(Continued from Part 1...)

What goes up, must come down...

I turned the Jeep around and we started our descent to the main trail.  Here is a view looking up the side trail to the gate.

 

We had two choices to go down the mountain.  Obviously we could return the same way we had come up.  That was more or less a known quantity.  It's a very rough stretch back down for at least a mile before it gets less difficult.  That didn't concern me and it was certainly not a problem.  But my research showed that the trail continued on from the gap down the other side of the mountain.  It was a little steeper and appeared to be a narrow shelf road that had a few switchbacks.  This meant that we'd be looking at a narrow track with nothing to keep us from falling off the edge if something went wrong.  I've driven these types of roads a number of times and was not concerned that we'd have a problem.  But it requires incredible focus and the best conditions.  Mud, loose rocks, rain, or even minor trail damage can be catastrophic.  Additionally, once committed, it's very difficult to backtrack because the trail is not wide enough to turn around.  If one needs to "go back", it usually means backing up on a very narrow dangerous path, which is very difficult and can take hours.

The trail was dry.   The road on the way up had lots of evidence that fallen trees had been recently removed to maintain passage.  There weren't any fresh tracks but it was clear that this trail is used from time to time.  This gave me some confidence that since the side trail to the top did not go through, it was likely that whatever traffic was on the main trail was going and coming from the other side of the mountain.  Here's a view of one of the corners descending to the gap from the side trail.

When we got back down to the main trail I asked Mike if he had a preference and he went along with exploring the unknown by going down the other side of the mountain.  So I turned that way and headed down.  Very soon we reached the point where the trail breaks out onto the side of the ridge and makes a gradual descent to where it eventually needs to switch back and go back in the other direction, zigging and zagging down the side of the mountain.  Here's a view of our GPS track superimposed on the Google Earth view of this location.  This view is looking more or less straight down from overhead.  As can be seen, this is not kid stuff...

The first part of the descent shown above is the side trail leading down from the knob to the "gap", where the GPS track coming in from the triangle mark at the right after two zig-zags, turns up, and to the right, and goes down the side of the mountain... 

Mike asked me how I liked my kidneys.  I had not disconnected the sway bar.  I probably should have earlier, before we started up the mountain but the combination of the dark and the desire not to attract attention had kept me from doing so.  Since I like my kidneys, I got out and disconnected the sway bar.

From there the trail begins down the other side of the mountain hugging the side of the draw.

 

  It eventually comes to a switchback of 180 degrees.  Just before reaching that point the trail curves enough that the way ahead cannot be seen.

By this time, we see ATV tracks, really just light worn spots where the ATV tires have traveled.  As most people know, ATV's are considerably narrower than Jeeps.  So when looking at the images, picture in your mind that the Jeep is roughly twice as wide as the tracks showing on the trail.  And imagine what that conjures up when you're driving a Jeep down this trail and come to narrow sections like the one shown below...

Remember, those are ATV tracks not Jeep tracks.  That means that the wheels of the Jeep are going to be on the outside of the tracks.  It can be seen that this is a very narrow road.  What is harder to see from the pictures is the sheer drop off the edge..  We stopped to walk and take stock of the trail.  There were some small boulders in the path that would have to be driven over.  That put the drivers side very close to the edge and would result in the Jeep tipping toward the edge when navigating the boulders.  I have enough problems with tipping in general, without tipping towards the edge of a cliff...  Until we walked it off, we didn't know if the switchback was navigable.  Sometimes they erode badly and become impassible.   We didn't want to drive over the bounders only to find a little further along that we might have to do it again in reverse...

The walk somewhat put me at ease since the switchback was wide enough to make with no trouble and was not damaged.   Here's a couple pictures to give some idea how narrow and high this trail really is...

In the image below, Nelson Rocks may be seen in the distance.

We made it through the very narrow section, made the switchback (below), and continued our descent. 

But it wasn't long before we were confronted with the next challenge.  We were on the "dark" side of the mountain.  Here's a view of the section we just came down.

From here we could see Nelson Rocks off in the distance.

We continued down the trail. 

Up ahead lie a tree that was blocking the way. 

I took out my hand saw and we cleared it away as best we could without de-stabilizing it.

 

There were lots of vines tangled up in the tree.

