New Trails

Camping and ATVing weekend - you just gotta take those weekends before the weather gets too cold!!  We could have easily worked all weekend at the shop as there is so much to do but........

 

Because it rained Thursday night, I did not get to pack all the stuff in the camper but I had it all ready by the door!  We had hoped to get out of work by 3:00 but that time eventually changed into 4:00 before we were headed home!!  I actually ran between the camper and the house to get everything packed up because the weather looked like it was going to start raining any minute!!  I had just taken the last load and all we had left was the ice chest when the storm broke - oh my gosh - heavy, heavy rain, thunder and lightning and hail - even though we were willing to get wet, there was no way we could even get to the truck during this storm!!

 

When it finally subsided enough to make a run for it, we left!!  And not long after we left, I got the text that HWY 24 was closed due to flooding!!

 

We headed over Monarch Pass into Black Sage Pass where we were planning on camping - and the little campground that we had thought about camping in was pretty full - so we went on past and through the little village of Whitepine - now it was dusk by this time and the road was narrow going through this small town and I just didn't get a good feeling about it for some reason!  So right past the town, Glenn decided to turn around as it was so narrow and there was a spot wide enough to do that - we went back through the town, up Black Sage Pass and NOTHING - nada - no place to camp!!

 

So we ended up driving across this pasture and parking very close to this huge, huge electrical tower!!  The grass was up to my knees and it was NOT a great spot but by this time it's totally dark out so we decided to just spend the night there!!  I really don't like eating dinner at 9:00 but that's what we did - but luckily I had gotten a chicken and a salad so we didn't have to cook!!

 

It was during the night that it started to rain.............not heavy but just a constant rain - Glenn woke me up and said he thought we should move because we were in a low spot in all this grass and yes, it could get QUITE muddy!!  But I told him he was CRAZY for wanting to pack up in the dark and the rain and move - to where?????  The next morning he told me that he was more concerned about the lightning since we were sitting RIGHT by that tower - in fact, you could hear the current running through it!!  

 

The next morning we packed up and moved to another spot over by Tomichi Pass - a much better place - and before we knew it, we were out to ATV - with 4 layers on I might add - the sun was warm but the air was COLD!!

 

We rode our ATV's into Pitkin, a cute little town that I was surprised we had never been through before - it's at the base of Tomichi Pass and hooks up with other passes that we have been on before.  I loved this little town!!  And I loved this town hall building - it's not really crooked - blame it on the photographer!!

 

Glenn needed some more coffee so we stopped at the gas station/souvenir shop/coffee place to get him some and enjoyed just relaxing on their front porch!!

Did I mention it has rained a LOT in the past few weeks?  Which means the mushrooms were in full bloom!!!  I saw these red/orange mushrooms and for some reason, immediately thought of The Wizard of Oz - Munchkinland - now were their mushrooms in the movie???  I have no idea but that's what came to mind!!

Even though Tomichi Pass was rated difficult, it wasn't bad at all on the ATV - there were a couple of spots where you had to pull to the side if you met someone but at least we didn't have to back up!!

Looking out at the countryside at the top of somewhere?

We ended up coming BACK into Whitepine as we finished the pass - and guess what - there were several camping spots just over a short hill from where we had turned around the night before!!  DARN!!  And after driving back through Whitepine in the daylight, I had an entire different feeling about it - it was cute and many places were run down but it looked SO much better in the day than at dusk!!  Later I found out it was a ghost town but people inhabit it!!

Double mushrooms - how cute is that???

We had a full day's ride and were stiff and sore when we came back to the camper - rest time - happy hour - a nice meal - reading - Glenn hit the sack at 8:30!!  I, of course, read!!

Sunday was pretty cold out again in the morning but we rode till noon and saw some beautiful country!!  I'll leave you with one last picture which is kind of neat because we're at the top of a pass, looking at another pass that we had done last summer. Kind of puts it in perspective of how steep and rugged some of the trails are!!    We'll come back over here as there are even more trails to discover!!