I'm driving, I'll cry if I want to!
It's now October and here in the Yukon, that means winter has arrived. Could winter be the culprit for making a 450-km trip take 7.5 hours? Or was it my truck violently thrown off the highway that made the trip so long? Or maybe the 2 inches of ice coating the highway?
I left the office early to head to Keno for a couple of days to inspect a tailings pond and to do some slope stability test using some fancy digital inclinometer instrumentation. The actual work didn't take that long, just the driving. The Klondike highway was covered in ice and packed snow in some sections. I put the truck into 4 wheel drive and drove slow. A hundred kilometers into driving, I was wishing I had taken a bigger truck but since the Ranger was the only thing available, the guys put sand bags in the back to weigh it down a bit. I was a bit stressed driving since I would fishtail a bit here and there around corners and I could feel the back tires sliding even though I was in 4WD.
About 170km north of Whitehorse (north of Carmacks), a transport truck was closely following me. I was still driving slow (about 70-80 kph), listening to a great sermon on Ruth Chapter 2. All of a sudden, I fish tailed BIG TIME. The weird thing was I wasnt turning, I wasnt using the breaks...just driving straight. Anyhow, it happened. I lost all control of the truck. I remembered to turn the truck wheels in the right direction while fish tailing and not to use the breaks... but that didnt seem to help. I flung to the other side of the road, sideways, spun in complete circles and back to the other side of the road. I am thankful that there was no one coming from the other direction because I was 'viewing the ENTIRE highway from all angles'. While I was sliding all over the highway and spinning around, at one point I had a clear view of the transport driving straight toward me. I had three distinct thoughts while the truck and I were flying around. One, "If this ends badly, it will REALLY end badly since I'm carrying a nuclear gauge in the back of my truck". Two, "I wonder what direction/orientation I'll end up in?". And three, "When will this end?". And then I flew down into the ditch. Flying into the ditch saved me because the transport was coming straight for me. It was more of a slide-bounce. The truck landed on an angle on the front passenger tire, which made a huge jerk of a stop. It teetered and I wasnt sure if I was going to flip over or not. Thankfully, it flipped back in the upright position. As soon as the truck came to that halting stop, I immediately opened my door while grabbing the satellite phone that was in the compartment next to me. I was shaking! I managed to call work. When our sweet admin lady answered, with a staggering/half crying/half adrenaline-hyped voice I spat out "THE TRUCK IS IN THE DITCH"! She then kept asking if I was okay and I kept saying "the truck, its in the ditch, I just flew across and around the highway". After she asked the third time if I was okay, I realized that I hadnt answered her question. And yes, physically, I was okay.
Thankfully, the transport following me was able to stop (with difficulty since it was clearly very icy!). The entire front tire popped right off the rim. Thankfully, the ground was soft so the rim dug into the ground and didnt get bent. Another thing I'm thankful for is that the night before, I had brought a busted tire to the shop to get fixed (I had gotten a flat tire last week in the middle of nowhere and had a 10 year old Texan help me change it, which is a whole other story!). The tire place said it wouldnt be fixed in time for me to take it in the morning, but I stopped by anyway before leaving the city and alas...it was fixed! I'm glad it was, otherwize I wouldnt have had a spare tire. The transport man dug out the truck, changed the tire, and drove the truck out of the ditch for me.
So... things to be thankful for:
1. the transport did NOT hit me while I was spinning on the highway
2. the tire was fixed and changeable ie. did not need to get towed
3. that I had a satellite phone to get a hold of someone (since there is certainly no cell phone reception between towns)
4.that I ended up in the ditch that I did, since the ditch on the other side of the road was much steeper
5. that of all the places I could have gone off, this was a shallow ditch, whereas most other places along that highway is a steep cliff off the highway
Once I got back into the truck, I blurted out thanks to God for still being alive and the reasons above. And then I drove 50-60 kph and prayed until I got to the next small town. Once I arrived there, I texted a bunch of friends and asked them to pray. Thanks guys! The roads got better and there was a nice hour of driving on a clear highway! It was amazing. And then I finally got to the Silver Trail Highway. Just so you know, a highway in the Yukon can be a dirt road. The truck was sliding just from the potholes and washboard, so add ice to the mix and chaos resulted. At this point, only 50km to go and I kept fishtailing... so I had had it. I started crying. But I quickly realized that I was just stressed out from driving. More prayer. Quickly stopped crying. Kept driving and finally arrived... 7.5 hours later.
I like to think I have quite a bit of winter driving experience. I drove in the winter in Yellowknife where they don't plow the roads and you have to maneuver through massive ice ruts. Also, growing up in northern Ontario...I learnt how to drive in snow/ice. But the Yukon... it's a special place, I guess!
----- 2 days later....
