Flat Tire!
May. 19th, 2021 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerInland Empire Travelog #11
Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho - Sat, 15 May 2021. 6pm.
On our way to our fifth and final waterfall trek of the day today we caught a flat tire. We were driving up a remote forest service road about 10 miles out from the shores of Lake Pend Oreille when POP! A rock on the gravel road punctured our left front tire.
For a moment I wasn't sure if anything had happened, but then the Hsss... Hsss... Hsss sound told me we'd likely caught a flat. The tire pressure alert light came on a few seconds later as I was already looking for a wide enough, flat enough spot on the remote, dirt-and-gravel road to replace the tire.
![Changing a flat tire in remote Idaho [May 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/723472/723472_original.jpg "Changing a flat tire in remote Idaho [May 2021]")
For a lot of people nowadays a flat tire is a case of, "Uh-oh, better call for help!" I did consider the possibility of needing to call for help... as a worst case scenario. And it would need to be a worst case, as out here we were 10 miles of primitive road away from cell reception and hadn't seen other people for at least the past 5 miles. We would need to be self-rescuing princes and princesses.
Fortunately it wasn't more than 100 yards or so to a flat, wide spot on the trail. We pulled the spare and tools from the trunk and I got to work.
![Improvising a wheel chock to change a flat tire miles from a paved road [May 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/723733/723733_original.jpg "Improvising a wheel chock to change a flat tire miles from a paved road [May 2021]")
When raising a car on a jack it's important to block the wheels so they don't roll. Otherwise the car could pivot off the jack and cause damage and injury! Now, wheel chocks aren't a thing cars come with. Owners manuals advise blocking the wheel with a handy loose brick, but if you're not the kind of person who has loose bricks hanging around (really, who does?!?!) you have to improvise.
We improvised with my hiking boots!
With the boots in place plus the hand brake set I got to work on jacking the car.
![I hope this 50/50 spare will get us back to a paved road & cell reception! [May 2021]](https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/canyonwalker/33413618/724110/724110_original.jpg "I hope this 50/50 spare will get us back to a paved road & cell reception! [May 2021]")
Fortunately this car's tools were in good condition, if a bit undersized for the weight of the vehicle. The spare was a temporary tire, though, a "50/50" — as in designed for up to 50 miles of use at speeds not exceeding 50 mph. Also as in, 50/50 are your chances of getting back safely. 😨
Getting back safely was the main thing on my mind. This road had already claimed one regular tire on the way up. Would we be able to get back down without further mishap? Would the skinny, barely treaded 50/50 tire handle safely the gravel road? It was 10 miles back to the nearest paved road and fringes of cell phone reception.
Well, from the fact I'm writing this, you can tell the answer is Yes, we did get back safely. 😅 The tire made it back down the gravel road.
We're now at the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, on the phone with the car rental company's emergency roadside assistance. We're on hold. "Wait times are over 15 minutes," the robot informs us. ðŸ˜
We don't expect the rental company to send a tow truck out to us, BTW. We're just checking with them for instructions on how to proceed. Including, particularly, where is the nearest depot or repair shop we can go to. With that 50/50 spare already getting us down the mountain we don't necessarily have a lot of runway left!
Keep reading: How far can we push our luck with 50/50?
Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho - Sat, 15 May 2021. 6pm.
On our way to our fifth and final waterfall trek of the day today we caught a flat tire. We were driving up a remote forest service road about 10 miles out from the shores of Lake Pend Oreille when POP! A rock on the gravel road punctured our left front tire.
For a moment I wasn't sure if anything had happened, but then the Hsss... Hsss... Hsss sound told me we'd likely caught a flat. The tire pressure alert light came on a few seconds later as I was already looking for a wide enough, flat enough spot on the remote, dirt-and-gravel road to replace the tire.
For a lot of people nowadays a flat tire is a case of, "Uh-oh, better call for help!" I did consider the possibility of needing to call for help... as a worst case scenario. And it would need to be a worst case, as out here we were 10 miles of primitive road away from cell reception and hadn't seen other people for at least the past 5 miles. We would need to be self-rescuing princes and princesses.
Fortunately it wasn't more than 100 yards or so to a flat, wide spot on the trail. We pulled the spare and tools from the trunk and I got to work.
When raising a car on a jack it's important to block the wheels so they don't roll. Otherwise the car could pivot off the jack and cause damage and injury! Now, wheel chocks aren't a thing cars come with. Owners manuals advise blocking the wheel with a handy loose brick, but if you're not the kind of person who has loose bricks hanging around (really, who does?!?!) you have to improvise.
We improvised with my hiking boots!
With the boots in place plus the hand brake set I got to work on jacking the car.
Fortunately this car's tools were in good condition, if a bit undersized for the weight of the vehicle. The spare was a temporary tire, though, a "50/50" — as in designed for up to 50 miles of use at speeds not exceeding 50 mph. Also as in, 50/50 are your chances of getting back safely. 😨
Getting back safely was the main thing on my mind. This road had already claimed one regular tire on the way up. Would we be able to get back down without further mishap? Would the skinny, barely treaded 50/50 tire handle safely the gravel road? It was 10 miles back to the nearest paved road and fringes of cell phone reception.
Well, from the fact I'm writing this, you can tell the answer is Yes, we did get back safely. 😅 The tire made it back down the gravel road.
We're now at the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, on the phone with the car rental company's emergency roadside assistance. We're on hold. "Wait times are over 15 minutes," the robot informs us. ðŸ˜
We don't expect the rental company to send a tow truck out to us, BTW. We're just checking with them for instructions on how to proceed. Including, particularly, where is the nearest depot or repair shop we can go to. With that 50/50 spare already getting us down the mountain we don't necessarily have a lot of runway left!
Keep reading: How far can we push our luck with 50/50?
