I once got trapped in a campsite in a West Virginia state forest. A violent thunderburst in the night washed out part of the road and the bridge to the site entrance. I was in a 1981 Chevette, not a truck! This was decades before cell phones and I was by myself. No immediate danger of starvation or no water, so I figured I'd try and hike out either up or down stream, whichever looked more promising once I got near the brook turned torrent. I was all set to go, when I heard a man's voice yelling. It was a trooper on the other side of the washout. Once he ascertained I wasn't hurt or in need of immediate assistance, he managed to attach a logging road map to a piece of wood which he threw over to me. With some minor hitches, I was able to drive out on the logging roads. The only problem was when I came to drainage ditches in the road that had sheet metal planks across them for the width of a logging truck. With a crowbar, I managed to move one over to align with the tires of my Chevette. After driving a short distance past the ditch, it occurred to me I may encounter another and not be so lucky, so I returned and with great effort, got both planks into my car by using the crowbar and part of a tree trunk, which I also took with me. Good thing as I used them twice more before coming out on a numbered paved road. At this point, I took the planks out of the car, took a compass reading to mark the map where they were, and went my way. The next day I saw a state police building, so I stopped in to tell them where the planks were located and thank the officer for giving me the map. I think they were a bit weirded out because they just sort of mumbled thanks and gave me strange looks. In retrospect, I guess it must have been just a bit unusual for a woman driving a beaten up Chevette with NY plates to come in and explain why I had taken two planks of sheet metal and left them in the middle of nowhere!

Glad it all worked out for you, and you seem to recognize the things you did wrong. We all learn through our mistakes, but your situation was deteriorating into an emergency that didn't need to happen. It was smart to check the riverbed, and the flat rocks were a good idea, but unless you were going to miss a plane, I'm not sure why you jeopardized your truck and your life to get out of there. Even if more rain was coming, the highway was literally right there, and you could have gotten help easily. Your truck would have been fine if you had to leave it for a day or two. I've been an outdoorsman in NM, UT and CO my entire life, and camped in similar situations. I have a very capable vehicle, I check my equipment and recovery gear frequently, and pack more food and water than I need. And I always wear boots in the desert! Thanks for the video. That was some beautiful country you were stuck in!

Wow! That was scary. I really cannot imagine being in that situation. I'm impressed by how you kept calm, did not panic and came up with a plan to get out of there. I for sure would have panicked!!! I'm glad you got out safe.

Really enjoyed this. Thank you. I can understand how your head was spinning with ideas, etc. It's easy to get yourself into these situations if you like exploring.

OMG, thank you for this video! Funniest thing I've seen in a long time. I really needed that! Genius.

If one has a 2WD or 4WD without posi-track, it is good to apply the emergency brake, which will keep both rear wheels driving creating a posi track during slow speed driving, works well for snow and ice as well.

Great video. I’m glad you thought things through and succeeded. It’s moments like this that make you go out and buy a winch and upgrade your tires at a minimum. Good job.

11:08 - Shit! The camera wasn't on. Now I've got to go back and do it again!

I was so happy and proud for you....great video. Live and learn. Again cool video.

believe it or not - your E-brake helped you get traction. It kept equal drag to both rear wheels allowing for equal traction on both sides. Even with a limited slip one wheel will still brake free, especially with warn clutches. Cool video - glad you made it out safely.

I have a big smile on my face after watching the video. Well done. Very entertaining and such a nice guy dave

Hey did this video and the body get found at the end and there will NOT be a Part 2 or does it end sadly with a successful river crossing?

I liked your video. So hard to believe it rains like that because it's so brown and dry. I'm glad you made it through.

That was an awesome experience. Glad you made it out safely. I loved your 1980's Toyota Commercials (victory) moment! Lol

Always make sure you have enough food and water, then you can survive anything. This video was so entertaining. You made a really horrifying and deadly situation really fun. I really enjoyed it and I'm not being sarcastic. I loved your talk about how you were going to get out your situation. It was really funny.

You was soooo lucky to be able to get out of there. I saw the danger from the beginning.

Mike, I'm not gonna criticize you for anything. I think it makes for great video. I can relate to a lot of what you went through and felt knots in my stomach just watching. Entertaining and a happy ending. Loved seeing the very real excitement on your face after the Australian style river fording. ;) Glad ya made it through without any damage, and thanks for sharing your story. Fun learning experience. I bet your heart was pounding and your adrenaline flowing. No need for ganj when you've got endorphin running through you. It might have been nice to blaze a bit after you calmed down though.

An epic camping adventure within eyeshot of the highway... more people should consider staying home on the east coast. This fella is a shut in.

Funny as soon as you said about the sand..i was lookinh at the type of rocks u had on yhe bank in your video..im glad you figured that out..

