Added 6 September 2000, Revised 8 September 2000
THE DISCLAIMER: With the exception of stock ponds, and the occasional necessity of turning around, I *ALWAYS* drive on established roads and trails. Doing otherwise is not only bad karma, but it leads to ill-will towards four-wheelers/four-wheeling and makes people want to close vehicles out of the beautiful environs that we all enjoy. Please be respectful of private property (don't trespass!) and public lands, as other people want to enjoy them too. Also leave gates as you find them (closed if closed, and open if open.) If a road has a big mud hole in the middle of it, do NOT go around it, as it only makes the road wider, eventually making the mud hole wider. This cycle of foolishness can get out of control. If you can't make it through the puddle, you shouldn't be there. Turn around and find someplace else to explore. TREAD LIGHTLY! For more information on responsible wheeling, go HERE or HERE Ziggy at dirtroad.com says it best, "Use your 4-wheel drive to enjoy the environment, don't use the environment to enjoy your 4-wheel drive!"
Kyle and I met up near the junction of I-17 and the Carefree Highway, North of Phoenix. After a little chit chat, and introductions of passengers, we headed out past Lake Pleasant and rolled towards the trailhead.
Several miles of dirt road lead to the beginning of the trail. Once there, Kyle relinquished the lead to me. It didn't take too lon before we got to the first obstacle. I bypassed it before I even realized I was supposed to go up it! All of the obstacles on the trail have bypasses, most of which are more obvious than the obstacles. At any rate, Kyle had been on the trail once before and knew what he was doing. (At least one of us did!) Here we are going up the first obstacle . . .
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The slope was steep, loose and rutted. It took both of us two tries to make it up. The next obstacle wasn't as difficult, but it was much longer. Once at the top, it afforded a great view of what we had already put behind us. The beauty of the desert never ceases to amaze me.
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Not too long after, we reached the only obstacle where Kyle and I took divergent paths. It was a short obstacle, but it also had the greatest potential for carnage. Kyle had seen several rigs slide sideways and dump their rear-ends in a big hole at the bottom of the climb. Not being a person with brains, I decided to give it a whirl. Just as I got to the level of the top of the hole, I started sliding to the right, setting myself for he old bumper dump. I put a little twitch into the steering wheel and was able to stop the slide. Not long after that though, I lost traction, and just roasted my tires on the rock the rest of the way up.
Here you see Kyle negotiating what was probably the most difficult obstacle because of it's length and severity. We both made it without too much difficulty though.
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The trail continued to climb. We passed an interesting old mine site along the way. We poked around a little bit there to stretch our legs. Once on the road, we continued to climb through the beautiful desert, into the scrublands, and finally up into the pines.
If you're in the Tucson area, drop me a line and we can go wheelin' sometime.
Speaking of which, if you own a Highrider/ZR2/BlaZeR2, or want to find out more about the best little 4X4's around, check out these great sites:
http://www.zr2.com and http://www.zr2hr.org
There is also a ZR2 discussion group, which is very fun for talking about our special trucks and in getting ideas, help, and useful information. I have learned a great deal from the list. You can join by sending an e-mail to mailto:zr2@zr2hr.org with the word "SUBSCRIBE" (without the quotes) in the subject line.
ENJOY!
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