"I'm Gonna Die!"

One more post before I have to go back to the real world...

On Thursday, we had one more ghost town in mind for Ashley. Independence is a "local" town about 30 miles up the road from Natural Bridge (see "She's Over the Top"). It has fascinated us for years, but we really had no way to get up there, as it is too far to hike and too rough a road for the pickup. Once we got the ATV's though, Dan and I have made the trip two or three times ("The More the Merrier"). Ashley has been far from enthusiastic about the 4-wheelers, but the desire to see Independence outweighed her fears. She gamely climbed on behind Daddy and held on for dear life. (Dan says he has bruises on his hips from her knees being dug in so deep!)

Despite Ashley's common refrain ~ "I'm gonna die!" ~ we made the trip without incident. We peeked into the buildings and worked our way up a little waterfall that was above the town. Then we went as far up the road as we could on the machines. Another guy in a Jeep had gotten stopped by the same snowbank, and Dan started chatting with him. I took the camera and wandered off. I kept expecting Dan and Ashley to catch up, but I wasn't particularly worried when they didn't. I meandered my way back to the road, figuring that now I would have to catch up to them. But I couldn't see them anywhere on the plateau. I kept walking, thinking that they had to be out in front of me... somewhere. Finally, I gave up and turned back. I wasn't concerned about getting lost - I could follow the road. However, this IS grizzly country, and I was hiking alone and unarmed. (Now I was the one thinking, "I'm gonna die!") One can imagine my relief upon seeing them up ahead waiting for me. 

Dan and Ashley spotted this showoff
while I was headed off on my own
little adventure on the plateau. 

By now, it was late afternoon, so we made our way back down the mountain and to the truck. As we were nearing Natural Bridge and pavement, the chances of seeing wildlife were getting slimmer all the time. Ashley had been disappointed that we had spent nearly a week in prime country for large mammals and had seen nothing bigger than deer. I was praying that we would see something special in those last few moments. That was when Ashley spotted a moose down in a tree-lined marsh. Dan stopped the truck and we walked back with the camera. This was special indeed ~ Mama Moose had twin calves with her! She watched us  watching her, but seemed totally unconcerned about our presence. We spent probably five to ten minutes just relishing the peaceful scene. It was a great ending to a good week with our girl. 

Magic moment...