Editor's Note: Don't forget to submit a picture of all your blunders to: OFF-ROAD Magazine, Worst Stuck, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870.
Jerry Cowan's troubles started when he was gathering firewood on his grandparents' farm near Vancouver, Washington. On his way to the farm, Jerry spotted the nearby Columbia River Slough and saw what he thought was an 8-inch-deep section where he could cross in his '92 Cherokee. Although Jerry's Jeep is equipped with 5 inches of lift, 31-inch Super Swampers, and a Borla exhaust, it proved incapable of crossing because the water concealed 2 feet of sticky mud underneath, effectively halting any forward progress. Now completely stuck, Jerry sought help from a nearby Chevy truck owner, but the 2WD Chevy, although equipped with a winch, couldn't get close enough to extricate the Jeep. However, the Chevy's owner was courteous enough to give Jerry a ride to an area where he had spotted several off-road vehicles on his way to getting stuck: a group of Navy Hummers and a 2-1/2-ton transport truck on maneuvers. One of the Navy's finest took Jerry back to the scene of the grime in a Hummer, but that 4x4 also became stuck. So the 2-1/2 ton 6WD transport truck was hooked up and both the Hummer and the Cherokee were rescued. Jerry wanted us to mention that he's grateful to the Navy for pulling his Jeep out of this Worst Stuck, as he estimates that hiring a tow-truck to pull out the Jeep would have cost several hundred dollars, while the Navy tow cost nothing. What, Jerry, you didn't buy the Navy guys lunch?