After a huge day on Grays and Torreys last Sunday (over 400 hikers and a miles worth of over-flow parking) I was on the way down the road to I-70 and came across what appeared to be a blow out of something fairly pressurized.
Curious, I hopped out of the CFI-baru and bent down...yep, it was..."Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea". Immediately I knew what happened but wasn't sure who it happened to or what they were driving but I had a pretty good feeling I would be seeing them fairly soon.
The road up to the Grays and Torreys Trailhead is in GREAT shape this year...the best I've seen it in over 10. Outside of a few areas, ANY 2wd vehicle could access it without even having to be careful. However, all it takes is one rock in the right place and your day can be ruined.
That one rock can be seen in the picture just to the left of this spill. It was about 4-6 inches tall if you were to balance it just right. After snapping a few shots (and debating on whether this would be a "rock WIN" or "low clearance vehicle FAIL") I followed the trail of oil about 1 1/2 miles down as it slowly dissipated to nothing, knowing that I would definitely see the driver and their car shortly.
Sure enough, a volvo was parked at the junction at I-70 and the Bakerville exit with AAA already en route. I could tell they didn't stop after the initial BUMP because there was no pooling so I went ahead and showed them the photos I took. It pretty much confirmed what they already new. I have heard this exact same story from the exact same place (except it was a VW Jetta)...watch out for the rocks that WILL jump up and bite ya!
-BW
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