MUDDY RIVER

Well here is the evidence of a brief, yet sometimes all too often moment of stupidity that occured on our trip to Goblin Valley. Liesel has this beautiful brand new Polaris 4-wheeler that we hauled all the way down to our trip and sat at camp with 10 miles on it for the majority of the time. So on Saturday when a ride was planned to head down the wash I told Liesel that I was going to take her wheeler to put a few miles on it instead of riding mine. On the way down the wash I was being ever so careful to not get more mud on the 4-wheeler than was necessary, then it happened. We came to the end of the road where the wash met the Muddy River. Everyone was held up at the river and here I come like Jim Craig bailing of the mountain on his horse in The Man From Snowy River. I took Hunter off the wheeler and off I went, so much for missing the water and mud on the way down to the river. Well I made it across just fine, bogged down a little the last 5 feet or so on the other side. So I thought I would go up stream 20 or so feet and try to make it through where there was a stick stuck in the shallows. Well I never thought that the sand bar that the stick was stuck on would be dang near quick sand. I started across the river and before I new it the wheeler dropped out from under me and I instantly knew that I was in trouble. After much cranking and spinning out we finally brought it to shore, what once was a beautiful site was now a muddy wreck. Luckily we pushed the wheeler back into the river and tossed water onto it to get the worst of the muck off the wheeler before I ventured back to tell Liesel what I had done. When Liesel heard what happened she politely told me that would be the last time I borrowed her 4-wheeler. Two hours of cleaning and scrubbing later at home would help in my redemption with my wife. Lesson learned! I guess for all of you who haven't figured it out by now...the Muddy River really is muddy!