Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

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coldfoot

 
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Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by coldfoot » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:02 am

Does anyone know what the story is behind the wrecked truck off the Weatherford Trail on Humphreys Peak? It is down the hill from the hairpin just a hundred meters or so before Doyle Saddle (first saddle). Here's a picture I took a couple months ago: http://www.summitpost.org/car-wreck-below-doyle-saddle/808818/c-155544

Image

I know the trail was originally a Model-T and jeep road, but it is long overgrown and the area was made wilderness in 1986 (?) so the wreck must be old. What surprises me is how the paint still looks fairly fresh. I didn't hike down to it (I had a full pack and was fairly beat), but one of you must have looked at it up close.

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lcarreau

 
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Re: Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by lcarreau » Mon Sep 03, 2012 1:09 pm

I've never seen it, but here's a link from another hiker on "hikearizona.com."

http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=12690
"Turkey Vultures always vomit when they get nervous."

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Andinistaloco

 
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Re: Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by Andinistaloco » Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:12 am

I've seen the vehicle but don't know the whole story. However the Weatherford trail did used to be open to vehicles long ago (I think the road was built back in 1924 or thereabouts), so we know how it got there.

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John Duffield

 
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Re: Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by John Duffield » Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:24 pm

From the photos, looks like somebody flipped it on it's side to get the parts.

When the tyres are still on, you'll know it really is hard to get to. Here's one I lensed this summer in a gorge in the Catskills.

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Alex Wood

 
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Re: Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by Alex Wood » Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:41 am

Bad brakes? I dont know but there were quite a few cars that went up and down that road while it was open. It was just this dudes bad luck I guess

Check out this link on the Weatherford Road

http://suite101.com/article/the-short-lived-weatherford-road-in-arizona-a210572

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coldfoot

 
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Re: Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by coldfoot » Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:44 am

lcarreau's link shows a piece of the truck has a manufacture date of 1959, well after the actual road company failed; it could have been any time after that and before the wilderness. I don't know how long the road remained "drivable." I'm still surprised that the paint is in decent shape, I believe all the chrome and anything strippable is gone.

It may have been flipped, but the picture doesn't capture the steepness of the slope - it's possible that it rolled down and came to rest on its side against the tree.

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lcarreau

 
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Re: Story of the wrecked car off Weatherford Trail?

by lcarreau » Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:48 am

coldfoot wrote:lcarreau's link shows a piece of the truck has a manufacture date of 1959 ...


Imagine that ... two freaking years after I was born. GOOD EYES, coldfoot :!:
"Turkey Vultures always vomit when they get nervous."


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