Chapter 8
As they followed Max through the campground and to the canyon road, Willy saw several other vehicles lined up off to the side. Waving his hand for them to follow, Max, followed by Willy, headed down the gravel road. The other drivers pulled into the caravan and Willy realized with relief that they weren't the only ones being taken on a tour. She wouldn't have to face any more intimate episodes with this man who had gotten entirely too close.
When they reached the main highway, Max turned toward the north instead of the south as she had expected and proceeded to the nearby gas station. He had already alerted the other drivers that there were no gas facilities anywhere along the hundred miles of the Grey's River road so they would do well to have full tanks when they started. This he explained to Willy as she waited in line with the others.
"Do you happen to have a working CB radio?" he asked.
"Yes, it works pretty well," she answered.
"I can talk to all of you on channel nineteen if you tune it in. That way, if there are any animals or logging trucks or special things I want to point out, we can communicate," he told her. He seemed a little cooler today and didn't look so deeply into her eyes as had been his habit in the past.
After everyone in the caravan who needed gas had filled their vehicles and were ready, they pulled out together and headed toward the south end of the valley. They climbed steadily through the canyon to the place where she and the kids had pulled off to enjoy the view a few days ago. The turnoff to Grey's River was there and they followed Max along another gravel road. This one was in better shape and smoother and they moved right along. It was dusty with all the tires kicking up the dry roadbed dust and Willy was glad she was among the first in line.
After a few miles, Max slowed and Willy heard him on the CB telling them that there was a spectacular view of the Upper Valley just ahead if they would like to stop and look. Of course all agreed, as she heard them answer, and she pulled off with the rest.
They left their vehicles and looked out over the miles and miles of beautiful vista before them. Willy set her camera on a tripod and snapped away. These pictures would adorn any guide book and she hoped that they turned out well enough to sell.
The hills were covered with sunflowers by the millions interspersed with purple lupine and dashes of bluebells and honeysuckle. The air was thick with the scent and Aggie began sneezing as the pollen irritated her nose. Allison and Jeffy were enchanted with it all. They ran to pick a few flowers and Willy noticed with amusement that they looked at but did not touch the red-tipped Indian Paint Brush. They had learned their lesson well from the authoritative advice of the ranger.
Soon they were on their way again. Willy, at the urging of two very persuasive children, had hurried and started the truck so they could be in line again right behind the leader. They waved at Max who looked frequently in his rear view mirror and waved back. Suddenly, he pointed at the roadway ahead and they saw two cow moose browsing at the edge of the road. They raised their heads but didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave their good forage.
"Meet my good friends, Gertrude and Matilda," Max intoned over the radio. "They seem to like people and are up near the road a lot when I come by."
After watching and taking pictures for a while, the convoy moved slowly past the two lazy moose who moved out of the road but didn't feel the need to head for the trees. Allison, echoed by Jeffy, called, "Goodbye, Matilda! Goodbye Gertrude!" as they rolled on their way.
They saw several deer and some other wildlife as they drove along. The kids were starting to lose interest when, after a long stretch of gravel road, the silence was broken by Max informing them all that Crystal Lake was just ahead. "There is no place to park close by the lake, but you can pull off the road in any flat area and walk up the road to the path. It is about a quarter of a mile along a trail toward the hill on your left," he told them. "I will be leaving you now. I have to go on to check on some reports of forest fires at the other station. If you want to keep going around the loop and come out in Alpine, just keep on the main road here. It will take you another five or six hours to go all the way around and back to the campground. Or you can turn around and go back to Cottonwood the way you came. See you later!"
He waited until all had found parking places then he pulled up by Willy's truck. "Don't fall in the lake!" he cautioned them. "It's deep and ice cold."
"We won't, Mr. Rangerbell," Jeffy assured him. "We'll be careful."
"Are you going to drive around the whole loop?" he asked Willy.
"No, it's too far. We'll just go back the way we came," she answered. The expense of burning all that gas on an unexpected side trip was a deterrent and she regretfully decided that this much of the beautiful canyon would have to be enough.
"I'll see you back at Cottonwood sometime, then," he called as he drove off.
They got out of the truck and joined the other hikers as they walked along the path to the lake. It was a rough trail with much undergrowth and long grass, making it difficult for the little ones. They gamely pushed their way through, though, and soon were rewarded by the very unusual sight of a perfectly clear pond right at the base of a mountain. Willy wouldn't call it a lake, but it was maybe fifty yards in diameter. It didn't look deep because the rocks at the bottom could be clearly seen. Some of the other children in the group began throwing rocks in the water and Willy was amazed to watch them float slowly to the bottom. It was much deeper than it looked.
Aggie was fascinated by the optical illusion of floating rocks and threw in one after another. Allison and Jeffy joined in with enthusiasm but soon grew tired of the sight and were ready to go back to the truck.
"Just a few more minutes," Willy told them. "I just got my camera set up for some good pictures. It won't take long."
The banks were steep and Willy asked Aggie to watch the children very carefully. There was a small, dirty, bank of snow in the shadow of the mountain so she knew the water would be extremely cold. It wouldn’t be easy to rescue anyone who fell into that icy water.
After her roll of film was used up, Willy packed up her things and they started back to the camper. They struggled along the path and Willy found herself wishing they had a strong male hand to help them over the rough places. She tried to carry Jeffy but he was too heavy for her to manage along with the photographic equipment she was carrying. They just slowed down to his pace and before long they had reached the truck.
They ate their lunch under the trees and explored the area around them. The others in the group had all left after lunch to continue the long loop through the mountains and then back to Star Valley. Willy didn't mind being the only one to return the short way. The road was dry and it had been hard to travel in the dust thrown up by the caravan. She wanted to stop and photograph several areas that she had seen on the way here. She hadn't wanted to bother everyone by stopping so often so she had waited till the return trip.
They seemed to be the only ones on the road and took their time traveling back the way they had come. All progress suddenly came to a stop, though, when they rounded a bend and saw before them a big truck on its side in the middle of a bridge. It was a logging truck and the logs had broken loose and were strewn over the side and into the river. No one seemed to be around.
Willy stopped her truck and, cautioning the children to stay inside, walked up to the wreck. She looked in the cab fearfully, hoping that the driver was not badly injured and had gotten out. There was no sign of anyone and she called, in case he had been thrown out. She looked over the side of the bridge and walked around the area, but it looked like the driver had been picked up by someone else or had gone for help.
"Well, there is no way we can get around," she told the others when she returned to the camper. "We'll have to go back and see if there is another way back to the campground."
She turned the truck and started back. She remembered passing a signpost pointing to a side track, but hadn't paid much attention
at the time. After a few miles, she saw the sign, but it informed her that the nearest town was fifty-two miles away and in the wrong direction. She contemplated going around the rest of the Grey's River Loop as the other travellers had done, but she remembered that it would be many more long hours of driving and the sun was already low in the sky.
"We'll just find a place to camp around here," she told Aggie. "Have you noticed any campgrounds anywhere?"
"No," said Aggie. "I hope we don't have to camp where there aren't any bathrooms. That would be GROSS!"
"I guess we don't have much choice," said Willy philosophically. "Let's go back near the wreck so we can see when they come to clear it away and we can get back across the bridge. Maybe they'll do it before dark and we won't have to stay here," she said hopefully. She didn't relish the thought of a night out in the wilds either.
They drove back within sight of the wrecked truck and found a flat turn-off where they could park the truck. They climbed out and the children ran around doing their usual exploring. They were in a wooded area with a lot of trees and low willows following the line of a small creek that meandered down to drain into the river.