Last Thursday I was out doing a little biological field work on some timber lands. Roads on timber lands, at least in Alabama, range from well maintained to virtually non-existent. The road I was on at the time gave every impression of being one of the reasonably maintained roads. This was an illusion. A deep grassy median ran down the center which hid the perils lying in wait. As I was puttering along in 1st gear just doing a little visual observation, checking the map, etc. I was met with a sudden jolting WHAM with forward progress ending. Junk flew around in the cab of the 40, the rear became slightly airborne as the Cruiser did a very mild nose stand (at least it seemed like it), and the engine stalled. I climbed out to see the cause of my difficulty. The right front tire had dropped into a 4 foot deep hole where the road was being undercut by an ephemral stream. At least the left front tire was still on firm ground as was the bumper.