Our next objective was to take Preacher Canyon (not listed on the maps as a trail) backwards from way of the highway,  The entrance almost eluded us, but we found ourselves under the bridge and headed north again along water.  Our hope in Preacher was that we could take it all the way out to the control road some three miles north of where we began.  The road we found along it was definitely not maintained and proved a little tricky as we drove higher and higher along the canyon.  By the time we got about to the halfway mark and back down into the creek, the dark clouds had given us a heads up into what was going to happen soon.  So we settled there, rigging our shelter Jeep style like at Sunflower (only w/o the snow), both Jeeps parked parallel and a good sized tarp tightened and tied in between.  We then got out the chairs and fixins and cooked our meals as we watched the rain.

We did have a good opportunity to explore the area up and down stream of Preacher and do want to check out its drivability in a few spots, so we'll end up making a trip back.  We got some great scenic rainbow over the canyon pics during our hike too.

Oh, wow, I totally forgot to mention our other passengers, besides the regular people ones.  Jared immersed his new Golden Retriever pups into the Jeep world this trip and his new Wrangler netting, besides looking bad ace, could not have been more utilized.  It kept them in and safe and they were always calm, even we weren't so much, and would poke their heads through for pettings when we stopped.

So anyway, the next morn we mounted up, tarped over all the gear in Dana's Jeep so if (read: when) we found mud it would all be covered.  Then we went about completing the trail.  The only problem would be that with the rain, the steep ascension up again had become loose with some large rocks providing off-camber situations.  J went for it and made it up 3/4 until he forced himself to stop.  You know it's bad when a Jeeper decides that instead of trying to continue up where the edge of the road is not your friend, the cliff below beckons your demise and the dirt itself is mocking your defeat, he will instead have to drive down that very same trail backwards.  -Another time for me to step in and play coach to a team that cannot loose.

As I stood behind to guide the bumps and slides down to safety, Jared, not because of fear, but to feel the Jeep and only react to my instructions, simply closed his eyes.  Now his only input was me and the gravity tugging at his wheels.  It pretty much became like the Luge at Martinez: a controlled slide only once again backwards.  His ears and hands did their job though and we got his Jeep off the 60 yard incline intact.  We then had to face the facts that last night's rain was going to cause us to detour and backtrack.