Crown King, AZ - Sat April 14

[RR DIFF LOCK]

CROWN KING

Turns out several enthusiasts had similar plans today. We ran into Schaefer and some other buddies from the boards. Although, it sounds like they had much better luck than our group did, as you'll read below...

We saw this dude on the way in...







So before we even got to the actual trail, we were held up by a broken Jeep in our group. At this first "bypass" obstacle, we took turns trying 1 of 3 lines: EASY, DIFFICULT, and MODERATE (from left to right). Here a newer Jeep Wrangler Unlimited pilots up the MODERATE section.



An FJ tackles the DIFFICULT line







And then our buddy, Dean, attempts to follow suit.



Too much throttle and a large "SNAP" later, here's the end result:





SUNK...



After finally getting ahold of a tow company that never came, they were able to use a Hi-Lift jack handle and rig it to allow the Jeep to crawl back to the highway. (I still need to call Brian R and find out the end result...)

The rest of the group moved on...

Here's me taking on what was probably the most challenging section I've ever run...



























We finally reach Crown King around 4 p.m. in the afternoon...







A quick damage assessment reveals a flattened pinch weld on my vehicle and the stupid plastic cladding has been chewed up. This was incurred on one of the bypasses. Rock sliders would've helped in this case.



A quick pic of the town fire trucks...



Some of the rigs from Steve's group...



Size envy...



On the way out.

[96 Runner]

Nice pics dude. Be sure to update this thread when you find out how that Jeep got home.

Off-roaders keep that town afloat, that's for sure.

[Tofer]

sweet pics! sucks for that jeep tho...

[RR DIFF LOCK]

Here's the update from Dean:

Thanks to all who waited and for the use of so many cell phones. At one time I was personally holding 5 different cell phones. A special thanks also to Brian and Jeff that hung with me until we could get a tow truck. Luckily I was with a couple of smart guys that latched a high lift Jack with motorcycle tie downs onto the side of my Jeep to hold he axle on. We drove 10 miles towards the high way like this in 3-wheel drive at a rate of 4.5 mph with burst of amazing speed up to 7 mph. But… it held on.

We had the tow truck take us to Toys by Troy on Pinnacle Peak Rd. (www.toysbytroy.com) and had that turned a bad day into an awesome time. Troy was at the shop on a Saturday and gave us the grand tour of the shop and showed us his completion Moon Buggy in the back of Semi. My son Emory got to pull the cord and blow the Semi horn – it was loud and made his day. We went back to the shop to do my paperwork to fix my Jeep and found Brian and Jeff on their backs under the moon buggy examining every nut and bolt with awe.

...It was a good ending to a bad day. We all had a lot of fun there.

Toys by Troy will have a replacement axle in my Jeep and it will be ready on Monday afternoon.

[dlbrunner]

Steve, Tall Brian, Did you guys get any pics from our run that weekend?
I take it you guys made it back from the bates motel ok?

I got a little rock rash from the big ledge, but you can't tell due to the previous damage.

Rod- Thanks for the winch out... I think I need a better recovery point on the front, all the tow hook bolts bent. haha.

[GrnGrand97]

One of these days I really want to go there. Maybe after I get locked. Sucks about Deans Jeep. His Jeep has a pretty sweet set-up and loved the sound of it.

[Bob98SR5]

RR,

looks like you had a great time! what kind of lizard is that?

and about dean's mishap, so did he floor it, wheels spinning in the air, and then made contact and snapped the axle? if not, how did it happen? i'd like to learn what not to do

bob

[Tanto]

Looks like a Gila Monster to me.

Nice country out there.

[RR DIFF LOCK]

Yes, that was a Gila Monster...

Excerpt taken from Wikipedia: "The Gila monster (pronounced HEE-la, IPA pronunciation: [hilə]) (Heloderma suspectum) is a species of venomous lizard that lives [in the] southwest..."

As I understand, it's pretty rare to see one in the wild. I've lived in AZ for 15 years, and this was my 1st encounter with one.

Regarding Dean's rear axle woes, yeah...not to throw him under the bus, but while he was gassing it, spinning, bouncing, and bumping trying to get up this hill, I just thought "I'm pretty sure that's NOT how you should attack it..." He would be flooring it with wheels spinning, and the Jeep would move forward and then the tire would just come to a halt as soon as it grabbed hold of a rock. A couple of tries just like that and then SNAP!, it was over for him.

[AZ4ME]

Steve, Tall Brian, Did you guys get any pics from our run that weekend?
I take it you guys made it back from the bates motel ok?

No, I didn't have a camera with me. I think Steve had his. Don't know what pics he took. Steve got up at the @ss-crack of dawn, so we left early. Thanks, again for the room. I had a good time.