Almost Didn’t Make It Back….

[car-car]

Day Thirteen: Canyonlands, UT

Another one of our must see destinations was Canyonlands NP, as we had never done this before. I already want to go back. Canyonlands was amazing. We started off in the Island of the Sky district, since that seemed to be the most popular and we figured that would be a great overview of the park, and we could go explore from there. We saw Upheaval Dome, and several of the overlooks. It is simply breathtaking. Beautiful; scenic; just amazing to look at and think about the scope and size and scale of these canyons; and just what it took to form these. Everyone was starting to get exhausted at this point after being on the go for so long. I had wanted to go over the Needles District and spend another day there, but everyone had hit the wall, so we said we would make a future trip to Canyonlands and spend a week or so just checking everything out at the pace where we could really enjoy it.

 

[car-car]

Day Thirteen: Canyonlands / Green River, UT (cont’d)

We decided to drive out of Canyonlands via Shafer Trail. If anyone visits the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands, this is a must do. This was one of the most scenic drives I have ever done. We ran it from top down, and I thought that was the way to do it in order to enjoy the scenic drive. Basically, you get to drive from the top of the Island in the Sky, and wind down the canyon, with part of it overlooking the Colorado River as it snakes through the bottom of the canyon, all while taking in these beautiful rock formations. It was truly specatular, definitely a highlight of the trip, a great way to close out Canyonlands for us. The kids were so exhausted that they slept through the whole trail (they did the same in Titus Canyon in Death Valley NP last spring). We started heading back in the direction of home and got to Green River, UT to make camp for the night.

 

[car-car]

Day Fourteen: Las Vegas, NV

We weren’t going to make it all the way home from the Moab area in one day, nor did we want to do that much driving at this point, so we figured we would make it to Las Vegas, get cleaned up, and let the kids play in the pool and relax after a great trip before heading home to San Diego the next morning.

We were 90 miles north of Vegas when the tire blew……

I was driving southbound on the I-15 towards Vegas, doing about 70 mph in the right lane, when the rear left tire failed suddenly. I started decelerating as the vehicle seemed to remain in control, when all of the sudden it made a hard right on us and things went silent and felt like slow motion as we were no longer on our tires, but that silence was quickly broken as we landed on the drivers side and started rolling. I remember going over twice; witnesses said we went over four to five times; and we landed off the freeway about 80 feet out in the desert, coming to rest on the passenger side. Immediately, we made sure everyone was okay, and my wife got the kids out since if I unbuckled, I would have fallen on her. I was exiting the vehicle as several witnesses were running down to help. One of the witnesses was an off-duty sheriff’s deputy that helped as we waited for paramedics and emergency responders. We ended up going to the hospital with my son for a possible concussion, but he ended up being okay thankfully. The rest of us escaped with just a couple scrapes and bruises, although very very shaken. Many of the first responders we talked to were amazed that we walked away from this. They said they often don’t see the same results from this type of wreck. One even said “say what you will about Toyota’s, but that thing held up and probably saved your life”.

 

[car-car]

In conclusion....

Well, while it wasn’t exactly how we had planned on ending our trip, we feel fortunate that everyone miraculously walked away from the wreck and we will be able to enjoy more trips again in the future.

I’ve already replaced it with another Land Cruiser (another 80 series). I figure if it took that much abuse and we walked away, then it can’t be that bad of a vehicle. I also put my wife in a Land Cruiser as well (100 series).

(I would have posted this sooner, but we had thought we had lost our camera memory card in the wreck. I was starting to part out the wrecked Cruiser when I found the memory card, which was the best surprise since we had thought we lost all of our pictures)

 

[wandererr]

Yikes.. been there, done that in a cherokee... though my roll was at ~40mph. Glad to hear everyone walked away from it. If I was to guess you had the same thing happen: when you lost the tire at one point the rim caught pavement which is what turned you sideways and caused the roll.

 

[Clem]

Sorry to hear about the accident. Glad everyone walked away. That is one tough truck.

I hope your little ones aren't too shook-up over it. My family of four was in a small fender bender a couple months ago and our four year old still gets anxious when she sees break-lights in front of the car.

 

[048642]

Wow, glad to hear your all safe! What kind of car seats were the kids in?

 

[CLK Foxhall]

Glad to hear everyone escaped the crash unharmed!

Loved the pics & commentary - Thanks!

Confirms my desire to explore those areas.


Cheers!
~CLK

 

[Brigitta]

Great trip report and pics!

So glad you and the family were okay after the accident.

 

[scarysharkface]

Your trip report has everything. Beautiful pics, great places and a big crash. I'm happy everyone is okay.

John

 

[ywen]

holicrap! glad to hear everyone made it out fine.. you had me all anxious and skipped forward to see what happened to the cruiser.. now I'll start the trip report from the start.. lots of pics! I likey.. :victory:

 

[Tucson T4R]

Wow, thanks for posting this report. What a great trip with all the beautiful country and sights your family got to experience.

Crazy scary way to end the trip though. I have been through a roll over before and vividly remember it to this day and that was about 30 years ago. So glad everyone was able to walk away OK. :Wow1:

I'm glad you guys jumped right back into more cruisers. Like falling off a horse, it's best to just get right back on before your brain comes up with irrational reasons not to.

Here's to more wonderful trips in the future for your family and no more over the top unplanned excitement. :wings:

 

[Marc P]

That is the trip I want to make with my family...one of these days. Thanks for sharing and I am glad everything worked out ok.

 

[blazinid]

Can't imagine the fear you must have felt for the safety of your kids the moment after everything came to a stop. Glad everyone is ok!

 

[Applejack]

I'll echo the response of others in saying I'm glad you're all okay.
And that you found your memory card. You can replace the Cruiser but not your family.................or the pictures for that matter.

Thanks for sharing your adventure/misadventure.

I had the exact same tire blow on me once, same kind of tire too (not dissing BFG) I didn't roll but it was VERY difficult to keep my little truck under control.
I like to drive 55-60 mph now:sombrero:!
You likely damaged the sidewall on the trail and under the weight and speed it just couldn't keep it together any longer.