In a Pickle

The story begins like this ------

   It was a dark and stormy night. Make that rainy, not stormy. Well, it was dark, very dark and misty - damp, misty, moist and mossy. We had finally arrived at Heart of the Hills Campground in the heart of the Olympic National Park.  It's the campground closest to Hurricane Ridge, the road that winds its way up to a mountain view of Mt Olympus. The campground was a welcome sight after a long day of dead-ends, turn-arounds, ups and downs (literally,) including a 5-mile first - gear upward crawl. So it was much later than our usual roosting time when we arrived at the campground. Did I mention it was dark? No one was around. 
    Michael got out and, with flashlight leading the way, located a level pull-thru campsite nearby on the other side of the loop, perfect for the Pickle and the Gherkin. We drove around the end of the loop to site #17, up, up the incline to reach the level part of the pull-through. Almost there, when the front tire of the Pickle, too close to the edge of the pavement, slipped off and into a patch of muddy, mossy grass, spinning uselessly. We went nowhere. There was no chance of backing down, 2300 pounds behind 13,000 pounds, in the dark, on a narrow strip of pavement lined with trees, in the forest.
     What to do? "We have to unhook or we'll never get up the incline," Michael surmised. With the emergency brake secured on the Volvo, he tried to detach the tow bar from the GMC, but the pressure on it was too much for anyone to move. Next option -- back the GMC up just enough to loosen its weight on the tow bar, which would allow us to lift the tow bar off the hitch. That's where I came in. I sat in the Volvo, in gear, emergency brake on, braking with the foot brake, while Michael ever so slowly crept backwards in the Pickle. "Just trust me," I think I heard him say as I gazed up at that giant backend looming over me.
    Yes! A couple of inches back was all it took.  Michael was then able to lift and detach the tow bar, and drive the GMC into its resting place.  The Volvo found a spot for the night in a flat turn-out next door. Okay, enough excitement for one day.