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Rocky Mountain High Mud-Skiing

Gunnison, CO. There's always something new to learn in the travel racket, or at least, to accentuate. Camping in the mud has never been my favorite thing, and most dog owners would say the same.

But wait, wasn't I just praising the ability of the human imagination to turn any situation into one of Noble Suffering? And I meant it, too. But I draw the line at flying insects and mud. Mud is not noble.



You might wonder why I had to crash in the photo above, with all that "dry" land between the two tire ruts. The photo doesn't show how crowned that middle area was.

And speaking of crowned... I couldn't take the forest mud anymore. I had to head in to town, just for the pavement. Towards the end of the day, it appeared dry enough to attempt an escape. It was only 200 yards downhill to the main road. I was patting myself on the back for having the foresight to camp uphill of the escape route, at this time of the year.

On the way down, the tow vehicle and travel trailer were actually sliding down the hill, despite having 8 brakes! This caused a moment of panic. Here again it would be nice to boast of foresight. But in fact it was just dumb luck that the dirt road was troughed (concave) like a toboggan run. The van's steering would not "answer", but the concavity held the rig on track beautifully. What a relief! 

All kidding aside, folks, don't underestimate the importance of 1) camping uphill of the escape, and 2) troughed versus crowned escape routes.

Comments

Your weather looks like what we're getting over the hill here near Glenwood Springs. Too rainy and cold and feels like autumn already. Glad you amde it out OK.
Michael said…
I'd sell the bike and get ultralight or lightweight backpacking gear. I like Gossamer Gear stuff.
Anonymous said…
Congratulations on successfully extracting yourself from a sticky situation. I got tired of muddy monsoon weather and moved someplace drier and warmer.