Stranded on Crowsnest Hwy/Willy and Sherry to the Rescue

We left Nelson and headed toward Alberta along the Crowsnest Highway, the first section of which proved to be a pretty crappy road that featured a 25km or so stretch of unfinished, grated pre-pavement.

No matter, our spirits were high and we spent what we assumed to be the early stages of our drive commenting on how lucky we were throughout the trip. The weather was our friend the whole time (I think we only had three days of rain), and we didn't have anything close an accident, or suffer through a single negative run-in with fellow travelers or locals. Yes, everything was peaches and cream and it seemed we could do no wrong. This was to be our final road trip of the journey, and what a journey it had been.

Apparently the gods located somewhere in Valhalla Park heard us counting our blessings, because it wasn't ten minutes later that we heard a boom and felt a series of thuds. The Kodiak, our beloved wheeled bear, was limping. I knew very quickly what was happening and managed to pull over almost immediately. And this is where good fortune came in. Maybe the gods intended to take us down a notch, but at least they didn't want us hurt: The tire failed right as we were approaching a "chain up" area--a wide and lengthy shoulder for freight trucks to turn off so they can put chains on their tires in the winter before ascending the steep hills to come. We were therefore able to safely get off the road and park the vehicle well away from traffic.

So, having avoided the worst-case scenario--overreacting to the tire bursting and causing an accident of some kind--we got out of the vehicle to assess the damage.

We went to the back of the Kodiak and found that the treads of the right exterior tire had ripped off. The tire still had air and hadn't blown completely (which probably helped me keep control when it failed), but it did bend the metal frame of the mud flap, which interacted with the body of the vehicle around the tire. 

I wasn't sure whether the other tire was damaged in the event, so I didn't know if we could just put on the spare tire and drive, or whether we would need to be towed. Either way, without the requisite tools and knowhow, we were going to need some help.

"Okay, this sucks, but I bought CAA for a reason," I thought, and grabbed my phone to look up the number...

... Only to find that we were actually in an area without any cellphone service whatsoever. Damn.

There's no CAA plan for not having the capacity to actually call for roadside assistance, so we had no option but to regroup and flag someone down.

It really only took about three cars before a kind couple pulled over and asked us what was amiss. They offered to drive me to the next town, but at that point I was loath to leave my wife and dog alone without any surefire way to get back in touch. So they offered to call for roadside assistance once they were able to reconnect with the world. This seemed the best course and I was convinced they were sincere. At that point, there was nothing much else to do but wait. 

So we brought Kenting outside and puttered around. He actually seemed pretty cool with the situation. After all, there was grass to roll in, leaves to poop and pee on, and many sticks around to play with.

Eventually we returned to the vehicle to wait things out.

It was around 2:30pm when the tire failed. With luck, maybe we could get out of there before dark. 

After sitting around and waiting helplessly for a couple hours to no avail, another vehicle pulled up and a fellow in perhaps his 50s emerged from his vehicle.

I got out and met the man, who it seemed was just checking in on us. Like I said, the area was easy enough for traffic going in our direction to pull off. It was also busy enough, despite apparently being in the middle of nowhere, for cars to pass by every 15 seconds or so at a minimum in the daytime.

He informed us that there was only one tow truck company servicing a wide range in the area and, combined with the fact it was the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend, they were likely busier than usual for the increased traffic. I told him another couple had promised to call when able and he reckoned the tow truck was on the way, but that it could be well into the evening or even past midnight before they arrived. Even so, he too said he would call to make sure they knew of our circumstances. 

So it seemed we might be in for a longer haul than initially hoped. Okay, fine, we're in a motorhome, so at least we had that going for us. At least we had our solar power and propane to fuel the heater and refrigerator, and were well stocked with food and water. This wasn't much different from a typical boondocking experience, other than that we were going to need some help to drive on.

So I pulled out the computer to make the most of things and get some work done. We all did what we could to pass the time, including playing dress up with Kenting for some amusement. At first he was reluctant... 

... But he soon accepted his new garb.

But eventually night fell with no word of rescue--or any word at all, for that matter, since we were totally cut off from all means of communication. It was time for bed. Cars continued to zoom by, but, as mentioned, we were far enough from the road to feel safe. We left the emergency lights on though as a precaution, and went to sleep determined to take a different approach tomorrow if help did not arrive overnight.

