Creative Challenge #9 - Secret Pass
Hello! Today was a lovely adventure.
I decided to play my own version of Man Vs. Wild with Jam and Tim. We set out this morning to scout out some good land and trails for Knights of the Foursquare. We had mapped the area, brought our resources (water, snacks, gps, etc) and even let a bunch of people know the area we were going in case something went awry.
Clearly, it was supposed to be a whole lot more like Survivorman since we were supposed to be free from any real danger the entire time (yeah! After three years I still went there!) Nature walks and light hikes are pretty normal around here. It was set to be a rather calm day with nothing to worry about but I guess I wouldn’t be writing about it here if it had stayed that way, would I?
We drove out to Golden Valley, up to the outskirts, into the Black Mountains and onto the haggard dirt trail. The road was pretty bad but still manageable for the truck. We found some really cool things like caverns, a small airport and a bunch of other stuff I’ll probably have to tell you about some time. It was fun.
We’d only been out there about an hour when we found the turn off to the area we were trying to explore. The posted sign said “dead end” yet there was still an obvious vehicle trail so we kept on going. It felt like one of the Westerns my father is so fond of.
We passed cactus, rocks, dried trees, canyons, rocks, hills, rocks and a boatload of dirt. There were also rocks. Lots and lots of rocks… I know it sounds dry, dead and gross but it was really pretty because of the contrasting blue sky.
Then, out of nowhere, there was a cow. She was just hanging out, doing whatever cows do and we kept on driving the trail. We soon passed by more cattle and a few cattle guards. For a dead end, this sure felt like it was leading somewhere.
We kept driving, after a half hour we found our way to a crossroad. The map said nothing about this but we decided to check out both sides. To the right, we found a gate with a sign that said “No Trespassing”. We looked around because according to the map, we weren’t on private property.
In the nearby areas, there are a lot of outdated signs like that in the middle of nowhere even if they don’t apply any longer. They are usually outdated and this one looked worse for the wear as though someone had jumped ship some time ago. Even so, something felt kind of threatening about it.
We were mulling it over and trying to figure out where we’d be lead to when I saw it, a sign beyond the fence. To the right of the trail was a newer sign that read very clearly “You are now in range of rifle fire”. I looked up and it was like we all saw it at the same time, on the highest hill there was a very large house and a few accompanying buildings with rapid movement. Into the truck we went and we hurried back to the fork in the road. We went to the left side of the fork and found ourselves passing by the open pin of some very aggravated bulls.
We turned around at a threatening sound in the distance. Next thing I knew Tim had loaded his gun and we were booking it down that road we came from… It all gets a little strange after that but once we were safe, we consulted the map once more. Finding another trail in the direction we were trying to get to, we went up it.
It was full of rocks. The road was so horrible, it wasn’t long before realizing we couldn’t drive it. It also wasn’t long before realizing that there was no way to turn around. We went further and further up until we were on a small, cluttered path overlooking a steep cliff that lead to the great unknown. With no other options, we had to reverse down the mountain…
I’ve not been that scared in a while. We lost traction and almost went off the edge once and nearly got stuck a few other times.
After that scare was over, we continued out of the area and decided to call it a day until we had a better vehicle to take the trip (the vehicle of choice would be a 4x4, as everyone made very clear haha)
Anyway, insert some more exploring and difficult terrain and we somehow ended up at the Secret Pass on the other side of the mountains.
Without the incredibly long details to go with that, we enjoyed a good hike, a major nose bleed, some unusual people, a slip on some steep rocks and the always classic need to take a million pictures of cool looking canyons.
It was a good trip and it remained uneventful for the end of our hike. We had a good time and had all calmed down since our scary moments early in the trip. We were back on a paved road. We were hungry, dirty, tired and maybe just a little scratched up but it was fun. We were discussing where we wanted to grab something to eat before church and everything was merry.
Then a tire blew out.
That had a story in its own but I’ll save it for another time, kids! In the end it was a great adventure. We still have no idea where that trail is but the important thing is that no one got shot! I’d say that’s a win.
Anyway, I said all of that to say this:
I took some pictures. That’s creative, right? If you say no, that is why I took my liberties and spliced two sets of them together. That’s probably creative, isn’t it? If anything, at least the retelling of this story was pretty creative, wasn’t it?
…yeah guys, I know I kind of phoned this one in but I’m wicked tired and I was really too busy enjoying creation to create much today (and of course, just a wee bit preoccupied with trying not to die!)
The moral of today’s challenge: Drive a 4x4 vehicle when scouting terrain in Arizona!
Just kidding. I think it should really be: Don’t take your life for granted! You only get so much time.
-S
