The Place Where SUVs Go To Die

He called it Gilligan's Trail and the place next to it Gilligan's Island.  An hour later I checked it out with my barber.  True, that's what people call it.  Two fishing ponds nestled east of SE 14th and south of Maury in Des Moines, Iowa.  My barber said that he was back there in the 60s.  I was back there to run an offroad test of my recently acquired Mongoose Dolomite fatbike (cheap).  I was hoping to spot a junked car that I spied when riding the Des Moines River Trail across the river earlier in the week.  Also hoped to find a discarded couch for the Geocouching game I had been playing.

I left my house around 7 am on Saturday for an hour ride before Gomez Barber opened at 8 am.  We would be leaving for Mary's parents around 10 am.  Time was tight.  I caught the DMRT at SE 6th and left it at SE 14th to cross the river and dive into the tree line on the river's north shore.  A bit wider than singletrack the trail here was made by 4x4s and ATVs.  The place was marked by fishing spots, beer cans and firepits.

Geocouching!!

This was the first find.  Its cushions were about 20 yards away so I did not bother to fetch them.  I had to flatten a beer can to use as a camera platform in a small tree since I lacked a photographer.  My Emerson go-pro was used to make a video in which I later took a screenshot for the "official" Geocouching submission.

Tripods are very helpful when taking photos without assistance.  I had to make my own.  Fortunately, there was a beer can readily available to use to hold the camera in this small tree.  I set the camera on video mode since it lacks a timer.

Continuing down the trail I discovered a Chevy truck badly stuck in mud.  A young man had started a campfire as he waited for rescue.  Apparently, he got stuck after pulling a friend's truck out of a similar situation.  He said that they come down here often to remove abandoned vehicles for scrap.  A noble action rewarded with the $$ a junked truck can obtain.

Stuck!

This Blazer was blazed.  I was told by my guide that they moved it here for extraction but someone keeps moving it to a sandbar before they can get a trailer in here to take it out.  To thwart further sandbarring they placed the SUV on a large log.

Buried upside down!

This is the one I spotted from the Des Moine River Trail.  Someone spent a lot of money over a 5 year period to purchase this Chevy Blazer.  Probably been sold a few times before ending up here.  

Need a professional to identify this one.  Final stages of car rot.