“Never underestimate a shallow stream” should be the lesson this guy learned trying to cross this river in a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

In the driver’s defense, it almost looks as if he could have made it, but he quickly realizes his mistake when the front begins dipping down into deeper water. He attempts to reverse out, but completely loses traction as the current pushes the Jeep downstream. At this point, there really aren’t many options he has left.

Since backwards isn’t working, he does the only thing he could: he guns it forward. Sometimes you’ve just got to go for it; sometimes you end up sailing downstream in a Grand Cherokee, but hey, whatever floats your boat, or Jeep for that matter. Luckily for this guy it didn’t get completely swallowed by the current, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to use it as a makeshift island while he calls for assistance.

When help arrives, they get right into the water to attach the cable, but that’s easier said than done. This river takes what it wants, first the Grand Cherokee, then this poor man’s pants. It’s currently out of control (pun intended).

Eventually they get the Jeep back out of the water. We can’t say the same for the guy’s pants, though.

Overcoming obstacles in nature is a challenge we often accept, and whether or not we succeed is dependent on not just the technology available, but also common sense. In hindsight, an alternative route should have been more heavily considered, but they had no plans to take the easy road, and to that we say, “Hey. At least you tried.”