Breaking down and getting stuck in the snow !!

We decided not to camp but stay in a motel and then spend Tuesday morning spring cleaning and organising the bus. The plan had been to set off at midday, although this was nearer 1330 by the time another walmart visit had been completed !!
View Larger Map The forcast was for snow in the afternoon - so the plan was to get down to walsenburg where we could get the road conditions update and either take the freeway I-25 (if there was snow about) or come west and run down the 159 through San luis. As it turned out the first problem wasnt the weather but rather a generator warning light. !A quick check confirmed the belt was intacted and the fan turning, so at least we could drive ! As we were heading south anyway it was decided to drop in on Ron again and get the problem fixed. Before long a faulty voltage regulator was replaced and the journey could continue.
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The forcast snow hadnt arrived, so we decided to go for the "track over the mountain option" rather than the freeway !The advice was that the views were just too good to miss !

We left the tarmac after about 10 miles to take our dirt track over the pass.

as we climbed the air cooled and the snow cover increased so that by the time we got towards the top of the pass (about 9000') driving conditions were interesting to say the least !

Just after this picture we got stuck !! On a bend with a slight incline the snow had compacted and re-frozen. Any attempt to go forward had the wheels spinning and any attempt to go back resulted in the bus sliding down the incline towards the snow banks !! So we sat there - 9000' feet up the side of a mountain - Sharon prayed and I tried to remember why I hadn"t bought those snow chains? The kids however thought it was all a great adventure, with Nathaniel pleading to be let loose with the snow shovel!! Somehow, after an age of slipping and sliding, we managed to get going again. Another 5 minutes of tense driving saw us over the summit, rejoining the highway and running (relieved) down into the town of Fort Garland. By this time it was dark and as we pulled into town the generator packed up again !!! Enough excitement for one day ! so we pulled into a motel (well the motel) and decided to sort it out in tomorrow.