I awoke early to find that not only had help not arrived, but the emergency lights had burned out the car battery (not the home battery, which is separate). This was a predictable outcome if we were not rescued at some point overnight, but I hadn't seen an alternative as the vehicle needed to be visible to passing traffic. Besides, any roadside assistance to come would surely be able to boost us. 

The most important thing was that we had to put ourselves in the position to avoid passing another day and night the same way as the last (fruitlessly waiting). So I packed a lunch and got ready for a journey of unknown length. The plan was to hitch a ride to the nearest town about 60kms away and figure out what was happening with the tow truck, then ideally get a ride back with the tow truck (or roadside assistance vehicle if the tire change would do) and rendezvous with wife and dog.

It took a bit more effort this time, but eventually a couple in their 60s stopped for us. They said they would go directly to the tow office since they were headed nearby. They were also coming back our way in a few hours, and would stop again and let us know what was happening if we were still around, which seemed like a safe bet at that stage. That last part convinced me there was no better option than staying put and trusting they would return with, at the very least, more information. So, we waited some more and walked Kenting. I'm not sure about my wife, but I was engaged in a dark internal study about what I could have done differently.

Four hours later they returned and brought interesting news: the 24-hour emergency towing company would not dispatch a vehicle until they had our credit card information. When asked how they would get this with us stranded minus cell service, they told our good samaritans to call the RCMP and have them drive me to their shop--maybe not the ideal attitude for an emergency roadside assistance company to have, especially when they're the only option for hundreds of miles.

Our good samaritans did just that, only to have the RCMP officer on the line say that they were not a taxi service and it wasn't their job to check in on every vehicle stranded on the road. Incidentally, the latter seems specific to their job description, but I wasn't surprised they had no interest in actually serving in that capacity (and to be honest, the last thing I wanted were the cops to get involved, so I was fine with them continuing to sit on their asses and leave us alone.)

Either way, we had our answer about why the tow company hadn't shown up yet. The couple was baffled by the whole thing, and the husband said he would go home (about 20kms away), get his equipment, come back and put on our spare (a new winter tire) for us. He confirmed that there wasn't any serious damage done to the other tire during the bust and that we'd be able to drive right out of there once he made the change. What a hero.

It took them about an hour to return to us, and the man went to work. Meanwhile, he forgot his booster cables, so my wife flagged down another car and we got the tires and battery boosted all at once. 

I stood around looking like a useless tool while all this went on, basically. Maybe I'll learn something from it all; get motivated and pick up a few mechanical skills or something. Or not.

In less than 20 minutes the spare tire was on and the vehicle was boosted.

We thanked the couple--Sherry and Willy, gods bless them--from the bottom of our hearts and handed over an envelope with two silver ounces and a "thank you" note. They were clearly "help is its own reward" people, but we still wanted to offer something as a token of our gratitude. Maybe the silver will be worth a lot more someday...

We drove off shortly after, counting our blessings more humbly than before the incident and arrives safely at a rest area two hours down the road, where we stopped off and camped for the night.

The gods may have toyed with us earlier, but I'll forever thank them for sending along Sherry and Willy, who were nothing short of walking angels.

What they did for us cannot be measured in financial terms alone, but while we're on the subject of money, if it weren't for them, we may have been faced with hitching a ride to the tow truck and paying upwards of $1000 or more for the towing fee (which I would have been loath to do since they were so obviously despicable). Of course, at that point my CAA probably would have been activated to pay the fee, or maybe even send someone to change the tire for us as they are supposed to do, but who knows for sure what services would be available on Thanksgiving weekend. Instead, we drove away without paying a dime and put that money towards new tires a few days later.

Either way, these were people who stepped up when the local monopoly (probably government regulated) and so-called public safety officers proved useless. We will be forever grateful.

P.S. There's no doubt I could have done more to be prepared. I could have bought the tools needed to change a tire and actually figured out how to do so in advance. I could have put on new tires earlier, as I knew they were getting worn out by this point in the back. But hey, I never figured we would be unlucky enough to have an issue in an unserviced area like that. Indeed, I wrongly assumed those were mostly a Newfoundland/Cape Breton thing (within the scope of where we'd be going on the trip) and that I would always be able to connect with CAA. How wrong I was, as these black areas seem to be common enough in the mountain passes of BC. But hey, at least we had a spare tire. I give myself a preparedness rating of C+ (shrugs). The only thing I would do differently this time around once the tire did fail would have been to take the first ride we were offered and call CAA as soon as we got into service range. They likely would have had somebody down to change the tire before dark.

But then we would never have met Willy and Sherry.