We’ve all done something stupid while driving in the past. In my case, it was not looking up what Old Dale Road was before exploring it in a stock 2009 Subaru Forester. We very easily could have ended up stranded in the middle of the desert on a hot day, praying that someone in a Jeep would drive by and rescue us. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and I finished the trail only slightly worse for the wear. So clearly, I’m in no position to lecture this particular pickup truck driver about what they did, but I think we can all agree that it was also pretty stupid.
The Drive reports that there’s a 2023 GMC Canyon AT4 currently stuck on Colorado’s Decalibron Trail. But to be clear, this is not an off-road trail for driving. It’s a seven-mile hiking trail for people who want to see the peaks of four fourteeners, and it’s been closed for most of the year. To be fair, though, it has been open since late July, so at least this isn’t another Black Bear Pass situation. But at least Black Bear Pass isn’t a hiking trail that thousands of people hike every year.
Details on when exactly the driver got stuck, why they were driving on a hiking trail or what they did to get stuck are still scarce, but apparently, the truck has been up there since at least August 28. The driver likely started out on an actual road, but apparently, there isn’t enough signage in the area, so they’re far from the first person to end up on the hiking trail. They’re just the one who got themselves so stuck that their truck stayed up there for more than a week.
According to The Drive, a volunteer rescue organization reached the truck on August 29, but it doesn’t sound like they were able to get it unstuck because it was still there as of September 3, dug in up to its differential and surrounded by recovery boards.
Ironically enough, it also sounds like getting to the point where the driver got stuck would have required driving on the privately owned section of the hiking trail. Land that is reportedly owned by John Reiber, AAA Colorado’s vice president of automotive services. Unfortunately for the owner, their truck is probably too far off a paved road for AAA to be any help.