Trailhead Trouble

Trailhead condition requests, questions, alerts, etc.
Forum rules
  • This is a mountaineering forum, so please keep your posts on-topic. Posts do not all have to be related to the 14ers but should at least be mountaineering-related.
  • Personal attacks and confrontational behavior will result in removal from the forum at the discretion of the administrators.
  • Do not use this forum to advertise, sell photos or other products or promote a commercial website.
  • Posts will be removed at the discretion of the site administrator or moderator(s), including: Troll posts, posts pushing political views or religious beliefs, and posts with the purpose of instigating conflict within the forum.
For more details, please see the Terms of Use you agreed to when joining the forum.
Post Reply
User avatar
Gandalf69
Posts: 222
Joined: 5/14/2020
14ers: 31 
13ers: 1
Trip Reports (8)
 

Trailhead Trouble

Post by Gandalf69 »

What is the craziest story out there about trouble at trailheads before or after any hike? Mine would have to be a tree falling on my friends car this spring. These day hikers told us as we were going back, "Its a small tree"..... #-o #-o
Attachments
If a tree falls on your car and nobody's around, does it make a sound?
If a tree falls on your car and nobody's around, does it make a sound?
20201210_105515.jpg (170.46 KiB) Viewed 4826 times
When it hits the fan
When it hits the fan
20201210_104341.jpg (162.51 KiB) Viewed 4851 times
"There's always the possibility that some a**hole will be offended." -Clint Eastwood, Escape from Alcatraz
"Life is cruel, why should the afterlife be any different".-Davey Jones
"The decision to triage us to death...I understand. I don't know that I would agree with it. Certainly not in retrospect because obviously I made it."-Beck Weathers, Dark side of Everest
User avatar
nyker
Posts: 3231
Joined: 12/5/2007
14ers: 58 
13ers: 25
Trip Reports (69)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by nyker »

Bummer! Were you able to open the door after that?

I came back to a flat tire on the rental after a 12hr hike starving and tired, in the dark. The rental car jack just sucked, kept sinking in the dirt when I tried to lift it once I was able to extend it. There were no large flat rocks or other real hard ground nearby but was able to move the car to the only rocky section in the road and did it there, thankful no other vehicles were coming up the road in a hurry...the lugs were stripped and took forever to loosen them so this must have happened before to this car. What would have taken 10min with a normal jack and pavement ended up taking over an like 90min.
User avatar
HikerGuy
Posts: 1406
Joined: 5/25/2006
14ers: 58 
13ers: 426 8
Trip Reports (9)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by HikerGuy »

A flat tire, twice, once at Rock of Ages and another time at Sneffels. Fortunately I always carry an air compressor and tire plug kit. I was able to repair the tire each time.
User avatar
rijaca
Posts: 3387
Joined: 7/8/2006
14ers: 58  4 
13ers: 244 1 2
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by rijaca »

Flat tires, and a fuel pump that quit.
"A couple more shots of whiskey,
the women 'round here start looking good"
User avatar
Gandalf69
Posts: 222
Joined: 5/14/2020
14ers: 31 
13ers: 1
Trip Reports (8)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by Gandalf69 »

nyker wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 10:58 am Bummer! Were you able to open the door after that?

I came back to a flat tire on the rental after a 12hr hike starving and tired, in the dark. The rental car jack just sucked, kept sinking in the dirt when I tried to lift it once I was able to extend it. There were no large flat rocks or other real hard ground nearby but was able to move the car to the only rocky section in the road and did it there, thankful no other vehicles were coming up the road in a hurry...the lugs were stripped and took forever to loosen them so this must have happened before to this car. What would have taken 10min with a normal jack and pavement ended up taking over an like 90min.
It opened, luckily the tree hit other trees before it hit his truck to soften the blow. When he got it back, we got a flat tire doing Lindsey. It delayed us, we didn't start till like 1030, but everything was ok afterwards.
"There's always the possibility that some a**hole will be offended." -Clint Eastwood, Escape from Alcatraz
"Life is cruel, why should the afterlife be any different".-Davey Jones
"The decision to triage us to death...I understand. I don't know that I would agree with it. Certainly not in retrospect because obviously I made it."-Beck Weathers, Dark side of Everest
User avatar
Chicago Transplant
Posts: 4008
Joined: 9/7/2004
14ers: 58  12  24 
13ers: 697 39 34
Trip Reports (66)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by Chicago Transplant »

Radiator kept overheating, thought I could make it home after buying one of those liquid sealants but I was a dumbass and didn't realize I needed to refill the radiator fluid, so overheated again. #-o

Fuel pump went out after winter Huron on the way back through Leadville.

A couple of flat tires, most recently on the way in to San Luis at night with a long way to still go, but also a long way from pavement already. Camped right there and drove out on the donut tire in the morning and climbed 8er in Gunnison instead after finding an open tire shop in town.
"We want the unpopular challenge. We want to test our intellect!" - Snapcase
"You are not what you own" - Fugazi
"Life's a mountain not a beach" - Fortune Cookie I got at lunch the other day
User avatar
griddles
Posts: 118
Joined: 7/13/2012
14ers: 11 
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by griddles »

Car gone!

