When the rubber meets the road #41

Late spring is one of the better fishing times of the year. The trout are still on or near the top of the water and they are taking both dry and wet flies. As summer comes around and the water begins to warm up, they tend to go to the bottom and that is a whole different type of fishing.

Late spring is also the time when the woods crews start to fire up their equipment and the trucks begin to haul the wood to the yards and that means that the woods roads, abused by the spring mud and frost are in need of some TLC. Road graders are everywhere, and you can tell where the cutting and hauling will be taking place, because those are the first roads they hit. Usually the cutters and frequent travelers, have geared their vehicles up to accommodate the road surface. But, if you are running four ply tires that come on most vehicles, you could be in for a treat.

Woods roads are constructed to withstand extremely heavy loads and traffic. They have been built with something called, shale. Now, shale is rock that has been split. It can be very sharp and ruthless on rubber tires, especially on four ply tires. In the spring, road crews fix areas that need new culverts or need the water diverted in another direction. After they are done, they lay a layer of shale over the affected area and voila, you have an instant tire cutter.TC and I have tried every which way to lower our chances of cutting tires. That includes, but is not limited to, going very slowly over the shale to try to avoid having the tires get punctured.

Well, first, my trucks have always been outfitted with tires with either 6 or 10 ply and I have never had any problems. Unfortunately, my new truck has 4 ply and I just had not gotten around to changing them yet. So, when TC and I headed up into the woods this past weekend, I knew I could be in for trouble when I got to my first repaired culvert, one of many that we crossed over. We made it safely to our destination pond and had a great time fishing. When we returned to the truck, I noticed that the low tire pressure indicator was on. Now, that indicator never tells you which tire is going down. I guess they just think that it should be evident. Well, I am here to tell you that is not always the case. I walked around the truck looking at all four tires and not one of them looked differently or low on air. So, we took off for home. On our way there, we must have gone over 5 or more repaired culverts, all with a nice coating of shale. After going through the 6 mile gate, we stopped to take another look. It was at that moment that I noticed the right rear tire was down significantly on air. I told TC that we would try to make it into Ashland and find some air. Now, mind you it was now close to 9 pm and the streets were beginning to roll up for the night.  We stopped at the Shell station on Main Street and I asked the lady there where I could get some air. She informed me that she had some and was happy to put the hose back out for me to use. I was able to fill the tire up to 32 lbs. and then we headed for home. I am happy to report that we made it all the way and the indicator light never came on. The next morning when I got up, I went out to get some things out of the truck and the tire was still in good shape. You can bet that I will have it checked and most likely replaced, before I go into the woods again, but we had survived our day on the shale roads.

Don't get me wrong, fixing the roads is an important part of the process in what goes on in the woods each day. Without the repairs, the roads would not be at the level we are accustomed to for the remainder of the year, and the road crews do a fine job of keeping them in top notch condition.  If you plan accordingly, you will be much better off in the long run. At the least, have a very good spare. I have two just in case and when you are 70 or 80 miles back in the woods, you need all the help you can get.

On a different note, TC stated while on our way to the pond, “If we don’t catch any fish, I hope we can see some wildlife, especially a black bear. Low and behold, she got what she wished for. On our ride out, we were treated to views of four moose, numerous rabbits, a yearling deer and our favorite, two Maine black bears. One was so fast, that we just saw the hind end go off the road. The other was a year old bear that was in the middle of the road about 25 yards from us when we drove around a corner. The bear started running to the side and stopped, looking straight at us. It checked us out, got part way up on its hind legs and then decided that it was time to vamoose, disappearing into the trees.

All of these things make this little corner of the world so enjoyable to be a part of. It also inspires me to share it with whomever will read my blogs. It's just good stuff!