![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerYeah, not!
But we're both fine, so eh.
We kinda put the Pilot over a berm of snow, down a ditch, and into a tree.
Not. Good. At. All.
But the other side of the road had a berm, a 15 or so foot drop-off, as many trees, and Icicle Creek, so at least we went off the road on the better side?
My poor WHALE.
Here's how it all went down, as far as we remember....
We headed out over Stevens Pass to Leavenworth to go on a snow hike. Headed down FS 7600 ie Icicle Creek Road, the road that takes you to many many wonderful trailheads. The idea was to go and do a snow hike.
The road was pretty good, mostly good snow on top of ice. There were the 3-4 in deep tire ruts in the ice. The Pilot handles like a pussy cat on snow, and dh truly is a good driver. And yet. Right before -I mean, like, 50 ft- from the parking area, there was a patch of sun that may have changed the road conditions, on a downward turn. Dh says -and this jibes with my recollection- that it felt like something grabbed the wheel and the back of the car spun out. I saw him try to correct, but no dice. We weren't going fast as all when we went through the snow berm, down the ditch -about 4 ft, maybe?- and hit a tree on the left side of the car. Airbags did not go off.
Quick assessment: we were both ok. The car? Totaled, I mean, the front left is pretty demolished, driver door hard to open, and the wheel was turned. Note that I did not check what the wheel on the other side of the car and it was deep in snow. Figured the front end was 100% toast and this would not be drivable.
My poor spouse was so upset. I mean, he was driving, but going on the hike was my idea and he wasn't going fast or driving recklessly, some conditions changed, and he didn't have time to react. But he apologized to the poor car, and I love him so much and I hate that he feels awful about this. I mean, I do too... We've had this car since about a month before Linnea was born, and we've put over 400k miles on it, and probably would never have given it up. But anyhow.
A guy showed up before we were even out of the car, to make sure we were ok. We were, and he said he'd contact towing when he got back to cell service.
Oh yeah, did I mention that? No cell service, of course. 🙄
We walked bits of the way down the trail, back and forth. It's not like there was much else we could do. Eventually, a Chelan County deputy sheriff drove up, again made sure we were ok, and used his radio to call a towing company.
We walked more. Because what else was there to do? It was too cold to stand around, and I was not about to get back into a car that still might slide further (dh says it wouldn't, but I do not trust anything to do with snow.)
Back and forth.
Dh got to talking with a guy who lived nearby and was out for a walk. I popped in to listen as I continued to walk to stay warm. I was fine, tbc, as long as I was walking, and I could have gotten my shell pants and jacket if I'd really been cold, but eh, walking felt good and served to dispel some of the nervous energy.
As I was coming back, probably 2 or so hours after the evil event, I saw the flashy lights of a tow truck. As I got closer, I could see the place where the car had been, but they got it out very quickly. As I got closer, I saw... backup lights and the car backing up, on its own power.
This was unexpected.
By the time I got to the car, they were evaluating the left front wheel well. The panel was crunched, the hood a bit messed up, but the left headlight was fine, and the wheel was straight to the eye. They shook it (dh and the two tow truck guys), checked for fluids, pulled away the broken bits of plastic, and... agreed that we should try to drive it.
Which we did. About 120 miles home. That was stressful. Nothing bad happened, but ugh, not knowing if something bad would happen.
There is significant damage, but we'll get into a collision place and have it checked out, something that was not on our radar initially, because, eh, it looked bad. It looked less bad once it was back on a level surface. The steering is off, but it will drive straight with no drift.
I really don't want to buy a new car if I don't have to. Not because of the money, but because I detest screens, and the... obtrusiveness of new cars. No, you can't access my contacts. No, I don't want Android Auto. No, please don't answer my phone. No, I don't want to use a tablet glued to my dash to access a screen three taps deep to change the volume on the stereo, I'd like a fucking knob please. And NO, OMG NO, I don't want a hole cut in my roof in the PNW where it fucking rains all the time! Or a glass roof to have the sun beating down on my head (that situation, the sun hitting the top of my head through glass, has triggered a panic attack before. I made very sure that our skylights were oriented in a way where that would not happen.) So yeah. I'd rather repair if we can. If not, ugh, expect whining when I have to buy a new car.
So yeah.
Home now, showered and warmed up. We drove home with the window cracked so dh could hear any sounds the front end was making, and that was cold, but also, I think, it was just my reaction to stress (and walking for a few hours in the snow).
Not the best start to 2025, though it could have been a lot worse.
But we're both fine, so eh.