 

There had been record snowfall this past winter and though we had not seen any significant snow left behind, there before us were two banks of snow that covered fully half of the trail.  The good news was the snow was close to the mountain and not the edge.  That meant that driving through it would leave the tires closest to the edge with good traction (or so I thought).  Mike was quite concerned so decided he'd walk and then take pictures of me coming across.

Here's what it looks like from the other direction.  It's clearly narrow.  What was not clear was the composition of the snow bank and the ground next to it...

I slowly approached and went into the first snow bank.  Much to my disappointment, the rear of the Jeep immediately swung out toward the edge! 

 

I remained composed (rule number 1) and cut the front wheels as deep into the hill as possible - a response counter to normal road rules.  If I had steered into the slide, I would have gone even closer to the edge...  If you really look at the picture above you will see that the rear wheel is already off the edge of the flat part of the road.  Let me say that it didn't feel good from inside the Jeep!

When I got through the first snow bank I looked at Mike.  He was frozen.  He understood what was happening and had realized that there was nothing he could do - If I had gone off the edge, there wasn't a single thing he could have done to stop it.

But that's just Part 1.  I still have the longest and largest snow bank to get past.  It turned out that the snow bank was a sheet of ice under the visible snow.  It was frozen at an angle away from the hill, toward the edge.  Just past the snow bank, close to the edge, all the snow that had melted created mud.  So when I drove onto the snow bank, the rear wheels just slide off, hit the mud, and kept sliding.  The second snow bank wasn't any better.  In fact it was even worse.  The picture below shows the Jeep at an angle.  I drove the entire length of that snow bank with the Jeep crabbing sideways, begging to go closer to the edge.  I managed to keep it from sliding off but I was very happy to be past this stuff!

It took a few minutes for the adrenaline to subside.  I took a few more pictures and then set out.  Mike walked.  The odometer had an interesting value - read it upside down...

Not far down the trail we came to another switchback.  Walking ahead we found a tree down across the trail.  We ended up cutting it in two places because the portion hanging off the trail was longer than the portion on, and once cut, did not lie down for us to pass over.  I left the Jeep up at the switchback until we finished.  It took us a fair amount of time, taking turns sawing.

We got that done and continued down the trail.  From here out it was quite nice and we were rewarded with several panoramic views of the farm in the foothills.

As we made images, we discussed how it now appeared that the trail, once a county road, appeared to be entering the farm fields.  We became concerned that we were trespassing and upon reaching the farm yard might encounter problems with the land owner.  As a land owner myself I perfectly understand the rights one has and would find the appearance of someone driving through my property to be a concern.  This presented a dilemma because behind us lay the narrow trail that we had just successfully climbed down from.  We had no wish to turn around and go back that way.  On the other hand, we did not know what to expect from the land owner.  Any complaints that they might have could not be responded to on our part because we did not have permission to be on the land.

We decided to continue to be extremely careful, not disturb the livestock that were starting to surround us, and to make sure we stayed out of the fields and closed all the gates through which we had to pass.

At the next switchback the trail got a little rough again though nothing I had not seen before.

We encountered one more bit of fallen wood that was narrow enough that I decided to trim it some and also drive over it rather than hazard getting too close to the edge.

Here is a Google Earth view of our track down the side of the mountain and into the farm.  The view above is from the first point where the trail meets the field in the satellite image below.

We came out of the woods again (at the second point where the trail meets field in the satellite image above) and were met with more incredible scenery.  We made some images and after a false start down a path that led to the deeper field, we doubled back and got on the trail.

From this point we packed our stuff away and crept out to the farm house, passing through several gates along the way. 

Mike opened and closed each one the way we had found it.  At the last gate, in the farm yard itself, I saw one of the land owners watching our approach.  I cued Mike and we drove down the road stopping to greet him.  As we arrived, he flashed a smile and the Peace symbol.  That was a relief.  We talked for quite a while, got a little history of the farm and the trail, the land owners family, and other things in general.  He credited us with our respectful behavior and gave us his phone number so we could contact him in the future if we wanted to pass through.  In the end it was the best possible outcome.  And apparently there are those who do not behave and have caused problems so it is likely that our experience was unusual.

From here I steered wrong and went west on the main road and then doubled back once I realized it, taking a stop at Seneca Rocks for lunch and to make a few images of the rocks and old Visitors Center.

After that we drove back to our home base.  Along the way I stopped to shoot the last signs of winter at the Continental Divide.

This is one of those days when the weather, the location, the company, and luck all come together in one place with a plan.  We could not have asked for or been given a better day!