Nice little adventure film! It's a good reminder that you never know when fate will toss you a curve ball.

Indeed, an amazing campsite :)

I saw your "Stranded by a Flash Flood While Camping in Southern Utah" on YT before I went on two trips to that general area back in September 2018 and 2019. I ran across it again, just this past week. I wanted to see exactly where you were and I took it as a challenge to look for that site because I did not see anything in the comments for this YT site of this trouble NOR did I see anything in your writings concerning that location on your website. When pressed, you vaguely stated that it was east of Lake Powell and north of Monument Valley, roughly. So like I said, I took it as a challenge to find your location the other night and I finally found it. Because of the water flowing by your location, I kept looking for a side road as you indicated back in the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers area but nothing matched up so I went further south on Rt 95 and looking for what was available in this video, I found the matching terrain as well as the guard rails on Rt 95 and finally, the tunnel under 95. Just copy and paste these coordinates in Google Earth and you'll see this area of concern - 37°44'34.40"N 110°16'48.10"W . I think it is important to post this info so other people will see where you were in order to make sure they don't make the same mistake you did when there is bad weather on the horizon. This area is roughly a half mile south of the turnoff for Road 207A and further north, twelve miles (more or less) to the west turn for the Hite area. When I was on my first trip to that area back in Sep 2018, I wanted to drive up to the Upper Cathedral area of Capitol Reef but as one lady at the "Hole in the Rock" store in Hanksville told me, "if you drive up there and get stuck (because a storm that originated in the California Baja just blew thru that area so there was a problem of washed out roads), it will cost at least $1500 to come and get you." That definitely changed my mind about pushing my luck during wet weather conditions in areas like those. I hope this helps people in the future to keep track of the weather as well as the surrounding terrain.

hey... i loved this video. Really hilarious to watch. I love how you had the presence of mind to video tape yourself putting the flat rocks in the river.... and driving the truck through the river.

You are a bigger threat to yourself than any storm. I wiah you luck in eventually recognizing this,

When the roadbase is soft, make a more solid base. Good thinking. I really wanted to talk shit, but I've gotten myself into plenty of stupid situations.

I got stuck in a canyon in Arizona. One of the girls broke her ankle and the canyon was too steep to carry her out. We had descended down some waterfalls to get where we were at so there was no going back. Search and Rescue came and got us four days later. We had water purification tabs and barely enough food.

Great video - you were able to save yourself with some great ideas!

I have a 2004 Heritage F-150 4x4 same design as yours , I fly through the muddy back roads of Vermont in spring in deep muddy trenches up to the half way point on the wheels shooting from one side of the sloppy road to the other..these Fords are unstoppable !

Good going guy glad you made it!

For a learner on his own without a phone, you didn't panic yourself silly etc. A great teachinging video for those not so quite in the know. For all the "experts" not out there with you . . . . not everyone has the experience, money, gear, vehicles, buddies or ph. Again, excellent teaching from a game loner! Thank you.

Utah looks so cool. Im obsessed with videos from there

I so loved your video. I love your attitude. And honesty......loved the way you showed us your thoughts.

Oh! The panic-stricken face! lol

Hey nice story man! I love survival stories, the US landscape and flashfloods. So this was very entertaining.

Thanks for sharing dude! You had a real adventure, not one of those corporate-tour-branded "adventures." That quickmud will eat your shoes. Fully expected you to get your truck stuck in that wash. You got lucky. I would have just chilled there for a couple of days.

Excellent commentary Mike.

Good ol southern Utah clay!

Early on, since you were able to cross the water on foot, why didn't you walk out to the main road and hitchhike to the nearest town, spend a few nights in a hotel until the weather cleared up, then got a ride back to your truck? This would have been a logistical pain in the ass, but much safer, given the outcome shown in the video only had an estimated 30% chance of success.

"I came very well prepared." Nope. No food. No tools. Walking around in sandals. Good example of how not to go camping. You need to get an emergency kit together so that anytime you're more than 20 feet from a paved road, you can survive for a while. 2 weeks of MREs, water bottles, coat, hiking boots, first aid kit, etc. Lots of good places on the web with checklists for a survival kit as well as tutorials on basic survival. And *always* recheck your survival gear before going out into the back country. Check the weather *before* you go out. Chance of thunderstorms = flash flood possibility. I spent 5 years as a meteorologist in the Army in New Mexico and have seen too many flash floods. But I never got caught in one. Maybe you could take a course in basic meteorology even if it's just a tutorial on the web. The knowledge is invaluable. I carry about a month's worth of MREs and canned food in the back of my car year round. Winter sees me with blankets and coats, as well as other survival stuff. And it makes no difference that I live near Boston. If I slide off the road in the winter, I'm well prepared to survive a while. I learned desert survival in New Mexico, cold weather survival in Alaska, and jungle survival in Panama. I've had incidences happen that would have killed me if I hadn't been prepared. Once I got stuck in a conversion van on an unpaved snowy road in Alaska at 40 below zero, miles from anything. But I didn't panic. I got out easily because I had a 5,000 pound pull winch installed under the bed in the back! I hooked it to some trees to swing the back end of the van around and then drove out. Please be more prepared the next time you go out.

