An unexpected ending

SOMEWHERE NEAR BOULDER, Utah—The drive from Tropic north through the dramatic rock lands near the Escalante Grand Staircase area suddenly turned from beautiful to ugly as we rounded a curve in a narrow rock canyon just outside of Boulder, Utah.

Without warning we heard a muffled boom, similar to the report of a faraway .44 magnum, followed instantaneously by the sound of shattered glass from the back window falling into the cargo area of our vehicle. We were literally a minute away from the trailhead of Lower Calf Creek Fall, where we had planned to hike. But now the trailhead parking lot had become a place for us to assess the damage and figure out what had happened.

We initially feared that one of the CO2 cartridges from our pumps had exploded, until we realized that the heat was not intense. Inspection revealed that the CO2 cartridges were not the cause. In fact, we could not find any real cause for the damage at all. Instead, as we stood there bewildered by the side of the road listening to the freakish crackling of the shattered window, we carefully popped out the rest of the glass and covered the open hole with a kluged together tarp of plastic garbage bags and first-aid tape.

We scanned the nearby hillsides for a concealed shooter, thinking that perhaps some angry local was taking potshots at interlopers, but with miles of canyon and rock in every direction, we of course saw nothing.

Realizing that we would now have to contend with an open vehicle for the rest of our journey, we made the hard decision to cut the trip short and head home for repairs. Instead of Moab, our destination was now New Mexico. We spent a long day on the road, discovering a new route for us through remote southern Utah past flooded canyons north of Lake Powell.

We reached Cortez, Colo., at sundown and found room at an inn, where we were able to unload the car, sweep out as much of the microscopic spray of glass as possible, and purchase better cover materials for the rest of the drive home.

The silver lining to all of this was the ability to wake up at the crack of dawn for a fun two hours or so riding Phil's World, which continues to be one of our favorite mountain bike trails in the Four Corners Area. If you haven't ridden it yet, you should. But don't let misfortune drive your decision to do so. Or do. In our case, the ride certainly brightened our moods and got us back on the road in good style.

We enjoyed a patty melt and a chocolate-banana shake (worth writing about!) at the Malt Shoppe in Pagosa Springs. The rest of the drive was through intermittent rain, and we were glad that our plastic-and-tape handiwork was sufficiently strong to weather the storms.

What's nice about this County is that help is never too far away and even an unexpected turn of events can turn out okay.

See you on down the road.