We kinda put the Pilot over a berm of snow, down a ditch, and into a tree.
Not. Good. At. All.
But the other side of the road had a berm, a 15 or so foot drop-off, as many trees, and Icicle Creek, so at least we went off the road on the better side?
My poor WHALE.
Here's how it all went down, as far as we remember....
We headed out over Stevens Pass to Leavenworth to go on a snow hike. Headed down FS 7600 ie Icicle Creek Road, the road that takes you to many many wonderful trailheads. The idea was to go and do a snow hike.
The road was pretty good, mostly good snow on top of ice. There were the 3-4 in deep tire ruts in the ice. The Pilot handles like a pussy cat on snow, and dh truly is a good driver. And yet. Right before -I mean, like, 50 ft- from the parking area, there was a patch of sun that may have changed the road conditions, on a downward turn. Dh says -and this jibes with my recollection- that it felt like something grabbed the wheel and the back of the car spun out. I saw him try to correct, but no dice. We weren't going fast as all when we went through the snow berm, down the ditch -about 4 ft, maybe?- and hit a tree on the left side of the car. Airbags did not go off.
Quick assessment: we were both ok. The car? Totaled, I mean, the front left is pretty demolished, driver door hard to open, and the wheel was turned. Note that I did not check what the wheel on the other side of the car and it was deep in snow. Figured the front end was 100% toast and this would not be drivable.
My poor spouse was so upset. I mean, he was driving, but going on the hike was my idea and he wasn't going fast or driving recklessly, some conditions changed, and he didn't have time to react. But he apologized to the poor car, and I love him so much and I hate that he feels awful about this. I mean, I do too... We've had this car since about a month before Linnea was born, and we've put over 400k miles on it, and probably would never have given it up. But anyhow.
A guy showed up before we were even out of the car, to make sure we were ok. We were, and he said he'd contact towing when he got back to cell service.
Oh yeah, did I mention that? No cell service, of course. 🙄
We walked bits of the way down the trail, back and forth. It's not like there was much else we could do. Eventually, a Chelan County deputy sheriff drove up, again made sure we were ok, and used his radio to call a towing company.
We walked more. Because what else was there to do? It was too cold to stand around, and I was not about to get back into a car that still might slide further (dh says it wouldn't, but I do not trust anything to do with snow.)
Back and forth.
Dh got to talking with a guy who lived nearby and was out for a walk. I popped in to listen as I continued to walk to stay warm. I was fine, tbc, as long as I was walking, and I could have gotten my shell pants and jacket if I'd really been cold, but eh, walking felt good and served to dispel some of the nervous energy.
As I was coming back, probably 2 or so hours after the evil event, I saw the flashy lights of a tow truck. As I got closer, I could see the place where the car had been, but they got it out very quickly. As I got closer, I saw... backup lights and the car backing up, on its own power.
This was unexpected.
By the time I got to the car, they were evaluating the left front wheel well. The panel was crunched, the hood a bit messed up, but the left headlight was fine, and the wheel was straight to the eye. They shook it (dh and the two tow truck guys), checked for fluids, pulled away the broken bits of plastic, and... agreed that we should try to drive it.
Which we did. About 120 miles home. That was stressful. Nothing bad happened, but ugh, not knowing if something bad would happen.
There is significant damage, but we'll get into a collision place and have it checked out, something that was not on our radar initially, because, eh, it looked bad. It looked less bad once it was back on a level surface. The steering is off, but it will drive straight with no drift.
I really don't want to buy a new car if I don't have to. Not because of the money, but because I detest screens, and the... obtrusiveness of new cars. No, you can't access my contacts. No, I don't want Android Auto. No, please don't answer my phone. No, I don't want to use a tablet glued to my dash to access a screen three taps deep to change the volume on the stereo, I'd like a fucking knob please. And NO, OMG NO, I don't want a hole cut in my roof in the PNW where it fucking rains all the time! Or a glass roof to have the sun beating down on my head (that situation, the sun hitting the top of my head through glass, has triggered a panic attack before. I made very sure that our skylights were oriented in a way where that would not happen.) So yeah. I'd rather repair if we can. If not, ugh, expect whining when I have to buy a new car.
So yeah.
Home now, showered and warmed up. We drove home with the window cracked so dh could hear any sounds the front end was making, and that was cold, but also, I think, it was just my reaction to stress (and walking for a few hours in the snow).
Not the best start to 2025, though it could have been a lot worse.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2 Jan 2025 19:00 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 Jan 2025 20:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 Jan 2025 18:38 (UTC)