4-wheeling the BH's continued...

So we continued on, traveling to the northern most part of the trail.  We were at the highest elevation, so the trail was going to be mostly downhill from here.  We got out of the meadow of cows, and then hit a stretch of really nasty, rocky, move-at-a-crawl kind of terrain.  I stopped when I got out of it, waited for Julie, and shared that "that was rough; I didn't care for that!"  Julie agreed.  But it was behind us...and maybe that was the worst.  Maybe not.  (I have no pictures of the rough terrain; too occupied surviving it.)

Another mile or so down the trail and we hit another stretch of very rough trail... whew...maybe that was the worst... Maybe not.

Then we hit yet another stretch that was really narrow (hence the reason for not allowing wide ATV's on the trail), full of boulders, drop-offs,  and sharp rocks, and I got pretty nervous on this one.  After I got through it, I stopped again to watch to see that Julie made it down OK.  She did, but she was shaken!  She had nearly tipped over her machine while negotiating one of the boulders, but putting all her weight to the right side of the machine got her through it.  NOT PRETTY.  She said, "We are NOT going back this way!!"  I agreed whole-heartedly, that we would continue completing the loop, no matter what!  There was no turning back at this point; we were closer to getting the end of the "yellow" trail, and continuing on was the only option.  Certainly, the worst was behind us!

We had to negotiate three water crossings and more rocks, but finally made it to a beautiful high- mountain lake.  That helped calm us...and it was a good place for lunch.  It was 1:30 pm.  Lunch was a bit overdue, but this was a good place to take a pause and relax.  The name of the lake is not possible to read on the map, as the letters are lost in the paper crease...but it's L.... Lake (north east of Battle Creek Campground).  If I Google the area, I might be able to find the name. 

We saw a couple people fishing on the other side. And before we left the lake, we saw a couple gals riding horseback (tourists from Georgia).  Then, as we started down the trail, we saw a family of hikers and 3 more guys on horseback.  I wondered if all these folks were a little perturbed that our ATV's were disturbing the quiet they were looking for on the mountain trails. Hmmm.  Sorry.

The remainder of the "yellow" trail was rough, but not as bad as we had just been through.  That anticipation of getting off the rough stuff kept us going. Then we finally made it to the "green" trail or jeep trail.  Whew....smooth sailing from here on. 

We took a pause and decided to ride up a short way to see the end of the road at Battle Creek Campground.  This campground was in an open meadow with lots of space for campers, horse-trailers, and corrals.  Very nice. 

From there, we headed  (south) down the  jeep trail, cruising back to the lodge, enjoying the scenery.  We met a couple guys on fat tire bikes, and they were having a great time. 

I couldn't have been more thankful to get back to the trailer, load up, and head out.   It had been a scenic drive, and because we made it through the rough stuff without incident, I was happy.  Julie and I both agreed that we were glad we made the trip, but we'd never do the same route again!  Once was enough; we spent all our "toughness" on that one.  Time to "refuel."