This was the normal view out my front window, a big white hood, lots of beautiful scenery and blue sky; but where's the road?

If you've ever been off-road in full size truck, you already know what happens when you are making a steep climb and come to a crest in the trail; all you see is the big Ram hood and sky! Sometimes I could stick my head out the side window and see the road ahead, other times I had to put the truck in park, set the emergency brake, put a rock behind a wheel and scout the road ahead.

After about another mile, I made it to the Murphy Hogback climb where I paused to evaluate the road ahead. This was by far the longest and steepest climb I had come upon so far. As I nervously considered the task that lie ahead of me, a Toyota Four Runner began his descent. I watched him through my 200 mm lens has he inched his way down the road. Thankfully, I was going up and not down. I stopped him to ask about the trail condition ahead, and he said that the Murphy Hogback that he had just come down was the worst he had come across. This was it, the crux of the trip. If I could make it up the worst would be behind me.

As two bicyclists watched from above, I charged the steep, narrow and rough hogback. I tried to maintain enough momentum to keep the tires from slipping, but still go slowly enough to keep from bouncing and rocking excessively. When I reached the top, the bicyclists both congratulated me on my driving skills. They said that they didn't think I would make it with my big truck/camper. A little giddy from my success, I asked them about the road ahead, and they confirmed that conditions ahead were easier.