I took my rope for a walk to the High Peaks last Thursday. I went early to avoid being toasted and got back to my car on the West Side at about 12:45. It was 93 and going up, so i didn't dawdle.
About a mile and a half after the Chalone Peaks Vineyard turnoff, I ran into a line of stopped cars and the ranger cruiser's flashing lights. I got out to see what was up. What was up was a stuck semi, a Meyer's tomato truck. Apparently the driver thought 146 was a short-cut to Hollister. He eventually figured out that the Balconies Trail wasn't going to do it for him and got turned around. However, he didn't make it back up the steep bit with the two sharp curves. You all know the section of road, the one after the culvert. His trailer's back wheels were in the drainage gullly at the base of the first turn. Shouts and curses issued from the official effort to free him. I found some shade and relaxed.
An hour later, shouts of joy sounded from above. Somehow they'd managed to get the trailer out of the gully. The driver backed down toward a wide place in the road just next to the culvert. Great! Everybody hopped in their cars. Drivers, start your engines!
Alas, it was not to be. The CHP incident commander was a sucker. He let the dude have one more shot at the curve before he let us out. We heard crunches and unhealthy truck moans from above. Sure enough, he was stuck worse than before. The trailer's frame was wedged into the mountain. The tractor was off the road on the right. Dumb, dumber and dumbest!
Two and a half hours later (4:15), the tow truck arrived and yerked the jerk out of there. We all lined up and followed the cops out. Some folks had been stuck since 11:15! I'd been pondering what sort of beer the authorities would helicopter in for emergency re-hydration. Another fantasy unfulfilled.
