The Drive, The Hike

 There's been a tricky spot on this side of Hurrah Pass for a couple months now so when folks ask me to drive them out I don't mind. It's about the only time Jax and I get to hike and it's all downhill and usually early before it gets hot. Still I know I'm taking a big of a risk. It's only a matter of time before I hit bottom and somebody takes it serious or I actually do damage to a vehicle. I hit six or so one time driving an Impreza out. That thing had about two inches of ground clearance. I was pushing cow turds along. Most everybody else I've gotten out without a scratch or an inappropriate relationship with Mother Earth. I was driving something out, don't even remember what a couple weeks ago and hit bottom twice at places I've never hit bottom. When we got to the memorable spot on the other side I got out to check where I wanted to put my tires and found out why'd I'd hit bottom twice.

We looked in the truck and there was just a doughnut spare so went ahead and slid it down the bad spot and then put the doughnut on and made it to town. I should have known it was flat and it felt a little bit different but as it turns out it worked out. If we would have put the doughnut on earlier and then blown it on the hard spot we wouldn't have made it to town.

Still it was a good month. I got a Fit, Geo Prism, Prius, Civic, Corolla, and a couple more fairly small cars out without touching bottom. At the same time I had a couple guests that didn't make it because of the road and one left early who had planned to drive back and forth to town everyday to see the parks. I explained it would be extra driving but they wanted to avoid the crowds of Moab and the city is packed busy. We use to call April and May "No left turn months" and how do you know Spring is here? All the license plates turn green. Colorado.

One day driving someone's vehicle up a single female big horn walked right by us in the middle of the road, moved slightly but didn't seem to be concerned with us at all.

Driving the truck up Hurrah Pass one day with 30 bags of trash in the back the steering went out. Was very dicey turning around, driving back to the big garage and unloading the 30 bags. I didn't have a truck for ten days or so and in time Chris came out from Nations in the dark, hooked up the truck, and we loaded the 30 bags back in it and he hauled it all off to town closing in on midnight. I got an email from him at 4:44am saying the truck is ready so the next day I drove some guest's vehicle to town and picked up the truck. The Jeep then promptly had the started go out and one Polaris overheated. A week later Chris drove out again and had them both working in a couple hours. I've been plotting to tell his wife I saw him with a woman and then when she kicks him out I'll put him up in the bunk bed room and get all my vehicles done up good.

When the truck went down I really had supply issues at the lodge. Can't haul trash in, can't bring drinking water back, not in quantity anyway and can't get a good load of wood. So I decided to buy an extra truck. I went by Canyonlands Auto Sales and they had eight trucks out front. I found a red Ford 150 Super Cab with a 100,000 or so miles and test drive it over to Nations. Chris went through it and said there was a whirring noise inside that didn't predict a long future. I didn't hear anything but he and Stephen did. I went back and said the windshield was broken, the tires sucked, there's a whirring sound, and $19,500 was too much. I'd pay $17,000. He quoted a couple places that said it was worth $18,500 and said he'd sell it for that if I took care of the windshield and tires and I want my own tires anyway. I told him $17,500 and he said $18,500 was best he could do. A few minutes later at Village Market he called to say $18,000. I figured by morning he'd say $17,500 and I'd go get it but by morning it was sold. Next time by all the trucks I'd seen a few days earlier were gone. I found a blue Ford 150 I liked. He said $18,500. I said $17,000. When I drove by a few hours later it was gone and so were three or four of the others. Every time I go by there's eight different trucks in the sales lot and they never last more than a couple days.

Chris said "Don't by a nice truck. Hurrah will beat it up. You need a beater and I have one." He took me over and showed it to me and it was a beater. He ordered some parts and then one day we were talking and he said he had a F-150 Super Cab he forgot about and he could fix it up and sell it to me. I said "You have an extra truck you forgot about?" He said "It's at the extra house I forgot about." He ordered parts. I'll take them both. I can't be without a truck again. They're just too valuable.

I had three vehicles follow me out and my canteen fell out right at the top. The first two missed it and I saw the front wheels of the 3rd one miss it but the back wheels didn't.