Google Tried To Kill Me

Well that wasn't how things were supposed to start. Apparently Utah didn't want me to leave. If you look at the Google Maps directions from Park City, UT to Grand Junction, CO it includes a nifty little shortcut to get from US-40 to US-6. What it doesn't tell you is that shortly after you pass the Strawberry Reservoir the paved road ends. So I'm happily driving along, cruising along at about 30 MPH on the dirt road. Slowly the road starts getting steeper and narrow until it's a one lane road and I've dropped down to second gear. Things aren't feeling quite right at this point, but it's supposed to be an adventure, right?

Now snow is now clinging to the side of the road (I'm still something like 8,000 feet above the sea, the snow hasn't completely melted yet), turning the dirt road into a muddy road. There are even a few puddles of very slushy snow left on the road, which causes my car to slide a little as I pass over it. I come around a corner to find the road completely covered in snow. I only manage to make it about 20 feet before the car comes to stop, unable to push through the slushy snow any further. "Fantastic," I think, "Google's little detour just added 45 minutes to my drive time today." I ease the car into reverse and slowly back down the snow. Unfortunately the snow is so slushy that as I'm backing up the car slowly slides left. And then the car stops moving. I've slid into some thicker snow and I can't go backwards any further. I try heading back up the hill but my tires (all 4 of them) just spin. I'm completely stuck. I can't even open the driver's door because the snow is up above it.

I'm 20 miles from any sign of civilization with no cell phone coverage and my heart starts to pound a little harder. I manage to climb over my stuff in the passenger seat and climb out that door to take stock of the situation. "I can probably hike/run 20 miles today to get back to the main road today," I think, "and I've got a sleeping bag and tent in my car that I could carry with me."

But that's not really what I want to do. My first plan of attack is to try to dig my car out. Looking for some sort of shovel I end up pulling my snowboard out and using that as a huge spade. The snow is super hard on top and super slushy below. It's hard to break through and then a lot of work to move. But I frantically clear the snow around the tires away and try backing up again. The car slides a few feet and gets stuck again.

I'm happy, though, my method will work. I get the snowboard back out and start clearing snow out all over the place. I create a little path all the way out of the snow and, thankfully, am able to navigate myself back down it on to (somewhat) firm mud. Of course, I'm not out of the woods yet. I've got to back myself down a one lane road until I can find a place to turn around. And my car is full of stuff so I can't use the rear view mirror. I ever so slowly backed myself down a few hundred feet until I found a wider turn and managed to get the front of my car pointed the right direction again.

20 miles later I'm back on the main highway and back on track to hit Grand Junction. As I calm down a little bit I actually end up kicking myself for not getting a picture of me digging my car out with a snowboard. It would have been a great picture. But I was in survival mode at the time and it never really occurred to me to get my camera out. But I did make road trip rule #1: never drive on a road that doesn't get at least one other visitor a day. Had I got stuck (or if my car had slid off the road), it could have been weeks before another car stupidly ventured up there too.

So yeah, the adventure has certainly begun. I'm just hoping that the rest of it won't be quite as adventurous.