Rocks! Why does it always have to be rocks!

[thewayne]

Had yet another Undesirable Rock Encounter (tm) coming down from Cloudcroft tonight. We had a moderately substantial rain storm hit the area Sunday afternoon/evening, and a bunch of rocks dropped on the down-side of the tunnel. I couldn't avoid them as they stretched across the entire width of the road, and they were worse on the uphill side! So I braked and swerved as best I could, dumping my Mac off the seat into the floorboard (fortunately with no apparent damage). Pulled over, hit the emergency blinkers, called 911, and grabbed my heavy leather gloves to go up and clear them away as best I could.

First problem: no flashlight. Second problem: wearing a black t-shirt. Someone was coming uphill and I managed to flag the guy down, fortunately he was anticipating rock falls. And conveniently he had some time to help me clear the biggest rocks, so very quickly the road was reasonably passable. There were still a few dozen smaller rocks, but there's limits to what you can do without a broom and emergency lights.

I couldn't inspect my car's undercarriage as well as I'd've liked (I was using my cell phone as a makeshift light), but it wasn't hemorrhaging fluids, so I counted that as good. The impact did knock off one of my wheel covers, it was lying by the side of the road and not really any worse for wear. From that point down, you're about eight miles from Alamogordo, so I proceeded down without any problems. All of the instruments seemed ok: no overheating, no idiot lights showing no oil, so hopefully all is well. I'll just have to wait until the morning and look things over more carefully. That, and go out to Home Depot and get a flashlight to keep in the car!


And for those of you new to my journal, welcome! I hit a rock about four miles above this tunnel last year in early December, it took out the transmission to the tune of $6,200 and my car was in the shop for 45 days. At least insurance ate all but $250 of the damage.

Comments

[zentraedi-shep.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's a SIGN... telling you to move to the Rocky Mountains... ;P

Man, if it wasn't for the distance, you should consider walking. Can't you take a train or something that doesn't wreck your car all the time? ;)

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately in America you don't have a good transportation system aside from driving yourself. If you're able to get to certain points, you can take Greyhound buses or fly or what have you, but if you aren't near those points you have the choice of walking or driving.

And then when you do find a company that can take you from A to B, you're limited to their hours. Here in NM, as far as I know, there are a couple of companies that will take you from Las Cruces to Alamogordo and back. There's no one that I know of that'll take you from Alamo to Cloudcroft. It would be great if there were a train between Las Cruces and Alamo, but it wouldn't be economically viable to run it up to Cloudcroft, much less between those two points, so you're still stuck with what the phone company calls "the final mile", or in this case, the final 16 miles between Alamo and Cloudcroft. And at that point, you're still having to go through the areas where the rocks fall.

No win situation except to be careful when you're driving.

[ateji.livejournal.com]

No win situation except to be careful when you're driving.

And have a flashlight in the car. o_O;;; Glad your car appears uninjured.

[zentraedi-shep.livejournal.com]

Well, your state governments should start to think about public transportation with the oil said to be running dry by 2020...

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

Nah, we can't run out of oil -- we're next door to Texas!

The fact that we're running out of oil is beside the point as far as the gov't and people are concerned. The gov't has been giving the auto makers in the US a "buddy-buddy" free ride for a very long time, and they have almost entirely forgotten how to be competative. The gov't has failed to force compliance to increasing CAFE standards that would increase fuel efficiency, etc. Now they're all teetering near bankruptcy, something that would devastate the midwest.

As for me, I won't buy an American car. I see how often my friends' cars are in the shop compared to my Mazdas and Isuzus and Toyotas and Subarus. No thank you.

It's going to be ugly, and could well create a world-wide recession when the oil supplies go away, because no one will be ready for it.

[deborak]

Get a Monster Truck!

[cteare.livejournal.com]

I recommend some sturdy skid plates for the undercarriage of your car. A lift kit may not be a bad idea either.