I'm putting this at the top as this to me really represents the reason for the Hummer and 4 wheeling. This is a place we would not have gone (as are all the places below for that matter) and the view from up here was really fantastic. :))
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We just headed out this morning to go check out the National Park and look for some roads to explore. The local office was closed so we couldn't get a map of the area so we figured we'd just head down a likely looking dirt road and see what we'd find.
Not real challenging, but also not a road we would have taken with the Miata or the bike.
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We found this little spot in the woods and stopped for a picnic.
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We picked up a hitch hiker along the way. He was crawling across the sun roof the first time I saw him - glad it was closed or the Honey might have objected to him riding along.
So down the door post, across the front of the hook and over to the side of the car where he settled in. I stopped and shoo'd him off before we took off on the highway again.
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This was another road we found after lunch and took us back into another section of the woods. This one had a little traffice on it - we met 2 people going the other way, a pickup and a car with a couple kids in it.
It was an interesting day and we decided to hit the Tourist Center the next morning and get some info on the ATV/4X4 Park that they had there. |
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The Tourist Office wasn't real informative but they did tell use that the locals take their 4x4 pickups back into the ATV park so we decided to go for it - we also picked up a map of the park to see if that would help us on our next venture out.
This is the first creek we came to in the ATV park. So Mloyl got his feet wet
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This was shot from the tail gate where we sat and had our lunch. The sound of the creek and the birds and other forest noises made for a great picnic. There were a couple other people in the park that we ran into later on ATV's, but we didn't hear them at all during lunch :) |
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After lunch we head out again and crossed the stream we'd had lunch by. The trail was a windy twisty one with a few spots that were a little challenging, but not too bad over all.
We did make a mistake and head down one of the ATV trails which we figured out as the brush closed in on us. I stopped and a real nice couple on their ATS's stopped and I asked about the trail ahead and decided to turn around and go back. That was a bit of a challenge, but Mloyl handled it with grace - that tight turning radius really comes in handy. |
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The steepness of this little hill doesn't come across in this picture, but in addition to the rocks it was pretty steep. We looked at it as we approached - "I don't know" I commented, but I put it down into 4Low and it just breezed right up it.
We were both impressed and by the end of the day we were both convinced that Mloyl would probably handle anything that we wanted to throw at him. We're a little old for that "extreme" 4 wheeling, but for the roads/trails we want to do I'm sure he'll be just fine. |
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We'd looked at the maps before heading out and picked out a route that looked interesting and this was along that route. Somewhere along the way we missed a turn, or made a wrong turn, so we got off the planned route, but in the end it was just as much fun. The goal isn't to get "somewhere" it's just go get and in the end we found our way home :)) |
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Whoa - back in the woods and we came across this super highway :) at least it looked that way to us. I think this was a little after the wrong turn.
We were really surprised to run across a SLOW - CHILDREN sign back here in the wilderness, but right around the curve there was a farm. |
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And here's why we wanted the 4 wheeler - a turn off the super highway and it's creeks to ford and a rocky road to travel.
Nothing really challenging but again not things you'd want to do in a low car or a motorcycle. Drop him down into 4L and ford the stream :) |
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We were late trying to find a nice place to stop for our lunch and were starting to get cranky - less learned. When it's time to eat either find a place within a few minutes or just pull over to the side of the road and have a bite.
I'm not as bad as I was back in my sugar days - coming down off a sugar high can really make you a crank - but I still do get a little cranky if I don't eat fairly regularly - just another of the joys of getting old I guess :o |
