Adventure in the Snowy Rockies

My husband thought of a wonderful 16th Anniversary present for us this year. He planned and prepared for the whole thing! I was so proud of him! All I had to do, is literally, wake up and ride along! He took care of everything. Finding a place to rent a two-seater snowmobile, setting our alarm, buying and packing us supplies for the trip...everything you could think of involved in planning a trip. (I am usually the planner between the two of us- it was very nice to not have any responsibility and just sort of "go with it"!)

Anyway, we both love adventure. We headed out on the snowmobile and were anxious to find some fun- live in the edge! The trail was sort of boring in the beginning as we were in a speed restricted area- 25 mph- a road shared with cars, a small town, ho hum....

As soon as we got past that part, Mark saw a hill and some fresher snow....we took off! I was running the video camera for a while- until I almost flew off the seat a few times....then I put it away- just in time! We flipped on our side and I lay there laughing as I thought about how Mark assured me I couldn't get hurt on a snowmobile and this one happened to be laying on my leg at the moment! No harm, no foul. I wasn't hurt- neither was he. BUT, we did need to flip this thing back over as we could smell gas...not good!

So, we got her back up and running...how much did she way, anyway...I know it was around 200 pounds more than a one-seater! Still no idea...Mark said he was guessing about 1000 pounds! Man, we are strong! lol

So, we go for a little while longer- back on the trail....suddenly, I see him slowing down. I had been noticing that he kept looking off to the sides- as if his heart was calling him to more off- road adventure. (The kind he had as a kid riding in his hometown.) So, we head off the trail again to a spot with an excellent view of the Continental Divide. BEAUTIFUL! "Mark, stand up on it so I can get you in the picture!" I said. Lovely!  Then suddenly, we realize the snow here is like baby powder- light and fluffy, except the stuff trapped under the hundreds of pounds of snowmobile! WE WERE STUCK! and at least waist high in the fluffy white stuff! So, we begin to work as a team again and figure this out. Digging around, picking up and moving inch by inch as we try to gain some ground out of this mess and back onto the trail. We worked at it for a good hour. A a couple guys came down off the trail to try and help- but, no....this thing needed an expert!

So, we call for help. Guess what?? The people we rented from are technically closed for the day..."But for a large sum of money...and by the way...you should wait for an experienced driver to come by and help- or try to make a ramp by patting snow down in front and lift and push out while gunning it." To which I replied, "Yeah, thanks, you know we have already tried all of that for over an hour. That's cool- we will just call some other rental place that is open today and can help us!" WOW!

I am taking a break now that we have been told help is on the way- THANK YOU GRAND ADVENTURE! (Next time we go there to snowmobile or 4-wheel- that is where we will rent from!) I opened my lunch and enjoyed the sun and the beautiful view. Help arrived and we finished up by helping him build that ramp by trudging in the snow again and packing a ramp- then he hopped on the side, gunned it and slowly coasted back up the hill. We were relieved. He asked if we were OK- we said yes. We felt fine. Then, as I attempted to follow Mark back up, I kept sinking, fighting to stay above the snow...and I found myself walking on my knees soon with NO ENERGY left! What a weird feeling. I had never experienced this before.The guy came by and had me hop on his snowmobile. RELIEF!! I guzzled some Vitamin water and rested. I was thankful for heated bars to hold onto while riding as my gloves were now soaking wet!

I had mentioned to Mark as we attempted again and again to get unstuck, that if he went off the trail again, I would be going home...and so, for the rest of the trip, we stayed on the trail- but I did notice him looking to the sides and knew his heart was longing for more off-trail adventures....I was smiling inside knowing that he was loving me by staying on the safer side! And, the trail did prove to offer more adventure and fun- we had some spots where we were cruising right beside the drop off and had we slipped over just a bit, we would have been heading DOWN big time!

Parts of the trail were extremely windy- or had us going up hill at such a steep incline that it felt as though we were going to pop a wheely!

We left the trails about an hour early. We were exhausted! We were sore. It felt like our helmets weighed 10 pounds by now, and our snow suits around 30! It was a great day! A great adventure in the Rockies! I can honestly say, I appreciate God's creation of both, those amazing mountains, and my fabulous husband even more than I did the before!