Wrong Turn Sends Couple on a Brush with Death

Couple Finds Mountain Lion Habitat During Breakdown on Remote Wilderness Road

With renewed hope, we searched the trunk for a jack, and found one in a covered compartment underneath the main section of the trunk. We checked the auto manual for a good spot to place the jack, and positioned it for lifting the front left tire. We took turns cranking the jack, as the rental car bottom was slowly hoisted above the road level. We spent the next hour running up and down the road gathering rocks and piling them under the front left suspended wheel.

Finally came the moment of truce when we dared to lower the rental car and remove the jack. The pile of rocks held under the weight of the car, but would it hold as the tire would turn to climb out of the hole? We got into the rental car, and Brian turned on the ignition. The motor started normally, to our relief. He shifted the car into first gear to make certain that the tire would not spin fast, thus preventing it from throwing the rocks we had tediously piled beneath it. As the rental car began to roll forward, the rock pile shifted slightly, but not enough to disrupt the car's forward advance, and within seconds we were free of the gap in the road.

We carefully turned the car around, and managed to exit the way we had come. We reached the main road at sundown, and breathed a sigh of glorious relief.