Weather and conditions
A road that was fine at nine in the morning can be un-driveable at four in the afternoon and fine again the next day. Check before you leave, not when you get there.
We are volunteers, not professionals.
Nobody here is a certified recovery operator, a mechanic or a medic unless they tell you they are, and we do not check. This is what the group has learned, offered freely. It is not training, not a standard, and not a substitute for hiring somebody who does this for a living.
Turn around, don't drown
- Most flood deaths in Texas happen in vehicles, at crossings people had driven a hundred times.
- A foot of moving water will float most trucks. Two feet will move them.
- You cannot see whether the road is still under the water, and low-water crossings wash out from underneath.
- If water is over the road, the day is over. Wait or go around.
Clay and caliche change completely when wet
- Black clay goes from grippy to greasy in one shower, and stays that way for a day or more.
- Caliche is fine dry and slick as ice wet.
- Sand is the other way round — often better damp than dry.
- After heavy rain, give it a day. The trail will still be there, and so will the ruts you would have cut.
Heat is what catches people out
- A recovery in August takes hours and you will spend them outside.
- A vehicle with no engine running is an oven within minutes. Get into shade, not into the cab.
- Water for everyone, and then the amount again. Heat exhaustion in somebody waiting is more likely than an injury during the pull.
What to check before you leave
- Forecasts and warnings: the National Weather Service, weather.gov.
- River and creek levels: the USGS water data site, waterdata.usgs.gov.
- Road closures and conditions: TxDOT's DriveTexas, drivetexas.org.
- Park closures, burn bans and land rules: Texas Parks and Wildlife, tpwd.texas.gov, and the county you are going to.
- Rain that fell fifty miles upstream is the rain that gets you. Look at the whole watershed, not the sky above you.
These open outside Winch Up.
If somebody is hurt, call 911 first.
Injury, a vehicle in moving water, or anything in a traffic lane is an emergency call, not a recovery request. We are volunteers with trucks. Nobody is on shift and nobody is obliged to come.