I lived in a small village on the mountains, and we used to get a lot of snow each winter, and of course vehicles got stuck in it, and first thing when that happens is to plaster the roads with material, like wood , to give some surface area , you got a great idea there, by placing those rocks, and brave enough to do it. Take extra care in the future .

Nice adventure!

I’m having a real hard time feeling sorry for you dude

Beautiful scenery

Ed Helms will be the actor in his epic survival story. It’s going to be up there with Shackleton’s voyage and Touching the Void.

wow, that sucks. which wash and what area of Southern Utah is this Almost looks like the San rafeal swells

Well done getting out of there! It was a beautiful campsite, so worth all the anxiety in some respects.

Lesson #1. If you find yourself praying it won't rain..you're already in trouble. Glad to see that once you realized you were trapped there that you thought it through and took the time to study the situation. Better safe than sorry. Otherwise ... a nice camp site PLUS .... no one was going to bother you. : p

This is awesome

So... how do you react when you get a splinter?

This video was even better than a survival trip by Bear Grylls. ^^ Amazing story!

Beautiful place to be stranded. Good luck.

ha ha well thought out Mike & congrats - so next time out camping what are ya gonna do? such a great outcome.

How did you get the camera over there?

Loved your video. Maybe will help others to be Realy prepared for anything out there.

a true warrior !!!

Not bad, Mike. A Senior Woodchuck must be aware at all times of the weather and how to cope with it. You're on the right track. I'd stay away from Montana blizzards for now, if I were you.

Good save

Mike. We know what that mud can be like!!...I was cheering you on.

You need to do more 4 wheeling and gain some confidence of what your truck can do.

Always build a campsite on High Ground passing through that tunnel was your number one mistake.

I think you should call David Krakaur and write a new book " Alone and stranded, stuck by 8 inches of water in a beautiful setting" You had an 80 dollar chair designed by an ortho surgeon (wife has one) an 120 dollar sandals. You could swap those items for a 12 dollar tow strap, a 12 dollar shovel, and 18 dollar boots with ankle support from Big 5 sporting goods. I have been off roading for 25 years and I still take classes when available on back country survival. You can always learn something. Rock stacking is a way of life on the 4X4 trail. Really now, great attitude and hopefully somebody will learn from this. I hope you can return to that area and retrieve the crap you left, chinese made plate, chinese made sandal etc..... always remove 10X the trash you deposited. Everybody in the back country needs to remove man made garbage. Really now.....50 percent dislikes is too many. Shorten the video and remove the teeth picking etc..nobody wants to watch you pluck beef jerky from your teeth. If you are near Riverside Calif area you can join our group on a 4x4 trip. Thank you

well done!!!

Very entertaining sir😊

You did it!!

Thank GOD Mike you made it out of there alive. You know what they say when it rains it pours!!!!

Why you picked that spot to set up camp ??

Wow what a adventure lol.

Crazy!

What city were you in?

White Canyon has a lot of tributaries running into it. I've seen it full of water many times. The good thing is that if it didn't recede, you could have walked to the highway and hitched a ride.

How old are you, how were you able to live that long?

Were I'm from we have to cross a river just to get were we goin. Old train bridge finally closed off. As long as you dont stop you'll make it

lol oh man. good job. if want you on my team. do you know if it filled up that night?

that was fun! go do it again!

Great video, but i would've loved to see your antics of digging sand, losing your shoe, stacking rocks. You got to video everything, cuz you never know what's gonna happen. I use time lapse when I'm low on data or juice. Also, water filter.... let thr water settle in a jug then use your clothing before using your filter. Great Adventure, my man

In which contrary,its( utah) is Situated???

What is it with guys and warning signs? It's almost like it just makes it more of a challenge. LOL. Dusty is the absolute same! But it sure makes for some interesting, exciting stories! SO glad this one turned out the way it did. And the drone shots are absolutely gorgeous!! Loved watching! ~Nik

Awesome

More flood, less face.

