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March 28, 2024 2:06 pm
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The Heart-Warming Tale Of A Sunken Jeep

By STEPHANIE BUNKER

Moapa Valley Progress

Friends and neighbors of Overton resident Kurt Lytle work to excavate Lytle’s Jeep that had been sunk in the Virgin River quick sand for about five months.

Warning: this is a story which starts with disappointment and failure. But in the end, it makes a 180 degree turn into miracles, service, and joy.

Overton resident, Kurt Lytle found himself in a bit of a predicament a few months ago when his prized 1989 Jeep Wrangler became swallowed up by the Virgin River.

On President’s Day weekend; Saturday, February 16; Kurt’s daughter and son-in-law took their small family on a ride in Kurt’s Jeep.

This Jeep was Kurt’s dream vehicle. He had only recently acquired it and, over the previous seven months, had been enjoying cruising it around town and into the desert areas surrounding the valley.

In any case, on that February day, the family had borrowed the Jeep and ventured up and across the southern part of the Mormon Mesa to a place commonly known as Duck Hunting Mothers (DHM). Just up the river from there, the family spotted an island, about 250 feet away, surrounded by only about six inches of water. They decided to drive over to it.

On their way, the back tires got stuck in the sandy mud. After repeated unsuccessful attempts to free the Jeep, the family finally gave up and went back home to get help to pull the vehicle out. But by the time they returned, it was well after dark. So they decided there was nothing more they could do for the day.

Kurt Lytle’s Jeep was almost completely buried in the mud of the Virgin River for months before a group of his friends figured out a way to get it back out.

The next day, Lytle returned to see what condition the vehicle was in and what would be needed to get it out of the quagmire. What he found was alarming.

“The Jeep had already sunk over half way into the river!” Lytle said.

This wasn’t just any muddy sand. This was the perilous quick sand for which this area of the Virgin River has long been notorious. So by that time, only the vehicle’s windshield, seats, and spare tire could be seen sticking out of the mud.

By Monday morning it was even worse. At that point, the vehicle had sunk to the point that only the windshield, roll bar, and a small part of the spare tire was visible.

Perplexed, Lytle began working out how he was going to free his dream Jeep from the hungry river.

“I didn’t feel comfortable asking anyone with equipment to come help get it out because I was afraid we would get a back hoe stuck as well,” Lytle said.

But Lytle was not about to give up on it. With his circle of friends, he discussed and brainstormed various ways to get the Jeep out.

“It became sort of a competition to see who could come up with the best idea to get it out,” said Kurt’s wife, Audrey.

Kurt and his friend, Monty Bledsoe, devised a plan to divert the water with plywood and begin digging the Jeep out.

“We made quite a bit of progress that day, but we went out to work on it again the next morning and the water level had risen higher,” he explained. “All the work we had done was washed away. It looked like we had never even been there.”

Members of the Finlayson family get together for a photo after they pull the Jeep out of the mud in the Virgin River last month.

Lytle and Bledsoe’s second attempt consisted of burying air filled barrels into the mud with ropes attached to the Jeep, in an effort to get the Jeep to break the suction and pop loose. It was a promising idea. But again, it didn’t work and they came away empty handed.

A few weeks ago Lytle received a picture message from his friend, Mike Finlayson, showing that the water in the river was drying up. He thought that it finally might be a good time to go dig the Jeep out.

“I was at work on Wednesday trying to figure out when I would have the time to go dig it out.” said Lytle, “I was not looking forward to it at all, since my success rate was so low.”

But the following evening, on Thursday, July 11, Lytle received a big surprise. When he got home from work he saw the Jeep sitting in his driveway all cleaned up with a big red bow on it!

“I just sat in it and thought it was a miracle,” said Kurt. “And no one would tell us who did it! I had to know how they got it out.”

Lytle had his suspicions, so he cornered Finlayson, who finally confessed that it was he and his family that had done the good deed.

The series of miraculous events started the day before when the whole Finlayson family got together on July 10. They were enjoying a day at the Virgin River nearby where Lytle’s Jeep had sunk.

The kids were playing around the Jeep and started digging at what they thought was treasure. That sparked some discussion among the adults on whether they thought they could get the Jeep out or not.

“Some thought they could do it, and others didn’t think so,” Kurt said.

But it was finally decided that they would give it a shot. So the next day at 6:00 a.m. they went back out to dig up the Jeep. Mike Finlayson brought a tall tripod with a pulley at the top of it. They dug around the Jeep about 2 feet with shovels before they hit water. Then they attached a chain to the the vehicle ran it through the pulley on top of the tripod and fixed the other end to a truck. With that they pulled the chain. The upward pressure on the Jeep broke the suction and freed it from it’s muddy prison!

While the family was working on getting the Jeep out, one of Finlayson’s sons-in-law had been scouting up-river on his four wheeler. He saw that there had been a big storm somewhere and the floodwater was rushing down toward them. He raced back to the group and told them to expect some higher water soon. The rescuer’s hurried up their work and got the Jeep out just in time.

Twenty minutes later, the flood water came down the river and filled the crater that had been left by the Jeep, making a great swimming hole for the kids.

Once the family got the Jeep back to town, they proceeded to clean it up as best they could.

“When they had lifted the hood, there was mud just caked in the engine,” said Lytle.

So after working three hours to free the Jeep of it’s muddy bond, it took another 3 hours to get it cleaned up. Lytle reported that by the time they were done with it, you’d never have known that the vehicle had been sunk in the river for five months. Because there had been no oxygen in the sand, the Jeep had not developed any rust, Kurt said.

Still there was significant damage. Of course there was water and mud damage to the Jeep’s engine and other systems. But, in addition, while the car had been sitting in the river, it had received a bullet hole through the windshield and the spare tire had been stolen.

Still, Lytle was tremendously grateful for the service that was given to him by the Finlayson’s.

“To me it’s another example of how people in Moapa Valley are willing to make a project out of something and not look for recognition,” he said, “This is a really unique place.”

Currently the Jeep sits at Logandale Tire and Auto Shop where mechanic Mike Hemmingway is resurrecting it. Hemmingway happened to be the previous owner of the Jeep and has an emotional tie to it as well. He has promised the Lytle’s that he will find the parts that need to be replaced and get the Jeep running once again.

“The Jeep is a war story for Overton and we will try to piece it back together,” Lytle said. “Then I will be able to putt it around the valley once more.”

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