pine marten – Wild Wanderer

What Creature is Inside my Truck?

It all started at 2am that morning. I got out of the back of my truck to get ready to hike, and shined my flashlight all around. This is something I do if it’s dark out, because you never know what’s lurking at 12,000’. I’ve been startled by deer, racoons, and even a mountain lion before. I flashed the light under my truck, and saw a porcupine, pine marten, and marmot underneath.

It was like something out of a Disney movie, or the beginning of a really bad joke: “So, a porcupine, a pine marten, and a marmot were sitting under a truck…”

Great, this spelled trouble, and I knew what was going to happen. Usually, I hear them rustling around under my truck, but for some reason, I hadn’t this time. I shooed them away, got in my truck, and turned it on.

All the lights were flashing.

I knew what had happened: one or all of those varmints had chewed through the wires underneath my truck. Well, I was 15 miles off a 4WD dirt road, and if my 4WD wasn’t working, 2am was the best time to drive down this road, as I shouldn’t encounter any other vehicles.

I resigned my hiking plans for the day, and drove to the nearest dealership that could fix my truck. Durango was 4 hours away, and I made it there just as they were opening. I told them what had happened, they took a look under the hood and under the vehicle, and said “soonest we can fix it is 3 weeks. Maybe 4.”

I was shocked: I’d never had a dealership not be able to get me in that day, but they were adamant. I knew what needed to be done, as this has happened before. The wires needed to be spliced and put back together, then bound with rat tape. My bad for not doing the rat tape thing already, but I’ve done it on so many of my vehicles I’d honestly forgotten I hadn’t done it on this truck.

They also told me not to drive my truck, as it wasn’t safe. Great. So, I was stuck here for 4 weeks? I don’t think so.

I called around to every shop within a 5 hour drive, and they all told me the same thing: 3-4 weeks until they could fix my truck. Since this has happened to me before, I already knew what was going on, and wasn’t too worried. Yes, the lights were annoying, but my truck still worked. I just needed to drive carefully and not try to break too fast.

I decided to head instead to a 2WD trailhead for the weekend, seeing as how I was already in Durango and it was a 7 hour drive home (where I was sure my local dealership would do whatever it took to get me in that day: Putting over 50K miles on my truck a year means I’m one of their most valuable customers). Adding 45 minutes on to my drive wasn’t going to change much.

I drove to the next trailhead, a little upset my hiking day was shot. As I was sitting in the front seat of my truck, researching routes, I heard a scratching coming from inside my truck. Well, not inside exactly, but underneath… and inside.

Then I heard the noise again. Something was scratching the walls. It sounded bigger than a mouse or rat, and a bit frantic. I went outside to see what was going on, and the noises stopped. It was starting to rain, but I decided to sit there and wait to see what was going on.

Then the noises began again

I saw a Forest Service truck drive by. I flagged him down, and asked him if he knew any tricks for getting a marmot out from underneath your vehicle. I could tell by the look he gave me he didn’t believe me. He sat there for 5 minutes and whatever it was inside was silent. He smiled at me, said to give it time, and drove away.

As soon as he drove away, the noises started again.

Something was obviously stuck and trying to get out, so I tried to pull back the flaps and bang on the tires. The animal went silent again, but it was watching me from just above my back tire. I saw a nose peeking out, staring at me, and it kind of looked like a porcupine. It would have made sense, since I’d seen a porcupine under my truck that morning as well.

Well, if it was a porcupine, I wasn’t going to put my hands anywhere near that wheel well. Eventually, it started trying other options. I saw it near my spare tire, and figured it was only a matter of time before it found it’s way out.

Well, eventually it did. And when it did, it just sat under my truck, confused. It obviously had no idea where it was, and was taking time to think.

It took a little too much time, and when it looked like it was going to climb back inside my truck I shooed him away. He ran off into the trees, and I went back to doing what I was doing. Then I noticed him, sitting and staring at my truck. I went over to him and he didn’t seem scared, he just stared back at me.

Then he started walking towards my truck again, and I got worried he’d try to slip back in later in the night, so I drove down the road for about a mile, giving him space from my vehicle, which he seemed to desperately desire.

15 minutes later, I looked in my side mirror, and that little bugger was running up the road towards my truck! It was as if he thought my truck was a portal and he’d escaped the wrong side. Maybe if he went back in and out another way, it would take him back to the original trailhead. I kind of laughed to myself, realizing he’d been inside my truck at the repair shop and hadn’t been noticed. I drove another 5 miles away, he didn’t follow, and my truck was safe for the rest of the weekend.

Here is a picture of the damage

And what it looks like now that it’s fixed. Rodent Tape is manufactured by Honda, and costs about $60 a roll. Much better than a $4400 fix later.

V3 – 13,545

RT Length: 8.29 miles

Elevation Gain: 3542’

Ophir Pass Road is a serious 4WD road, but the trailhead for this peak can be accessed from the Ophir city side with just a high clearance vehicle. There were a few small water crossings, but 4WD was never needed.

