Sept 17 Desert run
- Thread starter Drunner97
- Start date
ChrisLe777
New member
Daaaaaaaaamn Gina!Watch crisis averted. Found that ****er hidden while I was cleaning.
However I woke up to this.
Some other carnage
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MACT4R
Senior Member
Watch crisis averted. Found that ****er hidden while I was cleaning.
However I woke up to this.
Some other carnage
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Someone is going to need rear bumper and front bumper armor to match...I'm just saying.
TheSentinel
New member
Ouch...at least you have your watch.
Drunner97
New member
I'm surprised Miah hasn't chimed up yet. He was our first, second, and third casualty. Tore the sidewall on his KO2 (10 ply, craziness) then his tire fell off due to stripped lugs on his spacer, then when we were almost out (and I split out solo) he was having a thumping issue which I heard was the lugs were loose again.
I don't know if I punctured it bushwhacking or on the freeway. I usually air up to 40, but I went up to 30 just to get back to where I was staying. When I hit the freeway my low pressure light was still on and it turned off after about 10 miles @ 75-80 mph. When I got to the condo gate my light popped back on and I was thinking something didn't feel right, but the tire wasn't flat when I was unpacking and cleaning. Come morning flat as shit but took enough air to move into the driveway to change the tire. I could hear it losing air but didn't see anything.
MACT4R
Senior Member
Holy crap! What kind of terrain did you guys go through or did you guys do some jumps?? Hope Miah didn't have too expensive of a fix. Sounded dangerous with tires falling off...dang that sucks. I would like to do this run but worried due to you guys casualties.
Drunner97
New member
Everything from washes to canyons to rocky sections. It was craziness. No jumps so far as I know, I think Miah just tagged a rock initially. He came on the radio saying something didn't feel right and I could see he was flat. The section I got stuck in was like volcanic rock, stuff tore my hands up pretty good moving rocks and getting through it. I learned a thing or two about spotting after I took myself through a hairy section without one, haha. Had to stack some rocks and I think everyone still took some rear bumper damage. Kinda wishing I took more pictures after our waterfall section (before shit got really hairy and I got stuck) but the camera was the last thing on my mind.
Kennys4runner
New member
Hey guys sounds like fun started after i left. Had to go cuz my little one was tired, anyways Miah told me to way out over by the wash. Seemed pretty simple just head west. Well i crossed the canal and desided to go south east judging by my phones map, ended up almost getting lost. Gates closed everywhere and really wierd roads that lead nowhere. Even had the shit scared off by a fighter jet passing us super low. Anyways i should have just went west it was pretty simple. Good run tho even tho it was short for me. Had lots of fun overlanding LOL guess i earned my stripes. Hope to do anotherone soon with you guys.
Kennys4runner
New member
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Oneluv13T4R
New member
First I would like to say when planning this day and mapping out the trails and things for the group to see and experience ....I never expected what we were about to get into and what this trail had in store for us. I would have never taken them through this trail if I had pre ran it and known what the possible consequences could be and letting them know up front, I wouldn't just assume there ok with i. but even then wouldn't have planned this trail in the run from the beginning. With that said, I apologize to the guys for any damages to your rigs and trouble it may have caused, I would not have made a decision like that on my own and not telling you what to expect and level of difficulty and situations you find yourself in, so again I apologize for including a trail I had not previously completely done and putting you guys through that, I no better than that my bad.
So to answer you all with some story time...
Red canyon jeep trail past the point you wouldn't go when you visited ...at the dead end of the canyon and up the first big hill and then a second and After that it is known as red canyon 4wd jeep challenge trail....and it is every bit of that. It will test you and your rig in every single way ..and that it did. It took us through every type of terrain you could imagine from soft sand washes , rock gardens, Boulder gardens, solid rock waterfalls, slots, vertical drop offs, 30 degree off camber hillsides with slate rock sliding and crumbling beneath your tires, solid rock hills and descents like Moab,
Driving across spines with vertical drop off on both sides of your rig for about 30yds and literally we just barely fit one slight mess up and you were rolling over, and for every hill we went up it was never just straight over but maybe a couple times everything was an immediate right or left and then some would add to that with off camber hillside into a turn around a boulder into a vertical drop into the next section of wash ...and this is all no BS. Literally every 10 yds on a 15 mile trail an obstacle was there to greet you before even getting a chance to unclinch your ass cheeks from the last section ..we never got to stop to breath for couple hours we tried stopping for lunch but everytime we said lets get done with the next section and we'll stop and eat then ..nope. The only time we stopped was in the dead end of the canyon before going up that first long hill climb ...the gate to a life changing experience.
