This happened late this afternoon, as I was maneuvering into the perfect position in my favorite camping spot in the White Mountains, a spot that's probably the best view-site I've ever camped.
But the rock up here is very sharply shattered...
And I was trying to get close to the base of this outcrop because the lay of the land required that to make the camper level (without using leveling blocks). However, there must have been a sharp rock near the base of the outcrop that I didn't notice...
Because, as I pulled up there I heard a sudden pop and saw a blast of dust get blown up...and the right front corner of the truck sunk down immediately:
Yes, the sidewall had a bit of a cut in it:
A hand-swallowing cut in it:
My poor BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO...
Darn... So I backed down to a flatter spot and put on the spare -- only the second time in over 120,000 miles that I've had to do that.
(I should mention that the cut may have enlarged a bit from its initial size to the dramtic size in thse photos as I drove a hundred feet or so to a flat spot to change the tire...but it was a fatal wound from the start, so it didn't really matter.)
But I wasn't going to let inanimate inorganic matter dictate where I park, so I drove back up to the scene of the carnage (after clearing from the area every rock that didn't have blunt edges), and I'm in the finest -- for the view -- camping spot in the White Mountains:
Not shown, and what makes it so very fine, is the view of the east side of the Sierra Nevada, which I didn't want to shoot at in the setting sun, but can be seen in shots from last year when I camped in the same place. (below the antenna installation that's near the top of Silver Canyon -- "legal" because it's just outside the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest protected area)
So...now I'm without a spare tire. I have a patch kit, as advised by the wise folks here on WTW, and compressor...but when I descend in a couple of days I'll probably buy a tire in Bishop like the one I destroyed so that I have a spare again. The dead tire was two years old and still had good life left, so it was an unfortunate lo$$ (stupid, careless Mark!)... but at least it wasn't very new, so I don't feel too bad.
But the rock up here is very sharply shattered...
And I was trying to get close to the base of this outcrop because the lay of the land required that to make the camper level (without using leveling blocks). However, there must have been a sharp rock near the base of the outcrop that I didn't notice...
Because, as I pulled up there I heard a sudden pop and saw a blast of dust get blown up...and the right front corner of the truck sunk down immediately:
Yes, the sidewall had a bit of a cut in it:
A hand-swallowing cut in it:
My poor BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO...
Darn... So I backed down to a flatter spot and put on the spare -- only the second time in over 120,000 miles that I've had to do that.
(I should mention that the cut may have enlarged a bit from its initial size to the dramtic size in thse photos as I drove a hundred feet or so to a flat spot to change the tire...but it was a fatal wound from the start, so it didn't really matter.)
But I wasn't going to let inanimate inorganic matter dictate where I park, so I drove back up to the scene of the carnage (after clearing from the area every rock that didn't have blunt edges), and I'm in the finest -- for the view -- camping spot in the White Mountains:
Not shown, and what makes it so very fine, is the view of the east side of the Sierra Nevada, which I didn't want to shoot at in the setting sun, but can be seen in shots from last year when I camped in the same place. (below the antenna installation that's near the top of Silver Canyon -- "legal" because it's just outside the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest protected area)
So...now I'm without a spare tire. I have a patch kit, as advised by the wise folks here on WTW, and compressor...but when I descend in a couple of days I'll probably buy a tire in Bishop like the one I destroyed so that I have a spare again. The dead tire was two years old and still had good life left, so it was an unfortunate lo$$ (stupid, careless Mark!)... but at least it wasn't very new, so I don't feel too bad.