Amanda’s last day in Moab was mostly uneventful. We woke up a little later than we were planning and did a short hike in Kane Canyon. Just a little canyon walk for a few miles and we found another arch that we didn’t even know was there.
The temperatures got over 100 degrees so we spent most of the day hanging out at the park and at the beach. We camped on the river road that night and got to bed fairly early. We were pretty exhausted from getting after it all week.
Amanda left in the morning and my plan was to head up to the La Sal Mountains for the weekend. The weather would be nicer there and I wanted to get into the forest after spending all week in the desert.
I got some things done: took a shower, did some shopping, and checked a few things out in the van. I got on the road about lunchtime and made my way up.
One of the guys I met in Moab told me to check out this area called Gold Basin. It took about an hour to get up there from town and it really was a gorgeous area. Yellow wildflowers are everywhere. But unfortunately, all the campsites were taken so I had to continue on.
I made it over the pass road and to the other side of the mountain. The road was very rough but the car stood up to it pretty well. I got to this lake called Dark Canyon Lake. It wasn’t really a campsite but it would have been possible to camp there if I wanted. I decided to continue to explore. This is when things get a bit sticky.
I went down this smaller road and it was manageable. I got to this one point and there was a bit of snow on the road (it’s still in the process of melting in the mountains). And I figured I would be able to drive over it.
But as soon as I drove over the patch I immediately started spinning out and I started sinking. The road underneath the snow was a muddy bog. I was stuck.
So I started trying to dig my way out. I had to remove all the wet mud first and I got to work with my shovel. Soon I just started digging the tires out with my hands – it was more efficient that way. There were probably 8 inches of mud I had to get through until I got to some solid ground.
From there I started filing the area around the tires with rocks and small sticks so I could get some traction. I also had the traction pads and I put those behind the tires. It took me several times but eventually, I was able to reverse onto the pads and then power my way out of the mud.
The whole process took about two hours and when I finally was able to get myself out I got out of the car and screamed at the top of my lungs. Man, was I relieved. But man was I also filthy as all hell.