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Thread: Arizona Fall VX Gathering II...Trip report

  1. #1
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    Arizona Fall VX Gathering II...Trip report

    My wife and I (Triathlete) arrived at the Worlds Smallest Musuem at 9:30 am after cruising up from Tucson With Jeff (TucsonVX). Hung out till the whole gang arrived...Bob (VXCaver), Victor (VCamilo) and Sara, and all the way from New York Val (impalerv)!
    After eatting some good food from the Buckboard City Cafe we checked out the musuem and the waterfall avenue. Some pretty creative use of "stuff" to make some waterfalls! About 11:00 we all mounted our mighty VX's and rolled out of town in search of the trail head. We hit the trail and soon found that the summer rain (which apparently was quite heavy this year) had made the trail a "LITTLE" tougher than I remember it being last year! We slowly mae our way through one obstacle after another. One in particular had a few wanting to have a trail leader linching! Val had got a little stuck when some jeep people showed up. They told us that we might want to turn around becausethe trail just keeps getting worse.It must be a jeep thing! With there creative help we got Val over the obstacle and moved out of the way to let the jeepers go through (they were going down we were going up...apparently we were doing it the harder way). At this point we also found that a Mohave Green Rattlesnake, the most venomous type in Arizona, had been hanging out in VERY close proximity to where we had been standing. He apparently wanted to cross the trail there and we were in his way...rattles blasting we got the point! We decided to walk the trail a bit and make a group decision as to weather the trail was going to be too hard...after all we were in VX's not wimpy jeeps! Okay so those highly modified and built jeeps were far from wimpy! We didn't see anything that looked like it was going to keep us from going forward so we decided to go for it. We trudged along to the top of Hackberry Creek and decided to set up camp there. It took us as long to get to this point (about 1/2 way) as it did for us to do the whole trail last year. Val didn't relize we were going to camp but his fellow VX'ers had enough food to share, an extra blanket and we taught him a new (to him) way to make his VX into a somewhat comfy bed...back seats folded down flat. At a bit over 6 foot it wasn't the best but it got the job done. We sat around and shared some stories then got some sleep. Couldn't have asked for better sleep weather. Woke up ate some camp breakfast, took some pics then packed up camp. Once on the trail we found that the tough parts weren't completely behind us yet. We slowly crept along the trail and with some creative driving and at some points a little gas pedal made our way to the end of the trail. No serious damage was sustained by anyone other than a few new dents in the skid plates and some new Arizona pin stripes complements of the very over grown (yep, lots of rain causes this also) brush. After airing up we headed back into town and got some pizza...Thank You Very Much Val for picking up the tab! We then said our goodbyes...Val, Victor and Sara then headed off towards Phoenix and Me, Bob, and Jeff caravaned back to Tucson. Thats my story and I'm sticking too it no matter what the others say
    Pics will be up soon.


    I'll let Bob tell the story of how he got lost on the road on the way to the pizza place!

    I hope everyone had a good time...and I didn't scare anyone away from the next trip!
    Billy Oliver
    15xIronman
    My Sponsors:
    Accelerate3Coaching
    TriSports.com (PM me for 1 time use 20% off code)

  2. #2
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    And the pictures begin...

    The meeting spot...The Worlds Smallest Musuem and the crazy "waterfalls"
    The tire waterfall with the wife...

    Wheelbarrow falls...

    The musuem...

    Musuem display...Three stooges beer!

    Presidential campaign buttons for "winners" and "losers" for every year since 1948...

  3. #3
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    Everyone eatting lunch on the patio...

    The line up...

    And the fun begins...

    Bob having "FUN"...

  4. #4
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    Jeff trying to avoid the brush

    Val getting a first hand education about Az. trails...

    Victor flexing...

    Me "rockhopping"

  5. #5
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    The trail starts to get "interesting"

    Hello Bob!



    "No Bob, I won't move ALL the rocks out of your way!"

  6. #6
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    Random trail pic...

    Love my newish tires (actually got them for Moab)...

    Snaking our way up Hackberry Creek...

    Val doing a little flexing...

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    Camping VX style...

    Our neighbors for the night...



  8. #8
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    The sun setting...





    The goodyear blimp aerial view...

  9. #9
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    Day 2 begins easy enough...

    The beautifull desert...

    The rear view...

    Did Victor drive down this?

  10. #10
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    Going up...



    Its just a "little" bump Bob!

    Group shot...

    Beautifull ***-ends...
    Last edited by Triathlete : 10/02/2005 at 09:13 PM

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    Little creatures of the sun...

    One last hill...

    Thats it for me...I'm sure the others got some good shots to add!

  12. #12
    Hey it looks like you guys had a great time! I hear you guys came across some wimpy Jeeps. I was one of them! No offense taken, it's all in good fun! At least you guys are enjoying what we Jeepers love to do, and that's wheeling in the great outdoors.

    Glad to see you guys made it out okay. Did that other guy end up staying with you or did he leave? I was leaning right on that boulder where that rattler was. Talk about a close call!

    Powerline/Hackberry Creek is one of my favorite trails and I run it at least once a month. It's amazing what the rains have done to the trail in just a two month period.

    You may have heard that sadly this trail may not be open to the public in the near future due to a proposed copper mine in the area. If a bill is passed to give this protected national forest land to the copper industry it will come true.

    The area is also a favorite spot for rock climbers. Did you get to see Devil's Canyon from the short side trip just east of the green valley. Awesome views! This is where rock climbers and mountaineers come from all over the world to climb those massive rock columns. You won't catch me doing that!

    Anyway here is a link to where you can write to your congressman and let him or her know why they should not give this land to the copper industry.

    http://www.friendsofqueencreek.com/FoQC_news.htm

    Hopefully all of us who enjoy trails like this can make a difference.

    So when you see one of us WIMPY JEEPS on the trail, just give us a big wave! You know it's a Jeep thing don't ya!

    Oh here's a link to some pics from our trip

    http://photobucket.com/albums/b208/ddawg_/

    Happy Wheeling and remember Tread Lightly,
    TJ04
    Last edited by TJ04 : 10/03/2005 at 12:27 AM

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    Oh! yeah! I remeber you guys... Wimpy Jeeps? Who said that... yeah Val stayed with us and we ran the loop. Thanks for posting you pictures TJ04. Happy trails.

    Vic ( on of the VX guys)

  14. #14
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    First off... I didn't get lost on the way to Pizza! I just missunderremembered the route for a moment!

    Great trip! A real character builder! I think we (stock vxs) were in a little over our heads in a few spots, but overall the trail was doable and very exciting. And the camping spot was peaceful and full of evidence of Native American habitation.

    I won't add to Billy's trip report, except those who love the backcountry should get involved in helping protect this area, as TJ04 has brought to our attention the proposed copper mine. For those who haven't seen what copper mining does to a region, I'll see if I can dig up some photos from my archives. Arizonans are fortunate to have a state full of beautiful, largely unspoiled lands, and copper mining is just about the worst imaginable outcome for a place like this.

    A few more pics:

    Impalerv centered on a rock...


    Jeff TucsonVX climbing the crumbly rock ledge, not seeing his vehicle slipping over the edge, until now...!


    Victor rock climbing, no rope needed.


    Impalerv negotiating the rocks -


    Our campsite in an incredible valley.


    Me, Victor borrowed my camera, thanks Victor!


    And this strange one I found on my camera of Billy taking a picture at sunset. Hmmm?

  15. #15
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    TJ04...nice seeing you guys out there. I know you know my statements are all in good jest! I have many jeep friends! We appreciated your help out on the trail. Your expierienced minds were thinking a little better than ours. Val made the whole trip with us. Didn't take the side trip. Pretty much took the Az Backroads route. And yeah, you got a little close to that rattler before he decided to give warning. Did all of you guys go up and over the section of trail that goes up near the powerlines? That looked pretty whicked! Also thanks for the info on the impending mine intrusion. They were already drilling near the Superior entrance where we entered/exited. It would be a real shame to see that trail turned into a huge pit. Again thanks.

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