The road to Sand Wash Basin

Earlier this month, Seth, Piper and I drove to northwestern Colorado for an anniversary mustang trip. We spent the night in Maybell, and got up the next morning eagerly anticipating a fun day in Sand Wash Basin.

It's seventeen miles from Maybell to Sand Wash Basin. 

The weather was fine, the roads were empty and the miles passed quickly.

We reached the outer edge of the basin almost before we knew it.

We rumbled over a cattle guard and onto a dirt road.

As is our custom, I made Seth and Piper pose with the sign.

Then - because I was so excited to be there - Piper and I posed with it, too.

We drove a little further, and, all of a sudden, the road stopped being a road.

We got out to weigh our options. The low side was really low. If we went in, we probably couldn't get out. The high side was more doable, but only slightly. After a lot of consideration, we decided not to chance it. For a few long minutes, it looked like our trip to Sand Wash Basin was over before it started.

We went back to the van, pulled out the map and weighed our options.

Although most of the available information referenced 67 as the best way to get into the Basin, it looked like there was another possibility.

So we drove back to highway 318, looped around the southern end of Sand Wash Basin and arrived at Road 46.

No surprise, it was a dirt road. I had to get out and let us through a gate.

The road was much better here.

We climbed up and up.

Eventually, we arrived at another gate. 

Piper and I got out to open it.

Of course, we paused to take in the views. This is exactly what I expected Sand Wash Basin to look like!

We got back in the van and went up another hill.

Then things happened really quickly. We went around a sharp turn and then down a really long, really steep incline. When we reached the bottom, I asked Seth, "Do you think we're going to be able to go back up that?"

He said, "I think I can get us up the hill, but I don't think I can make the turn at the top."

Ooof.

We sat for a couple minutes wondering exactly what we'd got ourselves into. It was pretty daunting, but also, a problem for later. We'd made it into Sand Wash Basin.

It was time to go find some mustangs!

To be continued.