This time the NP road was signed as they are supposed to be.
The road was rougher and more circuitous than 61 but just as much fun. Lewis didn't whistle as much, perhaps he knew he'd have a chance to get out and stretch his legs at the end.
We followed eroded tracks down into wide washes, up onto narrow saddles and then down steeply into other washes, tilting just a bit sideways to fit through. Always the Jeep took us steadily along, without as much as a spinning tire or hesitation at what we asked of it. Certainly nothing like Gay and Joe offer their Jeep, but enough excitement for us.
We didn't see anymore Bighorn Sheep, only a few lizards and a covey of manic quail. We were quite alone.
The end of the road was made clear by the presence of a huge boulder blocking the wash.
 |
| looking for the crawl through |
Pam had warned us that if we wanted to hike beyond the boulder we'd have to crawl under it. We were all on board.
We walked around the largest boulder and found the crawl under spot. Some of us managed easily and gracefully. Some of us managed, but not gracefully.
Some of us enjoyed the challenge of the obstacle, again and again.
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| Dave, Dave, come on Dave.....this is the way! |
One of us was happy to show the way, one of us wondered what took the rest of us so long.....
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| are you coming? |
In the end, all of us made it through in our own special way - only to find another rock obstacle a few feet down the trail.
The same tactics proved successful again (butts rule!) and we were all free to hike the rest of the wash on our feet.
The afternoon was quite hot so we continued our trek moving from shade spot to shade spot.
We had to laugh at Lewis....he walked directly behind Dave, making good use of his shadow! When Dave stopped, Lewis banged right into his legs, every
time...
The wash ended at the River and it provided a cool splash and a shady spot under the salt cedars for lunch.
We hiked back the way we came, under the rocks and back to the Jeep for the ride home through the starkly beautiful desert.
Lew definitely loved these hikes to the river with no one around:) Good to see him in the river cooling off. Isn't it funny how they find shade where ever it is:) Cody was the best shade finder when we hiked with him. If we lost him, we could be sure he was up ahead under a tree or rock. Great butt crawling, Sue!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly making good use of that new Jeep! Looks like a terrific day exploring in solitude!
ReplyDeleteIt would be so fun to get all three Wranglers out on some of those trails - and there would be so many photo ops on that butt-crawl trail :-) I can feel Lewis' excitement through the obstacles, such a ham. Is the last pic the same spot with different lighting from the day before?
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun adventure for all three of you! Love the photo of Dave and Lewis coaxing you through the rock obstacle. :-)
ReplyDelete