It was chilly day, arctic winds were blowing...oops, wrong story.
Was a cool morning, I left the house about 5:30 am en route to meet Dustin and Tamra(I hope I spell that right) at their house in Chandler. We got on the road and traveled across the valley to meet up at the Chevron. Bob Hall and Roxy showed up and we waited till 8 for any stragglers. Jerry called to say his hood latch was broken so he was not coming and Jared blew out in Globe and was getting towed back to Safford.
While in the parking lot a group of J@@p guys came over and said the Scout II and Travelall were too big to get through the trails there. That was it, challenge on for both Dustin and me!!
So we rolled up off the Bumble Bee to where Jason and Dan were parked, but no sign of the boys. Apparently they ran off to do some scouting, no pun intended there, and caught a rock on a sidewall. Well about 15 minutes later they come rolling up smiling and laughing about the adventure. We all aired down, tuned to Ch 5 on the radios and went on our merry way.
Trail was perfect, not much traffic on it since the floods, that mixed with an unseasonable cool late spring day made for a great start to an unforgettable adventure. We ran across some decent streams, sand beds and rock gardens. There was one area that the road was washed out slightly that Jason rolled around, but was too narrow for the bigger trucks, so we took the “powder puff” route.
Everyone did well everywhere, but my big overweight pig in the sand, seems I am a sinker not a floater as I thought. Since I had no spare and was running on unlocked 16.5” wheels I left my tire pressure at 15 and did not get the grip I really needed (Looks like time to get back to H1’s again). Well I tried to go around, but it was just river, big boulders and sand both directions, so I climbed a few times and tore up a good line up, but just could not get over the last hump. I sent the distress signal and Dustin came back to give me a tug to get up and over. When we were hooking it up Tamra noticed I slashed my head, damn vehicles with a top!
We continued around the river and stopped briefly to see the giant white slug Dan saw sunbathing. Lunch came to call and it was decided to roll a little further to a spot with some trees to have lunch. Jason parked Gumby under a tree and we had shade to go with the breeze. Even a gust that swept across and knocked over my adult beverage onto Jason’s PB and J. No problem, Jason just slapped it together and ate it like a real man.
After we finished there we wandered around the trail to an offshoot trail Dan was familiar with. Dan opened the gate for us and made sure it was closed behind us and we ventured on. Just up and around few turns we came across a river crossing. Jason and Dan went over and Dustin, Bob and I hung back. We sat there for a like 15 minutes listening to Gumby revving around then crossed over the river to see what was going on.
Seems the road was completely washed out where we were expecting to have a road. In the way were 3 – 4 foot diameter boulders and 5 – 6 foot shear the road line. We spent some time looking at how we could go around or make it work, but the only option was to turn into a small Corp of Engineers and start moving rocks to make more of a ramp. After about an hour of digging, moving, strapping and dragging of all the rocks we could find it was time to give it a whirl.
Dustin was first up and made a good run at it, I think Tamra almost lost herself as it twisted about to roll. Jason strapped him with Gumby and gave a pull to get him up on the road. We saw what changes we needed to make and shored up the short side for my pig to climb over. I also made a good run at it, but did in fact need the help of the smaller and mightier Gumby to get me up onto the road. Yeah, then Bob rolled right over it without even the Traveler grunting!!
There was a group high five, a look back at what we did and realized it was a trail run not ever to be forgotten.
We headed up the road to Cleater and stopped at an old mine to check things out. Seemed to be a pretty cool mine area back in it heyday, but now it was just a big bat cave. It was unusual to see a mine shaft running at about a 45 degree angle, Dan said it ran with the vein and that one just so happened to point that direction.
Once in cleater we stopped by the bar to check out a very cool old Willys and decide if we were going to stop in for a beer. The consensus was no and we continued down the road to the start point. We aired up and headed up Bumble Bee Road.
We stopped where Dan and Jason loaded up Gumby and I checked a few things out. I was low on Tranny fluid and I peeled back my diff cover. Jason had some fluids in Gumby so I put in all I could and ventured home.
Was a great day of wheeling and I can’t wait for the next unforgettable adventure. Thanks to everyone on the trail, I had an incredible day and could not wipe that goofy smile off my face for a week. I did a little more damage to the Travelall, but I do like to wheel and it has been a long time since I have been out for a good wheeling trip.
Gumby Cactus Catchers:
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