"The Nightmare Ride" Part II

So as my headache and I were heading back north to meet up with the rest of the gang, I decided that Elvis tripped me and Bigfoot hit me in the back of the head with the 2 X 4. Sally was there too. They were all playing go fish and smoking cigars.

Safety chain back intact, northbound and down on another 4 mile drag strip.  At this point I have no idea where we're going but we're making damn good time!  Speeds of about 70 MPH at times with an average speed of 45 or so.  Sunshine, snow and beautiful scenery.  Heading for the falls.  I thought "the falls" were water falls along side the trail we were going to stop at.  Nope, its actually Tahquamenon Falls State Park. So another 20 or so miles up the trail:

  This place! Rescue crew met us via actual roads, and we all sat down and told stories and had a nice dinner.

  Little did we know we were a mere 18 miles from a disaster of epic proportions, one that would affect everyone of us.  Last time we bought fuel was in Blueberry, Timmy says it's only 8 miles to Paradise, so we all decided it would be best to add the miles to the trip, fuel up and head home.  As we were leaving The Falls, it was about dusk, but still plenty of light left in the sky, but the temperature was starting to fall, we were back down to about 10* and we were all bundling up good and tight for the anticipated falling temps on the ride home.  Rescue Team was heading to Paradise to say hello to an old friend who lived there, and we would all meet back at camp at around 10:00.  It was now 6:30.  Turns out the trip to Paradise was closer to 10 miles, but nice trails along the power lines, and again not a bad ride at all.  Definitely getting colder, and seeing less and less sled traffic on the trails, the smart ones were calling it a night and going home.  Not us!

  We made it to Paradise, and I can say the only thing Paradise-like about it is the sign that reads Welcome to Paradise. They have an Arctic Cat dealer/gas station, a few motels and a blinking light at their only intersection.  We fuel up at the Arctic Cat dealer, guy bought some gear as the prices were end-of-season sale.  Met up with the Rescue Team to drop off the new gear, and headed south outta Paradise as the sun was setting.

9 Miles From Sled-Pocalypse

The seven of us roll outta Paradise on a mission, hell bent for Curtis.  Tired, my old bones are sore, and its getting darker and colder by the minute.  We all know this means slower average speeds, don't drive in front of your head lights, colder temps mean slow down as well, so its going to be a longer trip home.  Yeah, sure is buttercup, watch this. Bigfoot, Elvis and Sally decided to make it awesome!

  I'm the lead dog, about 10.5 miles from Paradise, check my mirrors and I'm alone, safety chain is broken.

.... to be cont....