Came back from ice climbing up in Clear Creek Canyon. I had parked in the pull out just past where Hwy 6 meets 93. Then jumped in a friends car to go to the spot. Came back 6 hours later, no car! Had to call 911 to find out that the car had been towed! I didn't get a ticket or anything. I never did figure out why it was towed. The tow did also break the exhaust pipe under the car so add that $$ to the tow bill. It was a pretty expensive day. Good news was that they did tow it to a lot only a few blocks from where I lived at the time.
User avatar
nsaladin
Posts: 772
Joined: 11/20/2013
14ers: 58  1  5 
13ers: 12 1
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by nsaladin »

Left a dome light on in the truck in Lead King Basin, away from the trailhead and across the river. No one was camping in the area when we drove in and setup camp. I quickly realized what I did and tried to start it... dead. We hiked around at like 8pm hoping to see someone near the trailhead, another party happened to arrive sometime after us just down the road and came and jumped us.
81go
Posts: 7
Joined: 12/30/2017
14ers: 23 
13ers: 4
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by 81go »

Years ago, before cell phones, my wife and I spent a December weekend backpacking in a very remote, infrequently visited wilderness area of the Ozarks. The trailhead was 16 miles from the nearest paved road, and a couple miles further to a payphone. We made it back to our car at sunset, only to find that someone had slashed both rear wheels. We feared for our safety, as most likely someone was letting us know we were not welcome in the area (banjos and Deliverance going through our minds). We quickly headed down the dirt road, anticipating hiking late into the night. About a mile down the road, we heard a diesel pickup truck come up from behind us and slow down to our speed, paralleling just behind us and eventually pulling even with us. As the truck window rolled down, I was afraid to look. We were relieved to see an older couple who were out looking for a Christmas tree, and gratefully accepted a ride back to town.
User avatar
CaptainSuburbia
Posts: 1101
Joined: 10/7/2017
14ers: 58  35 
13ers: 125 9
Trip Reports (44)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by CaptainSuburbia »

Last summer I blew a tire driving down 390 on my way to Huron. It was still dark and I was only 1.5 miles from Winfield, so I decided to climb first and fix the tire later. Figured it would be quick and easy. I did the Lulu Gulch route and returned to my truck and started working on the tire. Turns out it was the furthest from easy. I quickly discovered that one of my lug nuts needed a key to loosen. I knew nothing of a key and couldn't find one anywhere. I hitched to Leadville and called my buddy who I was supposed to meet at Little Bear later that night. He said he'd bring some tools to break it off and it shouldn't be a problem. We spent a good hour working on it with no luck and headed for Little Bear leaving my truck. After climbing LB on no sleep, we returned to my truck with some more tools purchased in Salida and still couldn't get the nut off. Even watching YouTube videos didn't help. I stayed in Leadville that night and returned to my truck the next day with another friend and fresh ideas. Still no luck. I stayed another night in Leadville at the Rodeway and hired a tow truck driver the next day. Took him all of 5 minutes to remove the lug and change my tire. He charged me $1200 and said I was getting a deal. I had been stuck in Leadville for 4 days. A week later I found the key in a junk drawer ](*,)
Some day our kids will study Clash lyrics in school.
Nothing drives people crazy like people drive people crazy.
Save Challenger Point
User avatar
JTOlson26
Posts: 462
Joined: 4/21/2009
14ers: 20 
Trip Reports (1)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by JTOlson26 »

nsaladin wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:18 pm Left a dome light on in the truck in Lead King Basin, away from the trailhead and across the river. No one was camping in the area when we drove in and setup camp. I quickly realized what I did and tried to start it... dead. We hiked around at like 8pm hoping to see someone near the trailhead, another party happened to arrive sometime after us just down the road and came and jumped us.
I love my 2014 4Runner, but I miss my 1999 4Runner with a 5spd for that reason. Not that I'm trying to drain my battery accidentally, but always felt good knowing in most situations I could at least bump start the old 4Runner.
markf
Posts: 114
Joined: 11/14/2007
14ers: 56  2  9 
13ers: 21 1 2
Trip Reports (0)
 

Re: Trailhead Trouble

Post by markf »

JTOlson26 wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 5:28 am
nsaladin wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:18 pm Left a dome light on in the truck in Lead King Basin, away from the trailhead and across the river. No one was camping in the area when we drove in and setup camp. I quickly realized what I did and tried to start it... dead. We hiked around at like 8pm hoping to see someone near the trailhead, another party happened to arrive sometime after us just down the road and came and jumped us.
I love my 2014 4Runner, but I miss my 1999 4Runner with a 5spd for that reason. Not that I'm trying to drain my battery accidentally, but always felt good knowing in most situations I could at least bump start the old 4Runner.
I carry a booster pack for just that reason. It's a lot less work than bump starting, especially if you're traveling alone.
mark
Post Reply