Obligatory this didn’t happen today/I’m on mobile.

So I was doing a solo drive across the country (USA), and I decided that I wanted to go see the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico. It was only a slight detour from my original route, and I was making good time, so I decided to go check it out. I looked on the National Parks website, and from what I could tell, this looked like a place where you could park your car, get out, and walk around. I put in “Santa Fe National Forest” into Apple Maps, and off I go. I get to the last part of my route, where the GPS says, “In 10 miles, prepare to park your car near Service Road x”.

My SUV has AWD, and I had snow chains in the backseat, so I wasn’t worried. One thing to note is that I’m in an area of New Mexico where the population of the closest town can’t be more than 100.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

I’m following GPS up this hill, and the road is mostly plowed. I make it about 2 miles into the last 10 mile stretch before I see this pickup coming down the mountain, and pull up next to me. I explain myself to the 2 gentlemen, and they gently suggest I should turn around because the road up ahead isn’t plowed very well. I thank them for the information, and tell them that I’ll turn around now.

They keep driving down the mountain, and I go to turn around on the narrow road (mistake #1). I am trying to navigate a 3-point turn when, you guessed it, I slide into the ditch behind me. These 2 gentlemen see this all go down, back up, and kindly ask if they can help. I of course oblige, and dig out my tow hook and tow chain. We get everything attached to their truck and my car, and they start pulling. Miraculously, it only took 2 attempts to get me out of the ditch. I thank them graciously for their help, and apologize for being a dumbass. I give them a $20, because I know they didn’t have to back up and help me. They tell me they would never leave someone stuck.

I explain that GPS said the service road was up ahead, and that was when they informed me that I was actually on the service road, but nobody goes up it in the winter (mistake #2). They told me that they had a small property up ahead around the corner, and if I had kept going a little ways, I could’ve turned around there. I am quite appreciative, and they have me follow them down the mountain. I ended up getting out of the area, and after driving around 100 miles to the interstate (I wish I were joking), I was on the road again. So to the 2 nice Mexican gentlemen who helped me out, thank you so much for not leaving me stranded.

TLDR; TIFU by following GPS up what turned out to be a service road in the mountains of New Mexico which led to me getting stuck in a ditch, all because I wanted to see a National Forest.