a professional prospector”
The Brunton Compass
-buy one just to own one, extra points for using it.
This is the shat ‘Mericans can do. Think Ukrainians are bad ass, wait till real Americans are tested…or those that will stand for the test. Awesome video of those that are there to recover a little of ones personal history, or legacy.
ElmoMarch 23, 2022, 7:38 PM
Does anyone have any idea where in the Sierra this happened and was filmed?
I’m curious because it looks like a place I’m familiar with.
No idea where they are. I’ve packed past forties, fifties vehicles in the late70s, north east of Grouse Ridge. North of lake Spaulding. North of I 80, off of highway twenty. I know it as the old grass valley highway.
Kinda wonder if those rigs are still out their.
ElmoMarch 24, 2022, 7:10 AM
I was thinking it might be the Middle Fork of the Yuba, near Foote’s Crossing. It kinda looks like it, and that’s as good a place as any to go off the road and end up in the river.
Elmo, very well could be, far more mining in that area, then my observation. In the Spaulding area, only know of two hard rock mines. They’ve been sealed shut by the State. Both overlook Emerald Pool, on the Yuba.
Occasional CommenterMarch 24, 2022, 7:07 PM
There are follow-on videos about this sorta-jeep’s restoration. They’re putting an ungodly amount of time and money into making this scrapheap drivable. It’ll actually be a resto-mod.
Geezer Ed doesn’t know about the repair work. It’s going to be a surprise.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
![That Was the Whopper Weekend That Was [Illustrated]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/welcometohell-150x150.jpg "That Was the Whopper Weekend That Was [Illustrated]")
![Allen Ginsberg: The Interview, <strong> ➡ 1972 ⬅ </strong> [Republished by unpopular demand]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ginsbergnirvana-150x150.jpg "Allen Ginsberg: The Interview, <strong> ➡ 1972 ⬅ </strong> [Republished by unpopular demand]")
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Not many people would attempt that.
They said that they were going to use snatch blocks in the river, but then they pulled right down the stream and got it stuck…and THEN they used snatch blocks (after Lizzie got soaked…none of the guys would do that, because they all knew that their testes would instantly turn to ovaries, damned cold in that water…).
A couple of cringe-worthy moments, especially when Ed was standing in the bight of the line…don’t want to be there.
The whole episode was true use of brute force, but for much of it, there was no other way. The old boys I work with on foresty-type stuff are master riggers, and I dare say could’ve done some things a bit different, and of course you would’ve seen a whole lotta beer in our video.
Always amazing when we’re doing it to see the ingenuity, and I always learn so much.
Fun work, but during that kind of work, lots of anxiety.
Beer helps.
I doubled the playback speed and, sure enough, I got the old Suzuki out faster.
Good channel, no drama and everyone seems to get along but it gets hard to get stuff unstuck in different ways. I still subscribe anyways.
“Ed was a professional prospector”
The Brunton Compass
-buy one just to own one, extra points for using it.
Instructions PDF including staking a claim:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0217/7948/files/Transit_Manual.pdf?17230039625499351574
$500 or more.
I’ll stick with my lensatic.
This is the shat ‘Mericans can do. Think Ukrainians are bad ass, wait till real Americans are tested…or those that will stand for the test. Awesome video of those that are there to recover a little of ones personal history, or legacy.
Does anyone have any idea where in the Sierra this happened and was filmed?
I’m curious because it looks like a place I’m familiar with.
No idea where they are. I’ve packed past forties, fifties vehicles in the late70s, north east of Grouse Ridge. North of lake Spaulding. North of I 80, off of highway twenty. I know it as the old grass valley highway.
Kinda wonder if those rigs are still out their.
I was thinking it might be the Middle Fork of the Yuba, near Foote’s Crossing. It kinda looks like it, and that’s as good a place as any to go off the road and end up in the river.
Elmo, very well could be, far more mining in that area, then my observation. In the Spaulding area, only know of two hard rock mines. They’ve been sealed shut by the State. Both overlook Emerald Pool, on the Yuba.
There are follow-on videos about this sorta-jeep’s restoration. They’re putting an ungodly amount of time and money into making this scrapheap drivable. It’ll actually be a resto-mod.
Geezer Ed doesn’t know about the repair work. It’s going to be a surprise.