It was hunting season in northwestern Montana and the high mountain roads were either snow packed or ice covered or both as was the stretch coming up ahead of us. As I piloted the Jeep up that particularly steep and extremely icy section, almost wide enough for the wheels, I said to my son and hunting companion, “this is where we have to exercise the utmost caution.”
“Why, because we only have two tires on the road, the tach is reading 3000 RPM, and we’re going BACKWARDS?”, he yelled. … “JUMP!!!”
“No, that‘s not what I mean” I said. “When we get home we have to exercise the utmost caution to avoid mentioning this to your mother or our hunting will be over for the rest of this year at the very least. Women, especially your mother, are very peculiar about such things . I don’t understand exactly, but I know from experience that’s just how they are.”
“Now, since you’re already out of the Jeep, climb down out of that tree and hook our winch cable onto that big log that’s fallen across the road up ahead and we’ll be on our way.”
Seven heart attacks later we arrived at our planned hunting spot and within half an hour my fingers were able to let go of the steering wheel. Everything looked good so far, but I thought it rather strange there was absolutely no one else around. They all must have taken the bad road up.
The hunt went very well and after roughly twenty miles of hiking up, over, and around the Continental Divide, we bagged a nice 6X7 Mulie who was leaning on the Jeep when we returned.
The trip back down the mountain was fairly simple and completely predictable, since we already knew the road was nothing but ice. All fear of sliding down the road left as soon as complete terror took over and the actual sliding began, and it would have been quite pleasant if it hadn’t been for all the loud screaming going on. We hardly aged twenty years before arriving at the bottom!
As we turned onto the highway for the last fifty miles home, I realized it was again time to exercise the utmost caution. The bad road was behind us now, but the dangerous road was still ahead.
Montana Outdoors 