I had entered that gate once before with [MENTION=60694]TheSentinel[/MENTION] and just our experience there alone on the second hill climb to reach the top of the pinnacles was enough to keep us from continuing from our time spent and sun setting, little did we know that our decision that day to turn back after finally making the gate would be our best decision..cause we wouldn't have made it home till the next day after sleeping in our rigs for the night , without a doubt being just the two of us.
There was so much to this day that the story is big enough to fill a book.
I will say this... five rigs went into the canyon and five came out 1 (myself) barely.
But all with damage and battle scars, markings of respect for those who know how you earned them. As for the five drivers all came out just a little different/ changed each in there own way.
Also all being at different wheeling skill levels from experience, trail time, recovery situations, on trail repairs p, being prepared, being a wingman and being a spotter ...etc etc.
but all five came out a couple skill levels higher or more and well prepared for future journeys.
I myself have a new found respect for each of the other drivers after doing this trail I seen looks of doubt, looks of joy, looks of tired , looks of scared stiff, looks of oops I think I pooped myself, looks of are you f ing kidding , to looks of feeling like the man on cloud nine and giving hi 5's ,knuckles or as simple saying thank you and good job over the radio to one another at each obstacle conquered but for every praise came the question how much farther do you think, does it get any easier, hopefully no more hill climbs, is there another way out, a faster way, possibly a shorter way ....nope, nope,nope and nope. No kidding? Well, shit then..I guess we better keep going then and taking them as they come. Yup. Wonder what our next suprise is gonna be ..that's easy to see just look around the next turn or look up.
Then a couple minutes later upon seeing there next suprise you would hear ...seriously? Got to be kidding... Holy sheet!!
Um...So who's going first?
We all met at 8am at Love's drove 25 miles to the trail head started the trail at 9am and arrived back to the trail head at 930 pm and back to Loves at 1030pm where we parted ways and I arrived home just before midnight.
So are you guys that agreed in thinking and saying to repeat this run for out next months run .....still agree on that vote?
Hahahahahaha
You guys aren't ready for this trail yet ....nor are you willing to accept any trail damage to your rigs that this would require in some shape or form...like body damage, broken parts, smashed skids, smashied something in the under carriage, blowin tires, and without a doubt no if ands or buts you will get complete rig pinstriping from the top of your roof and I mean your entire roof to all the way down both sides from front to back and everything in between.
So until then gentlemen,
I suggest we stick to the other trails within that area and have some fun until you are prepared and acceptable to all of the described above from beginning to end give yourself 2days to do it so you can take your time and camp to split it up in 2 parts. Will help lower your damage percentage and actually enjoy the trail cause it is after said and done , actually a really *****in trail. Everything about it.
Hope you enjoyed
Thanx
Miah
Photos and and video to follow in a couple days which will bring reality to the story.
Last edited:
85straight
New member
What?!!! A trail challenging enough to humble you? I'm freakin interested now forsure....so your saying you not wanting to run this again, when it's not 100* out:lookout:
Drunner97
New member
Yeah, something like that, red canyon jeep trail I think. South of Chiraco summit exit off the 10
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Drunner97
New member
Haha, yeah, craziness. Probably good thing you bailed with your daughter because it got late a lot faster than we all expected. Glad you got to do some exploring of your own hah.
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Drunner97
New member
No apologies needed. To some degree or another we all knew what we were getting into and we all had a chance to say enough is enough, it's probably time we turned around. Unfortunately I think by the time we realized we really were ****ed, was about the time it was too late to turn around.
That being said, it's definitely not a trail for the weak and I would do it again in a heart beat. Pretty sure you would have made it up more hills had you not been rocking a mismatched aired up hill. Hell you probably would have made the one I stopped on if I had known it was a tight right hand turn instead of appearing as if I was about to fall off a cliff. Pretty sure my silver d ring has become a permanent part of your rig because I didn't see it when I was cleaning, haha.
Skids, sliders, tires, lift, and a willingness to take damage an absolute must. For the most part you'll probably only get pinstripes, worst case you're going to hit your bumper on something.
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Wow.. Much respect, especially having seen that first hill and thinking at the time "We should probably turn around now". That slot canyon trail goes from super scenic and easy to gnar-core in an instant. Glad to hear you all made it out.. Can't wait to see the pictures!
SoSoRunner
New member
Here are my crappy cell phone potato pictures LOL!
SoSoRunner
New member
I wanted to post the pictures separate from my experience with this run so there isn't a bunch of quotes with the pictures.
All I can say is WOW what a trail! This was by far the craziest run that I have done ever! Was I ready for it mentally probably not, was my rig setup for it probably not. But I will say you're only as good as your team, and we had an awesome team for sure! When there was a break down it was all hands on deck, no one stood around and watched we all got in there to help. When someone got lost or stuck it was the same thing, all hands on deck to help out.