I finally arrive back in Whitehorse. Longest drive, but I made it alive. When I arrived back to the office late Friday afternoon, my coworkers had bought me gluten free beer! It was a nice welcome for an insanely stressful week of driving.
I left the office early to head to Keno for a couple of days to inspect a tailings pond and to do some slope stability test using some fancy digital inclinometer instrumentation. The actual work didn't take that long, just the driving. The Klondike highway was covered in ice and packed snow in some sections. I put the truck into 4 wheel drive and drove slow. A hundred kilometers into driving, I was wishing I had taken a bigger truck but since the Ranger was the only thing available, the guys put sand bags in the back to weigh it down a bit. I was a bit stressed driving since I would fishtail a bit here and there around corners and I could feel the back tires sliding even though I was in 4WD.
About 170km north of Whitehorse (north of Carmacks), a transport truck was closely following me. I was still driving slow (about 70-80 kph), listening to a great sermon on Ruth Chapter 2. All of a sudden, I fish tailed BIG TIME. The weird thing was I wasnt turning, I wasnt using the breaks...just driving straight. Anyhow, it happened. I lost all control of the truck. I remembered to turn the truck wheels in the right direction while fish tailing and not to use the breaks... but that didnt seem to help. I flung to the other side of the road, sideways, spun in complete circles and back to the other side of the road. I am thankful that there was no one coming from the other direction because I was 'viewing the ENTIRE highway from all angles'. While I was sliding all over the highway and spinning around, at one point I had a clear view of the transport driving straight toward me. I had three distinct thoughts while the truck and I were flying around. One, "If this ends badly, it will REALLY end badly since I'm carrying a nuclear gauge in the back of my truck". Two, "I wonder what direction/orientation I'll end up in?". And three, "When will this end?". And then I flew down into the ditch. Flying into the ditch saved me because the transport was coming straight for me. It was more of a slide-bounce. The truck landed on an angle on the front passenger tire, which made a huge jerk of a stop. It teetered and I wasnt sure if I was going to flip over or not. Thankfully, it flipped back in the upright position. As soon as the truck came to that halting stop, I immediately opened my door while grabbing the satellite phone that was in the compartment next to me. I was shaking! I managed to call work. When our sweet admin lady answered, with a staggering/half crying/half adrenaline-hyped voice I spat out "THE TRUCK IS IN THE DITCH"! She then kept asking if I was okay and I kept saying "the truck, its in the ditch, I just flew across and around the highway". After she asked the third time if I was okay, I realized that I hadnt answered her question. And yes, physically, I was okay.
Thankfully, the transport following me was able to stop (with difficulty since it was clearly very icy!). The entire front tire popped right off the rim. Thankfully, the ground was soft so the rim dug into the ground and didnt get bent. Another thing I'm thankful for is that the night before, I had brought a busted tire to the shop to get fixed (I had gotten a flat tire last week in the middle of nowhere and had a 10 year old Texan help me change it, which is a whole other story!). The tire place said it wouldnt be fixed in time for me to take it in the morning, but I stopped by anyway before leaving the city and alas...it was fixed! I'm glad it was, otherwize I wouldnt have had a spare tire. The transport man dug out the truck, changed the tire, and drove the truck out of the ditch for me.
So... things to be thankful for:
1. the transport did NOT hit me while I was spinning on the highway
2. the tire was fixed and changeable ie. did not need to get towed
3. that I had a satellite phone to get a hold of someone (since there is certainly no cell phone reception between towns)
4.that I ended up in the ditch that I did, since the ditch on the other side of the road was much steeper
5. that of all the places I could have gone off, this was a shallow ditch, whereas most other places along that highway is a steep cliff off the highway
Once I got back into the truck, I blurted out thanks to God for still being alive and the reasons above. And then I drove 50-60 kph and prayed until I got to the next small town. Once I arrived there, I texted a bunch of friends and asked them to pray. Thanks guys! The roads got better and there was a nice hour of driving on a clear highway! It was amazing. And then I finally got to the Silver Trail Highway. Just so you know, a highway in the Yukon can be a dirt road. The truck was sliding just from the potholes and washboard, so add ice to the mix and chaos resulted. At this point, only 50km to go and I kept fishtailing... so I had had it. I started crying. But I quickly realized that I was just stressed out from driving. More prayer. Quickly stopped crying. Kept driving and finally arrived... 7.5 hours later.
I like to think I have quite a bit of winter driving experience. I drove in the winter in Yellowknife where they don't plow the roads and you have to maneuver through massive ice ruts. Also, growing up in northern Ontario...I learnt how to drive in snow/ice. But the Yukon... it's a special place, I guess!
----- 2 days later....
I finally arrive back in Whitehorse. Longest drive, but I made it alive. When I arrived back to the office late Friday afternoon, my coworkers had bought me gluten free beer! It was a nice welcome for an insanely stressful week of driving.
Comments
You had amazing courage.