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Another holiday to celebrate in an unusual way. Arriving in camp in Comb Wash, New Year’s Eve 2008 we found snow…….lots and lots of snow!! |
New Years Eve was celebrated around a roaring campfire with fire works going off at 10pm. (It’s Midnight somewhere) and warm camper beds were calling. New Years Day found us setting off on snow covered roads to explore a canyon that the Denny family had driven before. As we dropped in elevation, the trail became drier and the air became warmer but a new challenge presented itself, Quicksand!! Fox’s, Ramsey’s and Gilliam’s all fell victim to the “3 vehicle rule” First one makes it across, second one struggles through, third one sinks like a rock. Straps and winches were pulled and quarters will be owed. |
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A mechanical malfunction caused Tom’s jeep to quit. Kevin ended up strapping him out of the canyon over snowy trail and all the way back to camp (50 miles plus). Experienced driver and plenty of motor power got Tom back to camp without incident. A little repair and Tom was ready for more!! |
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Our next day on the trail gave us a new experience: Mud Runs!! Something we don’t get much of in the southwest. The day was spent seeing just how dirty we could get with some time out to hike some canyons to look at ruins and a spectacular petroglyph panel. It was a sunny, beautiful day and was capped off with a pot-luck and deep fried Turkey dinner, with good conversation around the campfire. |
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Our last day dawned colder and overcast, after much evaluation and discussion it was decided to head out on a new trail. Although there was some snowpack, it was fairly good until the last third of the trail and then the snow got deep. We flew down the trail behind fearless leaders; Don and Linda, keeping the rpm’s up. Don broke trail and kept us moving and we had a view of the desert most of us had never seen. A few fish tails and slides around corners and we were back to the highway. With weather threatening some of us decided to head home and others decided to wait until morning. All made it home safely, amid much discussion to return for more exploration (and a little drier weather) |
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