POP!

Camp 15, July 26

”Pop!" Not just any pop, but the sound of our back window disintegrating.

We keep going over what happened because we don't know.

We drove 183 miles yesterday in nice weather. We passed a few trucks but didn't notice any rocks being thrown around, and because I expected to have a crack running across the windshield before the end of the trip, we were paying attention every time we pass another vehicle.

Mystery timeline:
I took a photo of the Arctic Circle sign at 2:26. After that we read the signs and used the bathroom. We left there around 2:45.

We drove about 1/4 mile and found what looked like a good camp, but you can't see the spots until you are past them so I had to drive another 1/4 mile to turn around. That is very short for around here. I dropped him off to check out the site. I drove back to the Arctic Circle sign turned around and waited for his call on the radio. I probably pulled into the camp around 3:00.

Pulling into camp I noticed the deep ruts in the road from when it rained last. But it was dry now. We set up camp which takes about 10 minutes. We didn't expect to stay more than that one night so we left the trailer connected.

We didn't notice anything unusual with our rig.

We set at a lookout point trying to spot any large animals in the valley. We saw nothing but heard a few birds in the trees around us. Around 5:30 I was texting my sister. Then we ate dinner and cleaned up. It was approximately 6:00 by then.

We noticed the wind picking up so we pack up all non-essential items to keep them dry 6:05.

We walked over to a small pond very close to our camp. It was not easily accessible but looked clean. We walked back to camp. 6:15

The wind died down and it started to drizzle. We went in the tent and changed into pj's then watched it rain out the windows while thinking about the short, now muddy road in. It rained fairly hard for a short time. There was some thunder and lightning but it didn't seem close to us. There was no hail.

Around 6:30 he said the Jeep looked like it had been through a car wash. He was sitting on the bed. I was on the sofa (that is about two feet apart) I got on the bed to look out the window. Which is in the front of the trailer just behind the Jeep.  We could see the back window which was about 3.5 feet from us and the passenger's side of the Jeep.

I would like to point out that occasionally I will write fiction but wait until the last line to tell you that. This is real. I’m providing all the clues we have.

We heard a loud pop and the sound of pebbles falling. He asked what the sound was. I said the Jeep has no back window. It was now a splash of glass pebbles.

It was still drizzling and our tool bags were getting wet so I ran out and got in the back seat and started pulling the bags forward away from the window. I should point out that I went because I'm smaller and more flexible. It's tight back there. Within a minute it stopped raining and he came out to help.

There was glass everywhere. Inside on the shelf, in the cubby for the jack, on all our stuff, on the ground, stuck inside the bumper, everywhere.

We started cleaning. Then I sent our insurance agent a message.

We needed to plug the hole but with what?

It took some finagling but we came up with covering the area with our privacy tent which is mostly waterproof (seen on the ground in the photo below. We then strapped one of our max tracks to the pelican cases (water proof and strong) Then draped the privacy tent out the window tucking it behind the tire. While driving we will probably close the tent in the door so it can’t flop around.

We should have left then.

Instead we went to bed thinking we would reconsider our rain diversion situation in the morning.

At 5:30 it started to rain. It is now 9:00 am. We’ve started the star-link, have hot coffee in our cups, and ice cream for breakfast (it's a special treat for a gloomy day). We have checked the road into camp. It seems firm. The weather report says rain for the next 4 days, but it should clear up for a short time this afternoon.

It’s not an adventure if everything goes smoothly.

Post Breakage / Pre-Patch

Recap:
We don't frequently open the back window because that requires disconnecting the trailer.

Nothing fell on the window.
We don't remember lightening. There was no hail.
The wind had died down before we heard the pop.
There were no big temperature changes that might increase the size of a chip in the glass.
There did appear to be more glass on the ground on the driver’s side while the glass on the passenger's side was in the vehicle.

We are 700 miles from pavement.

Looking online, it appears tempered glass does this. It can store energy from earlier stresses (like all that bumping on 280 miles of gravel road) then something small like a pressure or temperature change can set it off.

If you have different a theory we would love to hear it.

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