MAY  2000 CLUB RUN - COKE OVENS

Trail Rating - 3

Trip Leader: Chris Villarreal

Photos submitted by Ken & Diane Blaisdell, Chris Villarreal

9 vehicles set out early Saturday morning.  We headed south through Florence and turned onto the Florence Kelvin Highway.  We aired down where the pavement ended. 

The first part of the run is a quick run down a couple miles of sandy wash.  We came across this little fellow near the end of the wash.  I stopped and he darted under my vehicle and emerged on the other side.

The end of the first wash. 

The exit to the wash used to be very steep, but has been beaten down with the passing of vehicles.  The first big rain should make it a challenging obstacle again.

After crossing the railroad tracks we had a visitor.  We agreed we needed to up the trail rating on this run from a 3 to a 6.  Here's the new definition for a 6 rated trail:

Extremely Hazardous Trail: Extremely rugged terrain. Very steep inclines, large boulders, potentially dangerous situations, high probability of air to ground threat.  Highly modified and armored vehicle required.  Likely paint damage, possible total destruction of vehicle.  At least one member of the party should have a ground to air defense system. 

We slowly made our way towards the river. 

You don't get to do many water crossings living and wheeling in Arizona.  This one was pretty easy, especially considering the water level was at least a foot lower than the last time I was here. 

The Jeep formerly known as "Bunky".  For those of you that don't know, it's original color was tan.  It now sports a new space age "thin" paint that is said to greatly reduce the occurrence of pin striping while off road.  

Like a kid with a new toy, Ken goes a little crazy after I turned the Samurai over to him. 

We had stopped to get our feet wet and take a quick stretch after the river crossing.  In a matter of seconds this Apache buzzed the group and disappeared behind a mountain.  I am glad we're on his side.

Our group at the ovens.

Here's the view from the top of the hill overlooking the coke ovens.

Playing around at the lunch spot.  Speaking of which, this was the one of the shortest lunch breaks in Rough Rider history due to the number of bugs that were flying around.  To keep from ingesting any extra "protein" it was best to keep talking to a minimum and to breathe through your nose.

We almost made it out with no breakdowns.  After lunch Gary's Jeep wouldn't start.  The injectors weren't getting any fuel.  After exhausting all options John Cox towed Gary's Jeep up and out of the valley.

Here's the climb out of the valley.  Now imagine towing another Jeep at the same time....

Shortly after this picture Gary was able to get the Jeep started.  Still don't know what caused the problem in the first place.

Here's a nice obstacle to test your rear approach angle.

Forgot to lock the hubs.

It's hard to resist the urge to stick your hand out and steady a tippy vehicle.

Up the hard way and down the other side.  Another nemesis conquered.

Without the crunching noise these pictures don't do the situation justice.

Tom's second attempt resulted in some major air under the driver side front tire.  3rd time was a charm.

Mike Pitts making a run at the hill.

For a minute it didn't look like Matt would make it to the top.  He got hung up in the loose stuff near the top.  Somehow he managed to get started again and pulled it up and over.  Nice job.