Southeast Colorado Expedition
Part 2

Now this day started out like most others. Great breakfast, cleanup, taking in some scenery, some chit chat, a quick look at the map, and off for a trail. We heard by one of the locals that there was a 4x4 trail that wasnt used very often, but had some nice sites and a road up to the top of the canyon via a narrow road. This sounded fun, and my wife and I agreed to check it out. We hit the trail with the usual excitement you get when its time to hit dirt track that you have never been on before. We found the entrance to the trail and headed up in. It wasnt long before we ran into more ruins. As you can tell from the pic to the right, the trail is faint but still plenty visible. This trail takes you down into Picket Wire Canyonlands . The drive was really nice and several nice stops. There were a couple of old cattle gates you have to go thru(please make sure to shut them). But down in the canyon, your all alone. There were some ditches that were fairly deep and steep, but nothing too major. Here in the bottom of the canyon we had our first scare. The pinz quit running. It was getting fuel. But luckily it was just a loose wire. Whew! Back on the trial in five minutes. It wasnt long before we came to the narrow trail up the canyon. Its nothing major but a bumpy ride for sure! Lots of bowling ball size rocks. The road holds against the canyon wall and rises up to a nice flat plateau at the top. You can see all the way down the canyon, and see for miles. It was actually quite nice. We let the kids out of their cage and took a nice break. They ran around checking out all the plant life and looking for Horny Toads. We burned thru an hour soaking up the scenery and as usual, not a soul in site! Very quiet and peaceful. Heres a few more pics of the area:

After the views we decided to head out across the top of the canyon rim. As usual, we got about 2 miles and the kids needed to stop to "check the tires"(bathroom break). We decided to just go ahead and have lunch. I just pulled over in front of a tree that looked to have decent shade! It was sure nice to have such perfect weather. We had a slight breeze and stayed a steady 80 degrees. We goofed off a bit and decided to head out. This trail looped all the way around and brought you out by the parking area for Picket Wire Canyon. We decided to turn and go back the same way since we really enjoyed the trail and it was too late to start another, but too early to head back. Im not sure if I took more enjoyment in the quiet or in knowing that most spring breakers were up in the Rockies, elbow to elbow. That thought alone gave way to a slight smile/smirk.

But this day sure didnt end like most others. I often talk about being prepared for anything. Well the one piece of equipment that I really needed was my winch-which was back at home on the workbench being rebuilt. That was a costly mistake. I made a few small, but very costly mistakes on the way back down. There was a water hole and we decided to stop and take another break. While turning in towards the water hole, I hit a rock on the inner right tire(mistake1), knocking the wheel out of my hand(mistake2). I was talking with my wife and really wasnt paying attention(mistake3). And it pointed me right towards the water hole. Because the trail had been so easy, I was in two wheel high(mistake4). I sunk in and quickly grabbed for 4x4, locked the front axle and grabbed for the rear locker. It was too late, that mud sucked us in and I sunk the pinz to the floorboards. This mud was thick! This mud was extremely heavy! This mud sucked! I hit it just right, with all the wrong circumstances and I sunk her bad. It was 2:30 in the afternoon. We worked on getting her out for three hours. There was just nothing close enough to pull her out. I had my come along and straps, but everything was too far. I could sure use my winch and a Pull Pal! Every rock we threw under the tire just disappeared into the bottomless muck. We were in trouble. I couldnt help but notice that the only other tire tracks I saw on the trail were at least a week old. It was Monday afternoon. Things werent looking good! We were now in the shade and I could see the sun going down. Here's the circumstances:

I made a decision to leave the family behind and hike out. I grabbed two bottles of water and some purification tablets and started off. I knew that I would have to hike all night in order to make it to town.

Long story short, I was able to get cell service and call for help. And I only had to hike about 6 miles. The bad, the only cell service was at the top of a telephone pole. Dont ask! It was NOT pretty! We got out and to a hotel about 1 AM. The pinz was still in the hole though.

The next morning I started racking my brain trying to come up with a way to get the Pinz out. I talked with some locals and someone mentioned a Unimog owner in town. Thats right! Rob Pickering! The owner of the Rock Mog that competed a couple years back! I felt a huge weight off my shoulders and I hadnt even called him yet. A quick call and Rob was all for it! He picked me up and we went out to pull the pinz out. I must admit, his crew cab, diesel powered mog was the nicest one Ive been in. This thing was huge with those Michelin XMLs. It really soaked up all those deep and steep ditches and made them look like speed bumps. I did feel a little better with the fact he did put it in four wheel drive to pull me out. Although I think he did it just to make me feel better. HAHA! Thanks Rob! You saved the trip! Once out we made our way back to town. I grabbed my wife and kids from the boring hotel room and headed back out to camp. Everyone seemed to be more than happy to head back to camp! As we watched our last camp sunset, we felt thankful to be safe at camp again. We enjoyed the evening even more and goofed off a bit on our last night at camp:

Conclusion:

We really enjoyed this area of Colorado. I think this area of Colorado is under utilized. It's often overlooked for the Rocky Mountains. Obviously this isn't the Rocky Moutains, but has its own beauty that shouldn't be overlooked if your driving through Colorado!

Happy Trails!

Colorado Ron