Call me Gilligan

On Tracey's birthday we thought it would be fun to pack up the four-wheelers and go for a little ride up Willard peak. Much like Gilligan and the Skipper (I played both parts) we headed out on what was supposed to be a three hour tour. Half way up we ran into a little trouble. There was one spot where the trail got very narrow because the snow still hadn't melted yet. In this first picture right about in the middle is where you can see most of the trail dissapear. I had both of the kids on with me and was a little uncomfortable so I had them get off and walk across (first clue to turn around) As I started across I was nervous but made it okay. Then Tracey(Ginger) started following behind me and her tires hit the snowbank and pushed her out to where she started falling down the hill. The rest all happened kind of quick but I jumped off my 4 wheeler to try and grab her. I still don't know how she didn't roll the bike at that point. The two of us tried to pull the bike back onto the trail but couldn't as most of it was hanging over the edge. We finally had to let it go and watch as it slid down the hill into a large gulley. No damage was done because it just slid down the snow but now we didn't know how to get it back up. Tracey and I tried for a long time to get it back up the hill but kept getting stuck in the snow. Exhausted and wanting to get out of there because it looked like a storm was rolling in I tried to gun it up an embankment full of brush and rocks when it started to come back over the top of me. I thought I was going to get smashed but was able to get out of the way and then we both watched helplessly as it rolled end over end down the hill.

This second picture is the gulley that we were trapped in. When it rolled it smashed the whole front piece up tearing off the ingition and smashing the front all up. Now we were in a mess but luckily I had my phone to call for some help. Rob was going to meet us at the bottom and ride up to help us pull it out. We also got a hold of my Mom to pick the kids out and take them home. So the four of us packed up on the one four wheeler and headed down the mountain. After dropping the kids off Rob was there and we all headed back up to try and get the bike out. Between the wench and some tow ropes Rob was pretty creative and somehow we got it out after some work. Rob (the professor) pieced the ignition back together and we were able to drive it down the mountain.

Here's some of the damage. We feel very blessed that nobody got hurt. Our three hour tour turned into over 9 hours of non-stop fun! That's a birthday Tracey will never forget.