Yesterday was the first day since my wife died that I felt truly useful.
I didn’t plan for things to turn out that way.
I said goodbye to my friends in the caravan yesterday and left to drive up the Gila Mountains to camp near the Cliff Dwellings.
I had read that the road there was slow going with switchbacks, steep climbs and narrow lanes. Nobody mentioned that the road had no shoulders and the heights are dizzying. But that was OK with me. I had left early in the afternoon with plenty of time to reach my destination. I had identified two potential campsites. I’d camp at the best one then drive the last few miles to visit the Cliff Dwellings the next day.
I had supplies, food, gas and everything I needed for a good camp. The weather was perfect. The traffic nonexistent. This would be my best camp yet.
It was early. I planned for 3 hours of drive time, but had allowed 6 hours of daylight just in case. I took my time up so I could enjoy the drive. I pulled into scenic overlooks. I admired the forest. I gaped at the mountains, valleys and cliffs. I took pictures of the most stunning views (which, as usual, look pretty lame on my phone vs. reality).
As expected, about halfway up, I lost all cell phone connectivity. There’s nothing up there except campsites, power lines and wilderness. No matter. I had my truck GPS, my paper maps and books to read.
When I reached the first site, I pulled over to scope it out to make sure I could fit my trailer. This would be my first riverside camping spot. It got great reviews. As I watched, I saw a real cowboy – complete with hat, boot, rope and chaps leading a string of 6 horses though the camp! There was room for both of us at the site, but I thought, “Snickers will make those horses crazy barking at them. Let me check out the next site.”
Off I went to the second site.
As soon as I pulled in, I realized I could fit my trailer without having to test my pathetic backing-up skills. There were 5 empty sites and only one truck with a tent setup.
As I drove through scoping out the sites, I saw a guy working on a deflated front tire. I figured I’d get settled then walk over to see if I could do anything to help.
But before I got parked, his girlfriend (wife?) ran up to my truck and said, “Hey can you help us? Do you have a compressor? We’ve got a flat tire, our spare is low, and our compressor broke.”
I smiled and said, “This is your lucky day. Not only do I have a compressor, I have a patch kit. I’ll be right over to see what we can do.”
Not only did I have what they needed – I knew exactly these items were in my truck! I’d never used either, but we’d figure it out.
I was so excited. Plus, I had absolutely nothing better to do other than setup my camp.
When I approached the dude working on the flat tire on the ground, he said, “I tried to reinflate the tire with my compressor to find the leak, but my compressor won’t turn on.”
Together, we found the leak, plugged it and inflated the tire. My gear worked flawlessly.
Then he said,” I think I may have another tire that’s leaking.”
When walked around the truck I squatted near the other front tire to search for a hole when he said, “No, it’s not that tire, it’s the rear tire.”
I said, “I think this front tire looks low too. But maybe that’s just because you have a big engine.” He looked at it and said, it did look a little low.
We went to his rear tire to search for the leak. As we were trying to find a hole to plug, his girlfriend said, “I hear air leaking out of this rear tire on the other side.”
The dude said he had purchased the tires less than a year ago. They still had lots of tread on them and weren’t dry rotted.
But now we had four leaking tires!
I said half joking, “If we weren’t out here in Nowheresville, I’d suspect sabotage.”
Then he told me earlier that day he had driven way off the beaten path to check out remote campsites that were barely accessible. He didn’t remember driving over anything that would have caused a puncture. But he said, “Maybe somebody spiked the trail to keep trucks and campers out.”
It was either that, or he punctured all 4 tires while off-road and didn’t realize it. We couldn’t find any evidence of nails, spikes, glass or rocks.
We had a hard time finding the leaks in his 3 other tires. They were smaller punctures. We could hear two of them but not the third. After pumping up all the tires, he decided to take his chances driving 2 hours down the mountain with leaking tires and have them repaired in Silver City.
By this time, I’d been working with them for an hour. They told me how cool the Cliff Dwellings were. We talked about different spots to camp in New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. We checked out each other’s rigs and heard each other’s stories They reminded me of Jeremiah and Julie, the cool couple who’d so selflessly just a few weeks earlier when I was prepping for this venture.
In that moment, I decided, I’m going to help them see this through. I thought, “Even though I’m just minutes from the Cliff Dwellings, I’ll turn around and get them to Silver City. By the time we get there it’ll be dark so I’ll return to the Caravan to camp. I can find my way back there in the dark. There’s no way I’m going back up this mountain tonight. In fact, I may not return here at all. The drive was a bit arduous. The potentially spiked tires and the bullet ridden road signs on the way up left me feeling a bit uncomfortable. Plus what would I do if I got stranded like they were without cell coverage?
I said, “There’s no way I’m letting you go there alone. We’re at least 45 minutes from cell phone connectivity and 2 hours from town. I’ll follow you. Let’s stop occasionally when there’s a big turnout and we can pump up the tires if need be. If all four go flat before we get to the city, we’ll leave your truck on the side, I’ll make some room in my truck and take you both into the city.”
They tried to give me money and I said “Absolutely not.” They said, “At least take it to cover your gas.” I refused.
They felt bad that they had ruined my night and I’d miss the Cliff Dwellings.
I told them they’d made my night. I said this was an adventure for me. We got to test my plug kit and compressor on their truck instead of mine. I told them I would return to the caravan and come back to the Cliffs another day.
So we hit the road. Two hours and four stops later as the sun went down, I waved goodbye when they pulled into a tire shop.
I drove back to the caravan with a great campfire story.
On the way I called my friend Craig to give him the credit for insisting I be geared up for an emergency in the boonies.