After hugging the mountainside for a couple more miles, the trail banked to the left, leading us into the thick pine forest. The evergreens here were healthy. Not one beetle-kill pine was seen. The few dying trees we did come across were dying of other causes, such as erosion that exposed their fragile roots to the frozen air. When those trees eventually die and fall down the steep, rocky slopes of the mountains, nature will take it over, turning that tree into fertile soil for other plants and fungi to feed off of. 

Suddenly, Dad shifted gears and sped up towards a huge mud pit, startling me out of my peaceful daydream. Before I could be the voice of reason, I felt the front tires leave the ground for a split second, before splashing down into the knee-deep puddle. Dad and I both let out whopping hollers as cold mud soaked our shoulders and blinded our view through the windshield. Thankfully, we made it across the puddle (which was actually more like a small pond) without any other issues, and I playfully punched my dad's dry shoulder. 

"What the hell were ya thinking?!" I wheezed, "You're lucky we didn't get stuck, 'cuz there ain't no one else around!"

"I didn't think it would be that deep!" Dad howled back, "I thought it was only a puddle."

"Puddle my ass!" I replied, cackling like a hyena.