Failed Woods Trip

Last week I helped a buddy set up a game camera. It's about 5 miles up a dirt road. We'd hoped to retrieve it today. Unfortunately, a couple of days ago we received a few inches of snow. It has not melted.

This dirt road used to get a lot of traffic, but we seemed to be the only vehicle on it since the snow. During the first couple of miles we made frequent stops to haul fallen trees and branches out of the way. My little front wheel drive car was doing fine. We got about half way in.

Then we came to a steeper hill. It was narrow and twisty. I walked up it a ways and removed some more fallen trees. When the car started up the hill the wheels spun a bit but then grabbed. The slippage was just enough for me to cancel the trip. There's ice under that snow. Even if we'd made it up the hill, coming down would be even dicier.

In my younger days I probably would have taken the chance and pushed on. Older, wiser and more injured me decided not to push it. Next week is supposed to be warmer so the snow might melt. We can always try again then.

We were perfectly happy not have slid off the road. Walking a few miles back to the hardtop wasn't something we wanted to do either. Instead we went back to my place, put a big pot of squash, corn, and ham stew on the woodstove, and had cups of coffee. Maybe wisdom does come with age.

-Sixbears