Adventures in nordic skiing

On Sunday I went for a quasi-bushwhacking nordic adventure up to The Crags, a popular summer hike on the backside of Pike's Peak. Turns out that the real adventure was in the drive up. We were happily making our way up a very snow-packed and (slightly) dodgy forest service road when we encountered the forest service vehicle. In the ditch. WAYYYYY in the ditch.
Also there were some Texans in a jeep with a high lift jack and a winch, as well as a couple SUVs of people coming down from the Crags. The road was actually two thin strips of packed snow surrounded by unfounded depths of wet powder. Doom for the trapped forest service truck and his bald tires. After about a half hour of unsuccessfully pulling and digging, the Texans go out the right tool for the job, the winch. At that point, we decided to back down the now decidedly sketchy road before the snow conditions changed anymore to the nearest turnaround.
Yeah, backing down a steep mountain twotrack with about 3" for error? Nail biter.
But with some skillful driving (Jesse) and not-so-skillful guidance on foot (Me), we managed to get halfway down, turn the car around, and park in the low lot.
From there, a lovely ski. And we found an elk vertebrae. Yum!