Of course you got yourself in such a bad situation, BUT such a beautiful background 👍

The video was interesting. Did you have a cell phone, and if so, were you in range of receptivity? I think you would have been all right. You were near a road that I assume eventually would have had somebody driving by. I think you could have drunk the muddy water unfiltered if necessary. People can go without eating for quite a while, and maybe you could have found natural food sources from the environment. I'm glad you didn't get stuck trying to get out and that everything went well! I enjoyed watching this, and I appreciate your efforts in recording and sharing your experience! Happy March, 2017, John

Quite an adventure you had, and you're right: if you hadn't put down those rocks, that quicksand would have buried your truck up to its axles....and, the outcome of your video would have no doubt been quite different. What a huge "flood" of relief when you were finally on concrete on the right side of that wash, eh ;)? Thank goodness for the lucky breaks that save us from our own foolishness (BT/DT m'self). So, you said this was along Hwy 95 - whereabouts? I'm quite familiar with that highway, along with Cedar Mesa, and I'm trying to figure out if you drove across White Cyn at one of the crossings there, but one I've never seen? In late Sept, we RV camped along the most visible road/crossing (crossed the wash on foot only), but it was definitely not that one - no culvert. Based on the topography, it looks like you were well north of Fry Cyn, maybe closer to the turn-off to Hite? Inquiring minds and all that.... Happy and safe adventures to you - southern UT is amazing, and I can't wait to get back there next spring with my backpack!

Though the comments are tough I appreciate that you shared your experience in somewhat self deprecating fashion. I intend to learn from your mistakes. Thanks

Man you are a bag of nerves! Beautiful place to be stranded. Worst mistake is taking action based on weather as it makes people take risks that are usually poor choices.There's a river full of water so you're not going to die of dehydration and you could have waited several days and been hungry but fine. We can see the highway 200 yards away and presume there was occasional traffic. Was this a survival situation? No. Inconvenient? Yes. Great job improvising and not giving up!

mAN, YOU'RE SO LUCKY, YOU REALLY ARE !!

best I ME, video ever, me,me me me,me me,

11:10 this man is driving with no shoes. 100% unkillable.

You are hilarious, luckily you are not too bright and cant imagine what a mess you are in - - thankyou for making me laugh till I cried.

Put some water in a container asap and let it settle out if you have a filter....

First of all, who uses the emergency brake in an automatic pickup?

The background landscape shows a good example of all the layers of sediments laid down during The Flood 4,350 year sago.

Oh wow, you spent.. how many hours, watching some water subside? Holy shit, what an amazing escape, how you got out we'll never know, rain, oh no, water falling from the sky, where shall I go etc etc...

having your “e” brake on helped in a way. as it worked to keep power going to both tires. as “open” diffs will send power to only one wheel. the other one just sits there and laughs. but as to food and water. you should always carry at least 5 gallons of fresh clean water.

From the peanut gallery/couch: Don't dig out the sand by the tunnel, instead add rocks- not just any rocks, but sharp angular rocks. Sharp rocks will stay put and give traction, but round rocks will roll, sink and shift. Also, if the posted sign kept you from sleeping, take it down. Just kidding. But also, find out if there is a second exit that doesn't use the tunnel. The angular rock idea will work. This type of rock is called 'trap rock' and it's what they form railroad beds with. Connecticut actually produces a lot of it. Going for lots of it is actually much better than collecting flat rocks with the hope of 'lining' the path.

Friend, you crossed a wash in the Utah desert during rainy season....what did you expect? And what do you mean, you weren't prepared for the unexpected? !! No water?! In that big pickup?!! No food stash? No shovel??!!!! You should SERIOUSLY consider some street tires and and confinig your lucky self to the pavement.!!

"Signs, signs everywhere signs, breaking up the scenery...." What have we learned today? May be we need to heed them? Well!! That kind of excitement I don't need! Good thinking on the flat rock idea. Jo doesn't do the camping thing, at all, so I won't have to worry about being in the same situation. (By the way, not being condescending, I have disregard many signs, just not with these kind of consequences.)

Everyone else is obsessed with the actual video topic while I'm over here playing detective. "Guy mentions flossing, has nice teeth, can afford a truck...has to be a dentist." You're a dentist, aren't you!?! Gimme my detective badge now, k thanks.

Hehe. You got beat up pretty good on the comnents. 😸. Utah does this....I got stuck at 9500ft near Duck Lake, Abajo Mtns, had to walk 30 miles, in the snow, used ranger stations. Took a week to walk to Blanding. Or the time i got stuck in -9f and snow for 2 days. Etc. Go to Utah be prepared. No Gucci Loafer Fern Bars in Utah

I look at it this way There are signs warning you, sure it was not raining when you got there, but it did start to and that should have been your heads up, we all make mistakes, my best advice, or what I would do is just wait it out, I'm confident that you will not wither away from not eating for a day or two, and there are a lot of ways to get clean drinking water, I have not finished watching the video yet, I think you will survive, next time pay attention to the warning signs, they are there because the authority's knew you were coming. I'm back, you might want to get the emergency brake checked

I wonder who will be cast as you when Hollywood makes this into a movie?