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| Nelson | Untitled Comment | |
Voted 10/10 | Aaron has provided the necessary information about getting to this great and unusual hike, but I learned that getting back out may be another story. Towards the end of our hike a huge and dramatic thunderstorm passed overhead, dropping a lot of rain, especially to the north. We later learned that it was also dropping a small tornado on the town of La Junta, doing some damage. I drove our 2WD Toyota Corolla as we headed back to town. Things were fine until we turned east onto county road 802, which Aaron describes as a "dusty dirt road". That was true on the way in, but now it was a sea of deep quicksand-like mud. I instantly knew we were in trouble. The car was sinking down to the oilpan and we started to fishtail, roaming from side to side across the road. I felt like I was controlling a boat. Fortunately no one was coming from the opposite direction, so all I had to worry about was staying centered on the road. My wife suggested that I slow down. I appreciated this sentiment, but knew we would bog down to a halt and not get started again. There was a fine line between loosing control at high speed and being dragged to a muddy halt at low speed. It was a tense seven miles, and huge relief to arrive at the pavement of highway 109. Back at our motel, which had suffered some minor damage from the tornado, the owner expressed some amazement that we had made it back, commenting that the town's tow trucks do a good business hauling tourists out of there. We drove to a car wash to remove 50 pounds of mud that was packed into the wheelwells, then to a Mexican restaurant for a margarita. | |
| Posted May 11, 2004 8:38 am | ||
| Aaron Johnson | Untitled Comment | |
Hasn't voted | And I bet it was a good margarita at a very good Mexican Restaurant. There a several good choices available in town. Nelson, thanks for this very personal account. Conditions do matter as much in the desert as they do in the mountains! | |
| Posted May 11, 2004 6:12 pm | ||
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