Monday, July 10, 2017 - ARRASTRA GULCH

Mama said that there would be days like this.  We were awakened much earlier than we wanted to arise by the propane alarm.  We opened up the roof vents & turned the propane tank off.  Also removed a smaller tank from the bay.  The alarm stopped, but we were already awake.  Something else to work on later. 

We headed out to Arrastra Gulch to try again to get to the beautiful Gold Lake.  Charles & Jane leading, James & Wendy following, with us bringing up the rear.  This trail is less than three miles one way, but takes an hour or two to complete.  Elevation reaches over 10,000 feet.  The lighting was flat and the sky hazy, so pictures are not very good today.  

James meets a downhill vehicle that yields right-of-way as downhill traffic is supposed to, but rarely does. 

This is a tough turn.  There is a serious washout just to the left:

We stopped at the Black Prince mining camp, but the mosquitoes were really bad, so we elected to keep going up for lunch.  We are now in the lead.  Here's a picture looking down at the Black Prince:

Next, we see the Contention Mine tramhouse  in the Little Giant Basin.  A new roof has been put on recently:

Continuing on along the rocky, ledge road:

Before we get to the lake, we once again come to a halt; blocked by a snowdrift across the road:

This ATV had gone across and was having some worries about coming back.  They actually ended up tying a strap to the ATV to help keep it from going off the side:  

We had radioed to the others and told them not to come up.  Means we will be turning around on the ledge road.  Always hate that!

This was today's lunch spot, carved out of a wide spot on the ledge road:

It started to look stormy, so we headed home.  The others went on to the Mayflower Mine (another side road).  Going down:

We arrived in town to a pretty nasty rain storm with lightening & thunder.  Getting out of the Jeep, Jingles got loose and ran off (again).  She thinks the leash is something chasing her so she just keeps running.  I did manage to finally catch her but we were both soaking wet.  She is on my list!!

The propane alarm has not gone off again since we've been back, so we believe that the smaller tank we had stored in the bay was leaking & the propane had finally made its way to the inside of the coach.  Hope so, otherwise, we will probably be awakened in the middle of the night.   

Holy Cow, this was not one of my favorite days and we didn't even get to see the lake!

Mama said there would be days like this.  :(