Labor Day Weekend: Ride of death

Jeff will tell you I'm exaggerating a bit here... the ride of death. But I assure you, there was more than one time that I a) nearly crapped my pants, b) said a some unmentionable, colorful words, and c) thought I was going to roll over and die or at minimum break my leg.

And while I was looking forward to finding some good mud puddles to race through, I was not anticipating traversing down a trail with a running river, trenches as wide as our 4-wheelers, and logs and debris washed down from all the runoff.

We took the Turkey Trail from the Peter Sinks road, which we went on the last time we were at Bear Lake so I knew I could handle it. The forest service had put up some new gates which I barely squeezed my 4-wheeler through... 50" wide opening, yeah right. We found a few of these bent over trees. I wonder how they got this way? If it's because of the snow, then yikes! That is a lot of snow!I also found a few hints of fall. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I love fall colors but that also means winter is on its way. I told Jeff I'd like to go for a ride again when all leaves are in full fall bloom. When we got back down to the Peter Sinks road, Jeff sweetly asked me if I wanted to go back over the mountain through Hodge's Canyon instead of the way we normally go. I was feeling pretty good with my riding skills and knew he wanted a new adventure, so I agreed. He did ask me a few times if I was really sure about it, but how could I say no? Let's just say it was a dang good thing I didn't see the "extremely difficult" sign pointing to Hodges Canyon BEFORE we started up the trail. No, that came at the end, after I'd survived the miles of trenches, water, debris, and visions of my life passing before my eyes and my children being orphaned.

My first inkling that this might not have been such a good idea was when we came upon this mud puddle. It was huge. Seeing three grown men, which I assumed were just as wild and crazy on ATVs as my husband, getting off their machines to help each other navigate getting up and out of this mud hole should have been my second clue that I was going to regret my decision. Here's Jeff getting ready to help me navigate my way out of the puddle. Sometimes my strategy of just gunning it isn't the best idea. But I wasn't about to be a sissy girl. I figured if anything this would help me get more comfortable with the limits of our 4-wheelers and help me improve my riding skills. I'm kind of a whimp when my machine starts to tip at an angle, even when it's not that big of deal and logically I know the machine is capable of it. I just prefer to have all four wheels on the ground.

The near miss with a broken leg twice and having to let Jeff steer my ATV through several terrifying spots for me were just minor setbacks. I will have you all know, however, that the three men in front of us eventually stopped, let us pass, and turned around. I can proudly say at least I didn't quit like the three mamby-pamby-sissy-boys.

At one point, I just stopped and sat there on the trail. After turning corner after corner only to see more water, more two feet wide and two feet deep trenches, getting high-centered on a rock, and seeing Jeff kneeling on the back of his ATV and leaning as far back as he could to maneuver his way over a monster trench, I'd had about as much as I could take. Jeff looked back to check on me and I simply shook my head "no" at him. Then I hollered at him to take my picture. I wanted proof that I wasn't a sissy, the trail was in fact very difficult, there was a lot of water rushing down the trail, and that I was having fun. Yes, I was having a blast. In a sort of once you are done, you are so glad you did it because it was more fun than you could imagine but at the same time you never want to do that again way. It was a one thumbs up, one thumbs down kind of ride.By the time we got down the trail, I had decided that it was a good thing we tried a new way back to the property. It was more fun that I gave Jeff credit for, even with my sheer terror and mental anguish at times. Plus, I didn't wuss out like some folks on the trail and I think my riding skills drastically improved, even if I was only going 5 mph max speed the entire way down. When we got back home, I took off my helmet and gave a huge sigh of relief. I knew my face would be covered in dust and my hair was probably a bit crazy, but when Jeff started laughing and said, "Wait! Let me take your picture!" I knew my face must being saying exactly how I felt... "let's do it again!"