Wet and Muddy
We were so grateful for quite a few things this weekend, but
at the top of our list was a good sturdy tent, a small heater we could turn on
for an hour or so to dry off, and great rain gear!!! It made all the
difference. We woke up each morning to a
temperature hovering around 38 – 40 degrees, could easily see our breath in the
tent and limited desire to get out of the sleeping bag when we could still hear
rain splashing down on the tent. It was so chilly outside that each time we crossed any
creeks or puddles, the water splashing up on our under carriage would instantly
billow out it clouds of steam!!! Last
year the rains came in the evenings and then at 10 am on the dot, the fog would
clear and we would have clear skies until evening again. Our first day in Taylor Park wasn’t that
perfect. It drizzled and rained the
entire day!!! We decided to treat
ourselves to a warm meal at the trading post before headed out to the rally
point. Technically the rally doesn’t
start until Friday, but the meadow was already filled to the brim with campers,
toy haulers, RZRs and people! Sweet!!! This year was just about triple the size of
last year’s event at approximately 160+ RZRs!!!
There were some advantages and disadvantages to the size: a lot more
people of course to get to know, but also, there were so many people, that some
of the rides were a bit overwhelmed.
Luckily, both rides we chose weren’t as crowded.
After checking in at the meadow, we headed back to our camp
which was about 9 miles down the road at River’s End. That nine miles can sure feel like a long
ways when you are huddled in the RZR and at 30 mph each raindrop stings the
face!!! Brrrrrr!!!! We had dinner under
our canopy and then quickly got in the tent to enjoy a few Jadeyn versions of
Uno. He actually did really good and got
the concept, except of course, he claimed to be on daddy’s team the whole time
and had it out for mom!!!
Morning met us with yet again, rain and no real sign of it
letting up! At the meadow, there was a
drivers meeting and then the line up! We
chose to do Pomeroy Lakes with Matt as our driver. He is one of the authors for the trail book
that has become our constant companion these last few summers. He’s a great guy and was really flattered
when we told him that on long rides, Jadeyn asks to read the “map book” and
will narrate each page by looking at the pictures! We steadily climbed up to Tin Cup Pass in the
rain and the temperature dropped with the increase in elevation. Needless to say, we didn’t stop at 12,000
feet, but continued down the other side towards St Elmo.
Just as we were all contemplating whether it was worth
continuing, we dropped in elevation and as we neared St Elmo, the skies opened
up, the sun came out and it felt wonderful!!!!
St Elmo’ s is a small mountain town that it famous (in my eyes at least)
for two things, the beautiful hummingbirds, and a multitude of chipmunks that
are always willing to be fed! We bought
our bag of sunflower seeds and didn’t even bother eating lunch so we could
spend our time with the chipmunks!!
Jadeyn was so excited when they actually climbed into his lap!! This year at least he didn’t try to pick one
up!!
With the warm reprieve, we felt that we could go on and
finish the trip. Our destination was a
collection of high mountain lakes cut out like ice cream scoops in the high
tundra. It was beautiful. We also stopped at a few old mining wreckages
and this time got to stop at Tin Cup Pass on the way back. Nice ride.
On our way back to the meadow, yup it started raining again!! You’re
kidding!! We hung out under the canopy
they set up for the banquet tomorrow and talked with some really nice people.
Since this is our second year with this event, there were so
many people that we remembered from last year and it was great to meet up with
them. A lot of people remembered us
(with the help of our little blonde boy running around to remind them!) We even ran into a gentleman that we met on
the Moab ride earlier this summer. RZR
people are really wonderful people and as the sport grows with more RZR 4s joining
the market, there are more and more families on the trail. Jadeyn made several friends to romp around
with too!
We were a muddy mess!! Jadeyn's blue pants, dark brown shoes and white (yes they were white) socks were completely unrecognizable!! Oh well, this definitely was not the muddiest he has been this summer!)
Nightfall came and we hoped for clear skies in the morning. As we emerged from our chilly tent it wasn’t
raining, but the entire valley was socked in fog! We crossed our fingers that
it would burn off and there wouldn’t be clouds behind it. We left our campsite a little late because we
figured everyone would be slow due to the weather. Well, we drove with visibility about 50 ft,
but about a mile from the meadow a glorious thing happened, the fog lifted and
there was blue skies!!!!! We joined the
throng of people and RZRs lined up for our group photo just in time (apparently,
the fog wasn’t nearly as thick in the meadow that morning, and everyone got an
early start!!)
For today’s ride we joined Jim’s group (J to the B). We have decided that every chance we get we
should ride with him. He is one of the
main organizers of this amazing event, and is an excellent guide. We joined him for Napoleon but ended up
adding on Holy Cross and Slaughter Gulch since we had the time. We did this trail last year (when it was
rainy) and it was a fun challenge with all the water crossings and the tricky
rooted trail. Last year another RZR4 got
wedged between trees when they slipped on the roots on the trail. The tires can grip anything but a wet tree
root can sometimes pose a problem. We
recognize the exact spot where they got stuck last year, and it was tricky again,
but no problem for us!!
Slaughter Gulch was awesome again!! Filled with whoop-de-woos (as Jadeyn calls
them) we spaced ourselves out and hit the gas flying over them!! American Flag
brought us to a beautiful peak with excellent views!
On our way to the banquet, we had another interesting
encounter. It the narrow one lane bridge
on the road, some cowboys decided it was a good time to herd their cows
across. Several cars were waiting for
the herd to pass, including us, as the cows began to envelope us. It was so loud as the cows from behind pushed
the others forward. Now it wouldn’t have
been nearly as intimidating if we had been in a vehicle that was higher up, or
had doors, or even had a windshield. We
were eye level with these beasts and the moo’ed and bellowed and drooled!! And it lasted about five or six minutes!!
Imagine feeding over 250 people in the wilderness…that’s
what Frank did again this year. It is
the main mastermind of the group and put together an awesome pulled pork,
spaghetti, beans, and veggie dinner for everyone. Wow!
Following the banquet it was time for the raffle. Drumroll…we both won something. Kevin won a storage bag that fits inside a
RZR door (when we get doors) and I won a rear differential plate for a RZR 900
(which we don’t have and we’re not sure what it is anyway!). But a ton of fun!! It was so wonderful to have a truly perfect
Colorado weather day to enjoy!
Back to our campsite around 8:30 and what do we find? About 15
cows enjoying our campsite!!! Four of them neatly hovered around our fire pit
and the rest were scattered around doing who know what! We tried to frightened them off, but they
just meandered off a few feet and kept grazing.
And so begins the night of the cows!!! All night the ‘cattle were lowing’ and then one about 30 feet away bellowed for
about 45 min! At one point we could hear one directly outside the tent chewing
her cud and occasionally sighing! Oh
my. In the morning we saw their hoof
print surrounding us, cow pies scattered around and the small clouds of their
breath floating around the campground since they were all still there. And the big ol’ bull just outside the split
rail fence was not happy that all his females were grazing so far away. He grunted and grunted and then headed our
way, intimidating? Definitely!!
Since it was such a beautiful day, we packed up camp and hit
one more trail before saying goodbye to another wonderful trip to Taylor Park!
