We survived Corkscrew and California Gulch Passes!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
We joined Brian's cousins Sherri McBee and Nancy Schiller and their families in Montrose and then headed over to Ouray for a day of 4 wheeling over the mountain passes. We all piled onto dirt bikes, 4 wheelers, a razor and a bronco and traveled over Corkscrew and California Gulch Passes (12,000 and 11,000 ft). I am such a ninny on the mountain passes that they let Jasmine and I use one 4 wheeler. I don't get so scared when I am in control. Being able to see both sides of the road made a big difference too. I didn't feel like one wheel was halfway off the cliff and we were about to plumet to the bottom! Brian took Ethan on a 4 wheeler for a part of the time, the Bronco part of the time, and took both kids in the razor for a portion of the trip. Brianna actually rode in the razor most of the time with Taylor and Riley and really enjoyed the ride. Ethan was not too crazy about the 4 wheeler and kept telling daddy to "Go Slower!" but he enjoyed the Bronco more because he could not see the gaping cliffs (taking after mommy?). Of course, he did fall asleep for the 2 hours it took to get back. Even with all the bumps!




Sorry Jasmine, but I have to mention our little suicide jump off the trail! I know you were just trying to wake me up but.... ! Jasmine has a go-cart and rides dirt bikes so she is a pretty good driver. When we hit a little field that was a little flatter, I let Jasmine drive. Unfortunately, I forgot to switch it to 2 wheel drive. It was a little squirly to control in 4 wheel and when she hit a rock on the side of the trail, it jumped to the side and between the 4 wheel steering and the weight of the ATV, she lost control and we flew of the trail almost flipping in the process. Thankfully, were we went off only had about a 4 ft drop and it wasn't quite as steep as most of the trail. After recovering from our heart attacks, I drove on and right after that the trail became rough again. As Jasmine put it... "It happened for a reason. Heavenly Father didn't want her driving on the rest of the trail because if she had lost control anywhere else, we could have been in serious trouble!"


So after that when we were coming back and hit the switchbacks coming down the pass, I almost could not do it. Yes, I am such a ninny! But coming down, we were turning toward the cliff side not the wall side. And they were so steep to drive down and such sharp turns. If someone else had been there to drive for me, I would have probably gotten off and walked down. But we were in small groups so I mustered my courage, put it to the test and did it. Whew...!!! I just wish I had thought to get pictures of some of the crazy places we went!

It turned out to be a lot of fun. We saw some very beautiful country, a magnificant lake and a ghost town called Animous Forks. Of course, being so high up we even got to see some snow. The kids even got to have a snowball fight between vehicles. They were so excited to hold snow when at home it had been over 100 for over 30 days! The ghost town was really interesting to go inside of all the old buildings. One even had a "bathroom" ... a bench with a hole in it! I can not imagine living that high up in the mountains with no heating other than a wood burning stove. It was a beautiful spot for a town, but so difficult to get to. I have to say that I am glad I don't live there... maybe a little too used to the Texas Heat! At the end of the day and six hours on the trail, we were filthy and tired, but oh it was worth it!