Probably the most dangerous part of climbing 14ers or hiking in the Colorado mountains is this: the drive to and from. I have always worried about those migrating herds of elk, those skittery herds of deer, the coyote on patrol along the road centerline, the distracted, sleepy, or drunk driver, and so on.
Then we have the problem of road conditions after a storm.
Such as yesterday.
Things looked fine–just some slush on the roads in Rocky Mountain National Park after the big, wet storm that pounded through the area. Then, in a fraction of a second, we were sideways and no amount of “turning into the skid” or creative braking with anti-skid (or not braking, for that matter) was changing our trajectory. Luckily, we chose a soft spot to imbed the truck in the sloppy snow.
Snowshoes work great as shovels, by the way. And thanks to Mr. Ranger and Joe from Mama Rose’s for help in digging and pushing us out.
Buried almost to the doors on this side, and above the door line on the other side. Best to shut off the engine, get out and assess the situation rather than engage in any futile spinning o’ the wheels at this point. In this case, no amount of 4WD low was going to back us out of there until we unpacked what was underneath and cleared a path on the dirt for the wheels…
Stuck, #1. RMNP, Colorado, 2015 (iPhone 6 image)
The aftermath…the slot we left behind.
Stuck, #2. RMNP, Colorado, 2015 (iPhone 6 image)
Be careful out there! (I say to myself…!)
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