re  "don't tell me to buy a Syncro. Even the four-wheelers I encountered
would not cross over to me on the soft sand."

Rest assured ..a syncro vanagon with the right set up ...which can include front and rear locking differentials and a solid shaft instead of a Viscous Coupling and the right tires likely would not have a problem.
There is also the common electric winch .....just for such eventualities.

did you air down your tires ?

On 4/17/2013 7:36 AM, Jim Felder wrote:
> This may have been covered before, and it is not strictly Vanagon content,
> but I was in a Vanagon last week when it happened to me.
>
> Looking for places to get on a river, I naturally found myself under a
> bridge. I was a long day from home on a multi-day Westy trip to research
> rivers in part of my state. The surface I was on went from hard-packed to
> deep sand in one short moment, and I could not see it coming. The front
> wheels dropped down and quickly the back wheels had dug in. I had to dig
> out under the muffler for clearance to be extricated by a local who,
> because I travel with a very long tow strap, was able to pull me out from
> the hard packed road.
>
> While locating a local, I called AAA, which has always provided me with
> really good service when I have needed it. "Can the service vehicle get to
> you without getting off the paved roadway?" I was asked. I replied that you
> couldn't even see the paved road from where I was. "We can't help you,
> thanks for choosing AAA today. Is there anything else I can do for you
> today?"
>
> I thought that I might ask her to pave the access road, but thought better.
>
> Don't wander farther off the beaten path than your tow strap will reach.
> And don't tell me to buy a Syncro. Even the four-wheelers I encountered
> would not cross over to me on the soft sand.
>
> : )
>
> Jim
>