And...the Bad.

I didn't want to post this with the blog entries about the rest of Big South Fork. I figured it would unfairly color the Park as a sketchy place to go. But it happened so I figured I have to at least report it.

Most people who hike down to Charit Creek use a different parking area than we did. That trail is much shorter (only eight-tents of a mile), but is a lot steeper. We opted to go down via the Twin Arches Trail because, while it's longer (2.1 miles), it's a lot easier on the legs and lungs. Lots of people do park there to go down to the lodge. But most use the other trailhead and parking lot.

So, we headed down and left the truck.

I have to mention here that we had just bought two brand new tires for the truck. They were installed on the front. Left and right. The tires were two days old, because we bought them on the trip when we had a flat and just decided to replace both tires.

We had a great time and hiked back up. We got to the truck to discover that both front tires were absolutely flat. A quick inspection soon revealed that they had been slashed by vandals.

Why?

I have no idea. Vandals never need a reason. Frankly, I'm surprised that only two tires were slashed instead of all four. I suspect that they destroyed the front ones because it was obvious that they were brand new. Or maybe something scared them away before they could do any more damage. Who knows?

Fortunately, for some bizarre reason, we had cell phone service there at the parking lot in the middle of nowhere. We have Good Sam road service and they soon dispatched a tow truck to take us right back to the place where we'd bought the tires two days before. The owner was horrified. He said that he'd never heard of anyone having suffered anything like that at one of the parking lots in the Recreation Area. It made him feel bad about the local folk. But of course it wasn't his fault. 

At any rate, it happened. It sucked. Weirdest thing about it...I didn't even get upset. I think I said "damn" once. And "Oh, well" several times.

Both front tires. Flat. Both brand new.

I've circled one of the punctures. Looks like they used a knife. Each tire had at least two such slash marks.

The tow truck fellows arrive and load up the ol' truck.