I have never done any night wheeling and let me tell you it's pretty scary! You can't see the trail, you just need to trust the guy in front and follow his line. Communication is key...getting on the mic's to warn the members in back is crucial these cheap bofang's came in handy so much on this trip!
The hardest part I think was wheeling up and down the steep hills with the sun in your eyes (dusk around 6-7pm sun going down) you can't see crap even more so with at night at since the sun is blinding you. I slide off the trail a few times but was able to reverse out and get back up onto the trail. No winch needed this time haha!
The terrain was loose gravel, soft sand, rocks, and large boulders. You can find out very quickly what the limitations of your rig were...mine were tires and ground clearance (I was the lowest of the bunch 2.5/1.5).
Near the end, wheeling in the pitch darkness I did kind of have that thought of maybe we were going to need to spend the night. But through the great navigational experience of Miah and him telling us to mark key points on our gps at the entrances heading down into the wash we were able to find a way out of the wash and back on to the main Red Jeep Trail. Despite the fact that the entrance leading down into the wash was blocked off with wooden posts and metal cable wire. We went around the wooden post with just enough space as we would have needed to go back down into the wash to find another non blocked entrance. We had a celebratory beer at the top of the blocked entrance and we're all thinking wow what and adventure...everyone kept joking with me that I definitely leveled up that day lmao!
It was a great sense of comradery that day with a "leave no man behind" mentality! I didn't get home until midnight (1 1/2hr drive from the meetup spot) we started on the trail at 9am and finished airing up at around 10pm. So a good solid 13hrs of trailing, I'd call that a good day!
I didn't suffer any tire damage luckily that was my worst fear as I don't have a full sized spare (1st on my list along with better tires). But I did bash the bottom of my car, bent my bull bar, ripped out my rear mud flap, scratches all over the bumpers but it was all worth it!
I would like to thank everyone that went Kenny, Danny, Miah, Spence, and Sang I had a truly awesome time I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Pucker moment of the day goes to Spence with almost sliding off an off camber hill! I had to pull him out I'm sure he never pressed his brake pedal harder then that moment :lol:
There's much much more but that was kinda the cliff notes of my day :yo:
All I can say is WOW what a trail! This was by far the craziest run that I have done ever! Was I ready for it mentally probably not, was my rig setup for it probably not. But I will say you're only as good as your team, and we had an awesome team for sure! When there was a break down it was all hands on deck, no one stood around and watched we all got in there to help. When someone got lost or stuck it was the same thing, all hands on deck to help out.
I have never done any night wheeling and let me tell you it's pretty scary! You can't see the trail, you just need to trust the guy in front and follow his line. Communication is key...getting on the mic's to warn the members in back is crucial these cheap bofang's came in handy so much on this trip!
The hardest part I think was wheeling up and down the steep hills with the sun in your eyes (dusk around 6-7pm sun going down) you can't see crap even more so with at night at since the sun is blinding you. I slide off the trail a few times but was able to reverse out and get back up onto the trail. No winch needed this time haha!
The terrain was loose gravel, soft sand, rocks, and large boulders. You can find out very quickly what the limitations of your rig were...mine were tires and ground clearance (I was the lowest of the bunch 2.5/1.5).
Near the end, wheeling in the pitch darkness I did kind of have that thought of maybe we were going to need to spend the night. But through the great navigational experience of Miah and him telling us to mark key points on our gps at the entrances heading down into the wash we were able to find a way out of the wash and back on to the main Red Jeep Trail. Despite the fact that the entrance leading down into the wash was blocked off with wooden posts and metal cable wire. We went around the wooden post with just enough space as we would have needed to go back down into the wash to find another non blocked entrance. We had a celebratory beer at the top of the blocked entrance and we're all thinking wow what and adventure...everyone kept joking with me that I definitely leveled up that day lmao!
It was a great sense of comradery that day with a "leave no man behind" mentality! I didn't get home until midnight (1 1/2hr drive from the meetup spot) we started on the trail at 9am and finished airing up at around 10pm. So a good solid 13hrs of trailing, I'd call that a good day!
I didn't suffer any tire damage luckily that was my worst fear as I don't have a full sized spare (1st on my list along with better tires). But I did bash the bottom of my car, bent my bull bar, ripped out my rear mud flap, scratches all over the bumpers but it was all worth it!
I would like to thank everyone that went Kenny, Danny, Miah, Spence, and Sang I had a truly awesome time I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Pucker moment of the day goes to Spence with almost sliding off an off camber hill! I had to pull him out I'm sure he never pressed his brake pedal harder then that moment :lol:
There's much much more but that was kinda the cliff notes of my day :yo:
