Work, sitting in a meeting at 2:30pm! What are they thinking, no one is paying attention to the topic being discussed, we really don't care at this time of the day. It is Wednesday, our last day of work for this week then we get four days off. The shift ends at 3:30pm, my mind is already traveling down the road to a trail head and a relaxing hike in a remote section of the Mts. On a Wed. no one will be in the woods but me! I've dozed off and awake with a jerk, "Yeh, sounds good to me." no idea what they are talking about! We all head to the parking lot and the wide assortment of cars and trucks which will take each of us to our personal lives and dreams. I have been driving a Mazda Tribute to work and letting the truck sit in the drive way. It is only used for my outdoor activities, so has not been driven a lot lately. Because of my planned trip to the Mts., I drove the truck the 35 miles to work and then the 50 miles to the gravel road which went to the trail head, a lot of miles on a sedate truck. When I got to the trail head for the Foothills Trail, I debated with myself about hiking or driving all the way to Lake Jocassee on this rough gravel road and seeing the sights or parking and hiking as I had planned. Driving won the debate and that has made all the difference in the world! The road is sure bumpy for a little 4 cylinder, 2 wheel drive, ext. cab red pick up truck with 185,000 miles under the hood. Ten to fifteen miles an hour was all I could do. Around the curve to the left then around the curve to the right, up the steep hill with the wheels just a spinning, then down the hill riding the brakes, so as not to shake the truck apart! Knowing all the time that I had to drive out the same road just in the other direction. Hey!! the sun is just a shinin' and the air is cool, I'm chillin' and smilin' and drivin' without a care in the world!! Twistin' and turnin', bobbin' and weavin', racing up the steep hills kickin' the big gravel like a teenager drivin' a big redneck pickum up truck, jacked up so you can see all the rusted out spots and the bangs and clangs he has put on his pride and joy! He would be listenin' to country music cranked up so loud the squirrels would be goin' nuts not collecting them, his girl friend dressed in a pair of Daisy Dukes and a tight John Deere tee shirt pretending to have fun would be bouncing all over the bench seat and off the door and dashboard. WE havin' fun now!!!! That pretty much was how I was feeling.
The first overlook provided some pictures and I stopped every time another overlook popped up.
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| looking toward NC |
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| Lake Jocassee |
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| Lake Jocassee |
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| Sun on Lake Jocassee |
I kept moving toward the Lake and I realized it was quickly getting dark, now I'm not scared of the dark or the things that go bump in the dark, but I wanted some sunset pictures from off the top of Jumping Off rock. I turn around before making it to the shore and start back over the mountains on the rough road. Get to the rock in time to get these pictures.
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| Lake Jocassee sunset |
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| Lake Jocassee sunset |
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| Lake Jocassee sunset |
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| Lake Jocassee sunset |
It is now dark and I head home by headlight and the seat of my pants, some times the curves are so sharp the lights don't show the road, and other times the road is so up and down the lights are shining to the sky when they should be on the road. Oh, well! such is life in the slow lane! I hear young people say, "It's all good." and that's exactly how I feel- It's all good! God is good! I'm thankful He's in control! Driving slow enjoying the night air and the quiet rattle and squeak of the truck when I smell a not woods smell, Yum! I know that smell! Yes! I've smelled that smell before! Checking the temperature gauge I see that it is showing the engine is just a little hot. I have two quarts of drinking water, so I put one in the plastic reservoir of the radiator and go on my way. Next I am blinded with a cloud of white steam, this is not good! Stop, pop the hood and see the steam racing out of the radiator and fleeing into the darkness taking my happy place with it! OK! I'm still good with what is happening, I put more water in the reservoir and plan on stopping and getting more water at the spring near the road, no problem, I'm cool! Driving up a small incline the truck stops-Dead! I wait less than five mins. and it cranks [ I do not normally use this word, but it really seems fitting in this context! ] right up! Whew, I go a little further and it stops again-DEad! Same thing, a few mins. and it cranks right back up! Away I go, if I can just get to Hwy 178 a paved road I'll be alright! This time it doesn't crank-DEAd! I have made it to the trail head for Eastatoe Gorge and here I sit! From here it is all down hill to 178, I pray one more time Lord? Please! After about ten mins. the little red truck cranks up and I put it in drive and do a jack rabbit start and a donkey run all the way to Hwy 178!!! Put the truck in Park and it dies-DEAD!!!
Here I am, call my wife, she can find me here and I'll just go home and worry about this tomorrow. No cell phone connection in these mountains, now what? I have all my hiking gear including head lamp and flash light, I guess I'll start walking toward home- it is a long way away, I have all night! It is only 9:00pm. The moon is almost full, the air cool, and I like to hike so what's the problem? No problem-away I go walking down Hwy. 178. I know that if I can make it to the intersection of 178 and Hwy.11 there will be cell phone reception and I can call for a ride home. As I walk I think it would be even better if some one would give me a ride, so I try to hitch a ride when a car passes by. Very few cars at this time of night here in the mountains, and who in their right mind would pick up a crazy looking man walking down the middle of the road? Josh would- that's right a man stopped and not only gave me a ride, but drove me right to my front door! What a blessing that was. I was home by 12 o'clock!
I can't leave the truck sitting by the side of the road, need to get it to a mechanic and fix the Little Red Truck. Next morning, Mike the mechanic takes me in his rollback to pick up the pickup to see what needs to be done to get it driving down the road and through the woods once again. We arrive, the truck is waiting for me take her home. Mike pulls her up onto the rollback and ties her down and off we go to his shop. She is unloaded in the bay and I wait for the diagnosis. Mike turns the key-nothing! He tries again-nothing! Mike's Dad, who is a silent observer to this fruitless effort, states in his nonemotional monotone, "It's dead." Mike says,"It's dead." I say,"I need a moment alone with her." They both laugh! Seven years the Little Red Truck has taken Gracie, myself, and the big Red Canoe all over the Upstate of South Carolina. Her passing is sad! How many Trailheads has she patiently pondered and waited for my return; in the hot sun, in the cold, in the rain, even in the snow, cloudy dark skys and windy dusky nights! Never a complaint, always start right up and ready to go. How many boat ramps has she backed down with never a fear of rolling all the way into the water. Trusting me to love and care for her, protect her from the harsh realities of a little truck's life. She has watched Gracie and I paddle away leaving her to wait, some times two or three days before we returned to take her home. She has always carried the canoe with pride and honor down Hwy. 11 to Jocassee and Keowee, she has been to Lake James in NC and Lake Robinson and Lake Cunningham and Lake Oolenoy! She has parked on the boat ramps while we have prowled the shores of Lake Hartwell. She has spent Thanksgiving with the wife and I at Lake Murray, carrying a load of fire wood plus the canoe and camping gear all those miles. Never a cross word did she say! Gracie and I will miss her!
Yes, I feel like I am the cause of her end! She had a hole in radiator and was running hot and I pushed her until she could go no farther. Mike said I should have been putting water directly into the radiator instead of the reservoir, might have saved her! The little engine locked up tight and she won't crank, Lord knows I tried to crunk her! The Little Red Truck is on her way to truck heaven, always air in the tires, water in the radiator, and oil in the engine-Don't get no better then that!
In the woods or on the water,
Turtle
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