We went back down the mountain and drove to a nearby tow yard where they had a huge, six wheeled tow truck. We strapped it onto the back of the trailer and made the climb back up the mountain. We left the tow truck at the top of the mountain and dropped off the trailer, loaded with two cars and a motor home at the campground we had previously rented. The tow truck driver said he would look for the keys and drive the tow truck back to me. Unfortunately, the tow truck driver returned my car keys to me on Thursday night. This gave me three more days of anticipation. A couple of those days I was able to drive the tow truck, but many others I was not. It was actually an enjoyable experience. I had never driven a tow truck before and wasn’t exactly sure how to turn the steering wheel, but I figured out most of it on my own. We eventually found a way out of the woods and headed back to a campground near where we had gotten the tow truck. On Saturday, September 13th I was able to drive the tow truck on a small paved road, while my wife followed in our Honda. We got back to civilization in one piece, which was a pleasant relief after the three week nightmare we had in the woods. I had towed the car and was finally able to park my tow truck. We made our way back to where we had gotten the tow truck the previous week. We returned my tow truck and took our Honda back to our home in Northern California. I haven’t driven that particular tow truck since, but I have gone on other adventures with many different tow trucks. That being said, I think the tow truck my wife and I used to get me out of the woods is the best tow truck I have ever driven. If you enjoyed this article, please follow my blog and subscribe to my email list. I will send out future articles, book updates, newsletters and other information. I appreciate your support! You can also find me on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Post navigation 34 thoughts on “A Tow Truck to the Woods” Very cool adventure. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your tow rating for your tow truck? I used to work at a tow yard in high school so I might be able to help. We are getting quite a few calls from campers that were lost in the woods so I can relate. Hi Brian, we don’t know exactly what the tow rating was on the tow truck. We never did look it up to see what the tow rating was. For the record, there were two other tow trucks that showed up later. They were even bigger than the tow truck we used. The people that showed up looked at the tow truck for a while and decided it was not a tow truck that would do the job for them, because it was too old and rusty. They left and came back a couple of times, but nobody showed up again for a couple of days. It’s great that they were so worried about you, but a tow truck might be the last thing they needed! You got everything under control finally. So glad you are back home and not in the woods, with all of the bears, ticks, wolves and wolves in sheeps clothing! 🙂 I will give you some pointers on driving the tow truck, but I did not make any of them, so that is only an estimate and I am no expert. A tow truck does not move in a straight line, you use the wheel to make a small adjustment. I do not know if you have driven a truck before, but most of the time you use your truck key and nothing special to drive a tow truck. The steering wheel does the same thing as in an automobile. The steering wheel will turn both ways and is used like an automobile steering wheel. You have a choice of gears. I am guessing you need to make an adjustment to your tow truck’s gas and brake. Good luck and keep traveling! Thank you for the tips, I appreciate it. I think I was looking at the truck wrong. To me it looks like it is trying to drive by itself. I have since learned it is a reverse maneuver, but I never learned how to reverse the truck before getting it stuck in the woods. The keys would not be a problem because I would have to get towed out of there anyways. For a person new to tow trucks, this is probably the worst thing you can get stuck in. Great story! You learned so much in such a short period of time. A tow truck is a necessity in many places. I can’t wait to go to the east coast for a winter snow storm and tow car to a safer location. I have plenty of things to find fault with your adventure, but that’s just me. I had to laugh about the “Bear Repellent”. Most people don’t know. It is called Citronella. It’s used in bug spray because it won’t hurt a bear and it smells like roses. Best of luck. You are going to do well with a tow truck. They are just like cars in that they all have a transmission, but the gears are geared differently. The tow truck has a reverse gear which is used to reverse the car in the same way as the other gears. It is a transmission that you have to learn how to drive. You should get some instruction on how to use the tow truck and how to use the gears. You don’t need to worry about the brake and gas unless you are having problems or don’t know how to operate the car. Thank you very much for your kind words! I am super glad the site is still active and has not had any more major issues. The old tow truck has been very faithful to me for a