bradshaw Mountains - 1997 Lexus LX450 - Photo 31974885

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It's not often you see a luxo-rig on the trail such as Cody Kozlowski's '97 Lexus LX450, and much less sporting Michelins that are about 39 inches tall. Cody's rig is set up to tackle rocky trails and has some expedition-style mods such as the added snorkel and tree riser cables over the hood.

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The trail begins in a fairly broad sand wash that soon turns to a bit rockier challenge. Joe Davis and co-pilot Greg Stewart made the trip in a 2002 Jeep Wrangler. By the end of the day, they were more than pleased with the trip.

Mark Longfield was our trip leader for the day. Mark drives a couple of Toyota trucks that have been set up for camping and 'wheeling. On this day he brought out his '98 Tacoma. The 32-inch tires, careful driving, and some solid rock sliders, made his day on the trail an easy one.

Todd Zuercher's '69 Bronco looks the part of a well-mannered trail rig, and inside beats a modernized drivetrain. It moves proficiently across the trail under Mustang 302 V-8 power fed to a 700R4 auto tranny and four-speed Atlas. A Currie-built 9-inch rear axle complements the Dana 44 front and completes the list of carefully chosen upgrades.

Along the way were a number of gates to be dealt with. It's good to follow the posted instructions or leave the gate as you found them. Mark pointed out how important it is to observe this practice. In this part of the country, carelessly closing a gate can leave a cattle herd cut off from its water supply, putting their lives in jeopardy.

Here we make the turn on to the trail headed toward the Desoto Mine. Steve Schaefer makes the sharp turn in his '99 4Runner to begin another descent down into a valley.

It's uncommon to see a vintage military vehicle such as Dan Chain's '73 Pinzgauer 710M on the trail. Nevertheless, he spent the day crawling with us and uses his rig regularly to traverse the trails near his hometown of Prescott Valley.

Along the trails here you'll find all manners of solid rock and rock debris, occurring naturally or as the result of the many years of mining activity in the area. This 2003 Wrangler belongs to Jerry Smith.

In recent years, Arizona forests have been sadly affected by the devastation of bark beetles that are native to the Ponderosa pine country. These beetles bore into the trees and lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the soft inner bark and the beetles also introduce a debilitating fungus to the tree. Over time, the tree can die. We saw many stricken, dead, and fallen trees along portions of the trail.

As we crested the hills during the later part of the run we were privileged to see expansive views across grasslands and sprawling terrain.

It's not often you see a luxo-rig on the trail such as Cody Kozlowski's '97 Lexus LX450, and much less sporting Michelins that are about 39 inches tall. Cody's rig is set up to tackle rocky trails and has some expedition-style mods such as the added snorkel and tree riser cables over the hood.

Kent Way had recently finished building up his '98 Tacoma. The solid-axle-swapped rig was set up with a substantial lift and wide stance. It was easily able to crawl over all the obstacles on the trail that day.

Would you bet you'd see a 2-month-old Tacoma on these trails? Travis Sheldon's breaking in his new rig in fashion. He bought the truck just a short while ago and is already having fun exploring trails. Given the newness of the body panels and the truck's length, he gingerly picked his way through some of the tighter spots successfully.

Given that portions of the trail lie in high desert washes, there's always the possibility of rapid vegetation growth where flash floods form from rains trickling down the adjacent hills. Here Ben Ellison picks his way through a tight, rocky spot in his '94 Land Cruiser.

Climbing out of some of the valleys, you'll encounter a few steep, loose hills. This long one also has a short rock step at its top just to keep things interesting.

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Dave and Rhonda Holly wheel their '77 CJ-7 on a regular basis and came out to Battle Flat to enjoy some good 'wheeling and awesome scenery. The washes offer some interesting obstacles, but nothing too hard core.

This squeeze spot along the trail is called "Riding the Wall" because the narrow path through the rocks keeps your vehicle's passenger side rocker pushed tight up against this long, flat rock.

Dave climbs a rock outcropping that shows signs of heavy mineralization. Near the mine one can find large expanses of tailings that have been pulled out of the mountain.

Once on top of the mountain that holds the Desoto Mine you can look back down below and see the winding trails that lead to this site.

Some antique debris remains scattered here amongst the tailings and you'll find fenced-off entrances to several mine shafts in the area.

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