This mishap didn't really dampen my spirits. It'd all work out. We're just going to spend a little more time in this beautiful setting than planned. We asked a few fellow hikers returning to their cars whether they had a coat hanger, of the metal variety, with them. This, predictably, did not yield the desired breaking-into-car device. So, we found some kind folks who agreed to give Jitka a ride into Boulder, where she could call AAA road service. Having used this service once before I knew it would be a long while until they showed up. So, I set about looking for makeshift tools. I walked to the campground (which was closed for the season), but it was quite clean of debris. I found a maintenance yard with a junk pile in which there was a long fiberglass rod that had served as a flag holder for a kids bike. Then I found an old nail and bent the tabs on the mounting bracket for the pole around it. Now I had my tool. But since the door lock knobs are smooth it was quite difficult to get purchase with the tip of the nail. Suffice it to say that it took at least an hour configuring the tool and maneuvering it just so until finally I was able to raise the knob and get in. I met the tow truck driver on the road as I was about to hit the Peak-to-Peak Highway.
Both Jitka and I met some very nice people through the incident. Plus, while I was wandering through the woods looking for the right piece of wood to pry the door frame I stumbled across the CMC mountain hut, which I had known about for many years but didn't know the exact location of. So, in the end I was grateful for the opportunity to engineer a solution from makeshift materials and for the chance to interact with kind and interesting people I might have only said "hi" to otherwise.
Photos of the hike and the makeshift tool: http://picasaweb.google.com/sjskhalsa/BlueLakeFall2010#
No comments:
Post a Comment