John M - 5-21-2005 at 11:24 AM
Well, I was intending to leave this part out but Neal knows too much.,.. Ooops, did I say Neal knows too much? What an understatement!
Here's the real deal, without trying to flower it up too much. I realize that I risk ridicule but here goes.
Just prior to the flat tire repair, I drove over to the other side of the mesa to check out the route down the other side. Now, recall that we had
gone a whole 3/4 of a mile from El Marmol. The trail off the mesa looked pretty tough. Not really impassable going down, as we were preparing to do,
but tough to the point that if we had to come back up for any reason we could have problems. There were two routes down, as there had been coming up
from the El Marmol side. The old route, fit for real rock-crawlers, and the less severe route down the left side. There were some pretty big holes
we'd have to toss rocks into. Now, it doesn't compare to the last hill down to Santa Maria mission but with one vehicle with no 4WD, I DECIDED WE'D
TURN BACK. Yes, I can take the heat for the decision. Recalling that my brakes were marginal at best and being unfamiliar with the route and what we
might expect along the way I thought it was the correct thing to do.....Not too adventuresome I know, but that is what I did.
In fact, our group was divided on going forward at the time. One guy wanted to go on, one didn't, one didn't care either way, so I took responsibility
and we made the u-turn.
And worst of all, after we got home and I talked to Mr. Johns, he pointed out that had we once gotten down off the mesa the rest was a cakewalk.
Hindsight, as they say.
So you see, no big deal, Neal, (is that the way I told it to you on the phone, mostly?).
Part 3 later.
Neal Johns - 5-21-2005 at 11:35 AM
I'm proud of you, John Boy, you can't drive as well as Marian, and are not as good looking as I am, but your memory and moral fiber is far, far,
stronger.
synch - 5-31-2005 at 12:04 PM
Glad all went well!