The next obstacle was a hill. As we reached there, we found our entry blocked by a freshly dumped mud.
After thanking the dumpers for making the trail even more interesting, we decided to make that our first challenge. The vehicle with the shortest wheelbase started first and gets stuck. He was too slow.
So the rescue begins...
As the Jeep was being towed, one of the photographers got too close, so we chased him out of harm's way. Within seconds, the tow cable snapped.
This is the first time I have caught the cable snap on camera, although I have seen it a few times. See the ghostly image of the cable.
As I inspected the tow cable, I realised it was an unrated cable, may be good enough for half ton so. Now we brought out the professional 3 ton cable and pulled out the Jeep.
After this Nishchal wanted me to show how it can be done, as other vehicles took alternative path. So I jumped into the driver's seat of the CJ500, engaged 1st gear and found myself moving in reverse.
Then I was told it has International engine with 3-speed gearbox. Damn, I had forgotten about this model.
So, I had to drive it backward and forward a few times to get the feel. I even got Nishchal on the passenger seat to ensure I can engage the gear correctly.
In my first attempt, I failed to make it because the accelerator vanished under my foot. It just fell forward. Scary stuff. Anyway, in the second attempt I managed to hop over the hill and got to the other side. By then it started raining and I rushed back to my Jeep.
Then I tried the same with my Jeep, and made it in second attempt with wheels flying off the ground. By now it was raining hard.
Then I got to the higher ground, only to see Sachin's Bolero Pickup sitting on the chassis. It was pulled back at leisure, as there was no hurry.
That was a nice place to hang around, take photos and give some training to newer offroaders. So that is what we did for next hour.
Meanwhile, I was having some starting problem after every stop. It wasn't the battery since I could crank. Since we had a professional mechanic in the group, I was not too worried. As I came down the last obstacle seen in the video, the engine died at the last stretch. No amount of cranking and pumping (the fuel pump) helped. The symptoms were same as lack of fuel, but my fuel gauge was at 20% mark, well above E. That is when Sachin figured out the reason. In my fuel tank, the outlet was moved from the bottom to the top, to save it from offroad damage. Therefore, the fuel is getting cut-off much earlier. What a bummer!
Anyway, after spending another hour hearing about wild life experiences from our King Cobra expert, we finally moved on.
My Jeep was towed using the tow bar shown in the earlier post, until the nearby fuel pump. There we had to wait long since a bus was refueling. The pump attendant looked more like a student than a regular employee. As he finished pumping diesel, he looks at the sticker above the fuel lid and says: Oh, you are with Team-BHP, I follow that forum!
End of Report