Vermejo's Offroad Log

[Vermejo]

More images and exploration at http://newmexicobackroads.blogspot.com/

[Vermejo]

Hit Broad Canyon Saturday morning as the weather has been perfect. I'm getting some wheeling in before my rig goes to the shop for some serious repairs and upgrades. (Stay tuned to my other thread for that). All said and done I escaped without body damage only finishing off my stock skids in their long death.

Info on Broad Canyon: http://www.lascrucesfourwheeldriveclub.com/

Click on Trails/Hard

[Vermejo]

I went with the LC4WD veterans this past Saturday to San Diego Mountain located 25 miles north of Las Cruces, NM. Rain storms over the last two years have washed out many areas of the trail raising the bar on drivers. Many of the obstacles are located on hillsides and are unstable where a miss could prove ugly. Short hikes off the trial yield deep mine shafts and ancient petroglyphs (pictured below). The vehicles included 2 jeeps, a Defender and my Runner. Everyone double locked w/the exception of yours truly. Carnage as it stood at the end of the day: the Defender and Rubicon slashed sidewalls, Jeep #2 turned back w/a bent idler arm and I finally killed my stock skids. Enjoy…

Link: http://www.lascrucesfourwheeldriveclub.com/

Click on Trails/Moderate

[Vermejo]

“You and your vehicle must be prepared for hard four-wheeling and possible body damage on Hard and Extreme trails” The organizers did not lie to those that came from around the country to wheel in Las Cruces’ Chile Challenge. I managed to escape 4 days of hard trails with mangled skids, bent/dented sliders, quarter panel dents and injured IFS components. Both the skids and sliders were new before the event but look “war torn” as of today.

Trails driven in order:
Wednesday- Amatista Ledges
Thursday- Upper Broad Canyon
Friday- Hopping Jalapeno
Saturday- Broad Canyon (Hard)

More Info:

http://www.lascrucesfourwheeldrivecl...engeTrails.htm

[Vermejo]

The Lady and I went to the Lower Gila early Saturday for a little backcountry exploration. We left civilization at Silver City after a stroll downtown and Mexican lunch. We ended covering 150+ miles off-road in the Big Burro Mountains and along the NM Gila River Saturday and Sunday. Most of the travel was on private land making access to certain areas of the Gila River difficult. GPS, BLM and Topo maps showed roads as public access whereas the ranchers posted otherwise. We camped Saturday night on the Gila Box outlet at Redrock, NM. We settled on a river flat under a cottonwood tree as the river crossings were becoming too deep. Meghan, my spotter, did not feel like swimming.

Enjoy…

[Vermejo]

I couldn’t wait any longer to run the lockers, gears and 35’s and opted to go out with some of the LC4WD veterans on a San Diego Mountain run Sunday. I screwed my old Tacoma mud flaps into the rear of the wells to keep my treads off metal; it worked. Climbing the mountain was steady but the ride down was more trying to keep the truck from becoming a bobsled. Angles in the pics softened the reality. The loop out was a bit hairy as the road was washed out in areas along the mountainside. Some areas were down to 5- ft. wide. Mistakes would award a roll good for a couple hundred feet. The feeling of 4 tires biting at the same time has only deepened my addiction. Enjoy

[Vermejo]

I headed out Saturday for a short Box Canyon run to test some of my new junk and stuff the wheels. I hardly made it up the embankment on the first try as I placed the rear in a hole. Second try was a bit smoother after some heckling. Canyon only requires three obstacles in 45 minutes; a good quickie. Enjoy

[Vermejo]

I ran Amatista Ledges early Saturday morning to show visiting family a bit my backcountry.

The trail follows a series of ledges and small waterfalls. It then heads up stream to the "Grease Pit", an obstacle officially on the Hopping Jalapeño trail. A short way up the arroyo is the "Bath Tub", a deep long "V" to straddle. The remaining trail up and out of the canyon consist of a series of ledges and waterfalls. –LC4WD Description

The “Grease Pit” yielded just that; I blew my CV and slung its blood and bearings over the rocks. We spent 30 minutes cleaning the big rocks with wet-wipes and packing the soiled gravel in bags. Everything was good on the nature front, finishing the trail in 2WD was the ugly part.

Once I was on the pavement I noticed the rear vibrating. I panned my mirror down to see the rear wheel pitching a fit out of true. Axle shaft bent.

I’m out till Moab

Moab or Bust – Busted ‘til Moab

[xonetruthcrewx]

Thats sucks dude. However, your rig is looking bad ass.

[slosurfer]

How do you have the diamond plate attached to your rockers and fenders? I like the look.