After yesterday's mishap in the Marina, we learn another local rear-engine aficionado recently made a wrong turn and ended up stuck in a tough spot. This time, it was 55-year-old Mark Schroeder of Sacramento who plowed his fine German automobile in to a snowdrift in Placer County, leaving him and his girlfriend stranded for three nights with nothing to eat but Ritz crackers, Girl Scout cookies and some granola bars.
Schroeder and his girlfriend Janette had set out for "a remote saloon" called Uncle Tom's Cabin Sunday evening when his Porsche 911 became stuck in snow at the bottom of a canyon. Once it got dark the couple decided to dramatically wait out the night in each other's arms, only to awake to a fresh snow making matters worse in the morning. With only the delicious Thin Mints, buttery snack crackers, trail mix, some granola bars, a couple of oranges, a few bottles of water and the car's premium unleaded-powered heater to keep them going, the pair bravely waited for rescue for three whole days.
When help didn't arrive because rescue crews received an inaccurate tip that the pair had been spotted at a winery 60 miles away, Schroeder finally decided to wrap his tennis shoes in trash bags secured with ripped bra straps and hike six miles (uphill, in the snow) until he could find cell phone reception. Thoughts of his two sons, Brad, 22, and Kyle, 18, apparently kept him going until he reached Robinson Flat, where he was picked up by a CHP helicopter. The chopper returned for Janette and the pair were treated at a hospital in Auburn, although neither of them suffered frostbite or any lasting injury. The Porsche 911, however, remains stuck in the snow.
Obviously none of this would have ever happened if only those Porsches weren't so dang hard to drive.
Here's the video report on the brave duo's survival:
