Up A Trail Without A Shovel

We woke up today socked in with fog, or maybe it was clouds, we are at 8,000ft. Either way, there was a light dusting of hoar frost on all of the vegetation which gave everything a winter wonderland feel. We decided it would be a good day for exploring. A couple of properties had sparked our interest, so we headed out armed with a topo map and a full tank of gas. This also served as an excellent opportunity to test out the off-road prowess of our Red Rover.

Forest Road 230 looked pretty good on the map. Heading north out of Garfield we had about three miles before we were to encounter a property that 'may or may not have a sign on it'. The road started out really rough, putting the traction control system to a test. Red Rover, with horrible tires, handled the loose and steep road very well. Along the way we encountered a couple of cabins and a beautiful stream full of beaver dams.

Not long after we took the picture above, we encounterd a small 'glacier'. We had driven through a couple of small streams and a fair bit of snow at this point, so I was feeling pretty confident with Red Rover. With the forementioned tires the ice prooved to be a bigger challenge than I anticipated. It is not like a man and his truck to back down from a challenge without giving it a fair shot (much to Mica's chagrin). We spun and slid our way about 20 yards up this frozen road and were not able to make any more forward progress. Now, if this was dirt, no problem, just stop and back up. Well, as soon as we stopped, I could feel us slipping. Some backwards and some sideways. We were off camber and the glacier wanted to push us sideways into a water bar. Bad news for us, if we slipped sideways we would probably high center Red Rover. Like I said before, we had a full tank of gas and that was it, no shovel, no chains, no salt or sand, no winch - all things we should probably have with us at all times - I'm sure Mica won't let me forget I said that.

With a good deal of dirt and rocks and debris (you can see the dirt patches we made on the ice), we were able to inch our way down without slipping sideways. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but have you ever tried to collect dirt and rock off of frozen ground? The ordeal took about an hour, we still had an hour of sunlight left and a half mile of walking to find this parcel of land. As we hiked up the road, there was a good bit of snow making it so much fun for Hati and Soli. We eventually found the piece of land that is for sale, which is the picture below. Pretty cool spot for a ski in cabin or summer retreat, no vehicle access during the winter.

We ended up driving down the road in the dark. We had smooth sailing, we were still talking to each other and Red Rover did not let us down. We will reward Red Rover with some new tires next week, but what should Mica's reward be?