I parked in a parking area about 1.3 miles east of the town of Ophir, on Ophir Pass Road, in the Iron Spring area. All the parking spots were taken but 1, and every vehicle was parked there overnight. This is a popular spot to park to backpack/hike in the area.

The mosquitoes were out here as well, so I made it an early night and got some sleep. I was up and on the trail by 3:45am. The trail starts on a blocked 4WD road to the south of the parking area.

I followed this road southeast and then south, through gates, aspen trees and two stream crossings with easily crossable bridges

After the second stream crossing, I passed below some power lines, turned left to follow the trail, and started gaining elevation.

The hike below treeline was nice, and the trails were class 1, but there were no trail signs or numbers, and several trail crossings. I’ll do my best to describe the correct route.

I followed a well-defined path south.

At the first fork in the road, I turned right

At the second fork I turned right again, off the road and onto a trail (I’d hiked a total of 1.15 miles at this point)

I hiked west for a few yards, and then came across a trail junction. I continued heading straight

I was now on the trail that heads south/southwest up the hillside. This is also where I ran into a porcupine. Porcupines don’t run, but we noticed each other while we were about 3 feet away from each other: He quickly turned and waddled away in the dark, showing me his full backside of quills as he did so.

I continued on this well defined trail

Here’s your first glimpse of V3. Look carefully, the arrow points to the exact summit, which you won’t see again until you’re there.

After hiking for a total of 2.25 miles and 11350’ I came to a small water crossing over the trail, and a meadow to my right. I left the trail and headed through the meadow. It was still dark, and there was a camper with a bright headlamp getting ready for the day. He was confused why I was ‘off trail’ and tried to direct me back to the proper trail. I assured him I was going in the right direction, apologized for walking so close to his campsite, and nicely told him I didn’t expect to find a trail to the summit.

I was now in a meadow and basin. There were wildflowers I couldn’t yet see in the dark, and willows I kept encountering. I found out the hard way to stay right to avoid the willows. The path is obvious in the daylight. Here’s the route I took.

And some step-by-step pictures of my way to the saddle, first hopping across a small stream

Staying right to avoid the willows and ascending a small gully that still had snow. Microspikes were helpful here, both on the scree and snow.

At the top of the gully, I was now in a rocky upper basin. I crossed a boulderfield and headed towards the saddle.

Here’s a look at the last bit of hiking to the saddle

Once on the saddle I turned left and followed the ridge southeast, staying to the left of the snow.

At the top of this area you can see the crux of the route. Now is a good time to put on your microspikes and helmet, if you haven’t already. It’s much steeper than it looks, and the scree isn’t manageable without microspikes (trust me on this one).

Here’s your intended route:

You’re aiming for this gully. The scree here is steep; a 45 degree angle for an extended amount of time.

Once at the base of the gully the class 4 climbing begins. The route is obvious, curving around to the right. There is really only one way to go: follow the trail set out for you from the fallen scree. Also note: the scree and rocks here are loose. Very loose. I wouldn’t attempt to upclimb or downclimb this area with another person: take turns the entire way up and down. You will be causing screevalanches on climbers below you.

Here are some pictures from the inside of the gully. Pictures do not do the steepness justice (although the pictures down give you a better perspective). When heading up, continue climbing southeast.

Here’s a look at the exit of the gully

At this point it became even steeper. I did not have on my microspikes, lost grip, and slid on my stomach backwards for a full 12 feet. I seriously thought I was going to slide all the way back down that gully. I braced myself, and without taking off my pack located my microspikes in my backpack pocket and gingerly put them on while trying to balance without much traction. It was much easier to upclimb once I put on my spikes. Here is where I aimed

I then turned right, and hiked south towards the summit block.

I made it to the base of the summit block and was surprised to see a pine marten. He sat there and looked at me. I tried to get a picture, but he quickly turned around and all I got was a picture of his tail and backside. Why are all of my wildlife pictures of animal butts?

Ok, now, don’t let this summit block scare you: yes, you can upclimb it, but you can also skirt it to the left and follow it around and have a class 2 trek to the summit, which is what I did.

I summited V3 at 7:15am. There was a lot of smoke in the air from far away fires this morning.

V3:

I was surprised there wasn’t a summit register, so I left one. It was obvious this peak does not get a lot of visitors.

I kept my microspikes on for the trek back down, which seemed easier than the trek up. Here are some pictures of the way back down the gully. Once again, do this one person at a time, and when you’re done, head far away from the gully, as the rocks will slide and they will pick up speed as they do so.

Once out of the gully, the scree-surfing will begin. It’s always fun when you can ride the same pile of rocks all the way down the hillside.

Scree Surfing:

Here’s where you’re aiming. If you’re doing this with another person, you should be standing far away from the rockslide area while they’re ascending/descending. I’ve circled a good place to stand out of the way.

And now to hike down the ridge to the saddle, and exit the basin.

I made it back to the meadow, marveled again the wildflowers, and saw the group of campers were almost done taking down camp (I guess the man I talked to this morning was part of a larger group). I made it to the trail, turned left, and followed it back to the trailhead.