Scouting 36B or how I spent an uneventful Sunday

[NYAZHunter]

Time to do a little scouting and bring the firewood supply to our campsite for the early hunt. Woke my boy up at 3a.m,., loaded the truck , picked up my hunting buddy and left Phoenix at 4:05 for the Ruby Rd.

Fueled up at the Plot Truck Stop and were on our way to the Ruby area. Water flowing ,tanks full and deer to be seen. 2 hours later we make it to our site and unload the wood and get back in the truck to hit some jeep trails to start glassing. Back in the truck to look at another area and the alarm bells in the truck are activated buy air leaking form the tire. Certainly not the first flat we have had in the Arizona desert. Change the tire , put on the 'temporary spare' ( and they do mean temporary) , go back to the campsite and rebuild the fire pit , do a lunch and then head out for home. ( 5 hour trip from site to house) . We had gone about 1 mile off the 4 miles that we were from the Ruby Rd,. when the 'temporary spare' blows out. Curses and decisions. I decide to try to limp the truck back to the Ruby Rd. on the blow out as the 3 more miles are mostly uphill. A slow trip to be sure , however we made it to the top and were on the road for less than a minute and a couple of ladies out for a ride looking for a 'ghost town' pulled up ( it was 1 hour and 47 minutes after I left with the ladies that the next person came oolong on Ruby Rd.). After a few moments of talk , the said they would take me and my tire back to the truck stop .I leave my son and buddy with the truck and an hour ride and I am at the truck stop making calls for road service repair of a tire . Out of the 7 calls I made , the closest I got to help was ' I might be able to come in 2 hours or so , let me call you back' . I' m still waiting for the call. As I'm making the calls from a table in the Wendy's, a guy says ,'if you get it fixed ,I'll drive you back to your truck. I thank him and keep working through how I'm going to get the tire fixed. The light switch goes on and I buy a can of fix a flat ( only a puncture in this tire) , still leaking , I wonder if they have plugs ? Yep, buy the plugs , install it , fill with air and woohoo, it's holding. I go back insider Wendy's and ask if the guy ,Steve, was serious about taking my an hour out and an hour back to get men back to my truck. He says absolutely. I tell him we have ten miles of blacktop and ten miles of bad dirt road. No problem. He says 'let me unhook my trailer. Did not know I was throwing the tire in his Freightliner and going for a ride.I must say , the Ruby Road has probably seldom if ever had a semi on it.Got the tire on , went back to Pilot with my new best friend Steve and offered him a generous amount of dollars for his help and he said ' This ones on me. Got home last. Nite at 10 p.m. and pleased to have that happen. Just another hunting story. I will try to attach a photo of the semi later today.

[PRDATR]

What an experience, glad it finally worked out for you. I don't know what kind of truck you have but I like to keep two spares with me on trips like that and I keep a couple of the large cans of Flat Fix behind the rear seat next to a small air compressor.

That reminds me they are a few years old so I'll be tossing them and picking up a couple of new ones.

[firstcoueswas80]

Ive driven that road in a tow truck, I cab only imagine how a semi was!

 

Good on Steve for helping you out!

 

How'd the deer look?

[Str8Shot]

A good full size spare,A good jack, A Good Compressor/Pump, A couple bottles of slime and a good plug kit should be in every truck that ventures off road in AZ .... Glad you got the help and back home and for 36b if you have room for an additional full size spare it is never a bad idea... Shoot me a PM if needing any advice on areas to scout !

[Mocha1545]

Had a similar experience in NM. Glad to see there are still good samaritans out there. Reminds me to get the slime and put it in my truck. Looking forward to the pics!

[SunDevil]

we picked up a couple of guys way back on a nasty road in unit 32 years ago. they had 2x tires on their suburban. ran over a sharp rock. it punctured the front tire and then punctured the back tire on the same side as they drove over it. they were from Phx. we gave them a ride back to tucson and someone met them to take them back to phx to get their tires fixed. I am guessing it was later than 10:00 by the time they got home. probably more like 3:00. good luck on your hunt.

[Str8Shot]

we picked up a couple of guys way back on a nasty road in unit 32 years ago. they had 2x tires on their suburban. ran over a sharp rock. it punctured the front tire and then punctured the back tire on the same side as they drove over it. they were from Phx. we gave them a ride back to tucson and someone met them to take them back to phx to get their tires fixed. I am guessing it was later than 10:00 by the time they got home. probably more like 3:00. good luck on your hunt.

I have seen a few double punctures back in the copper creek areas especially after the heavy rains and washouts .... Fun area and if you have a good 4x4 and some nerves you can always try to take the trail ( rug road) all the way to Klondyke

[NYAZHunter]

Some years ago , I had a blow out on Summit Motorway and from that point on , I always had not only a spare but a 3rd tire with me. Since I have become a renter of trucks , I have been less than prepared. Lesson learned as when I pull out of Phoenix next Tuesday for the hunt I will have the added tire as well as plugs and fix a flat. The deer looked in great shape.