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save Our Trails - jeep Jk - Photo 37201309

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  • Andy Brown and Lorna Mildice stayed with the TAP Tour all week, and cruised their JK Wrangler through the Wred Wrocks of Logandale. Thankfully, Mildice stepped up to the plate and showed off her photographic skills in the coverage of this event, while I Wrangled the Ultimate F-150 through places it shouldn’t have gone. It was dubbed the Blue Whale due to its size and the fact that I beached it more than once.
Andy Brown and Lorna Mildice stayed with the TAP Tour all week, and cruised their JK Wrangler through the Wred Wrocks of Logandale. Thankfully, Mildice stepped up to the plate and showed off her photographic skills in the coverage of this event, while I Wrangled the Ultimate F-150 through places it shouldn’t have gone. It was dubbed the Blue Whale due to its size and the fact that I beached it more than once.
Darrell Wade from Total Karnage was our trail guide and helped us out considerably. His Blazer has seen more than its share of modifications—and carnage. Wide vehicles and other fullsize rigs can make this trail, but longer rigs struggle a bit. Jon Rushing ran with us on the Bronco Falls trail at the 31st Hump-N-Bump event. His Comanche has been a 16-year work in progress, with a rebuilt engine, a swapped-in AX-15 tranny, an SYE kit, and spooled and locked axles with alloy axles and 4.56 gears. Rusty’s Suspension helps the trickster flex easily over the red rocks. Participating clubs this year included the Desert Wranglers, Nevada Backroaders, Total Karnage, and Vegas Broncos. Area clubs volunteer to help in a number of ways, including leading some of our trails. Hump-N-Bump committee chairman Jeff Jorgenson of the Vegas Valley 4 Wheelers set us up on the Bronco Falls trail, which was an awesome experience. Steep hills, off-camber cliffs, and incredible traction culminated with a rocket ship climb to the top. Andy Brown and Lorna Mildice stayed with the TAP Tour all week, and cruised their JK Wrangler through the Wred Wrocks of Logandale. Thankfully, Mildice stepped up to the plate and showed off her photographic skills in the coverage of this event, while I Wrangled the Ultimate F-150 through places it shouldn’t have gone. It was dubbed the Blue Whale due to its size and the fact that I beached it more than once. GenRight sponsored the Hump-N-Bump and the Parker Splash. As usual, GenRight owner Tony Pellegrino’s buggy drew a huge crowd waiting for a show once the trail was finished. The red rock sandstone of Hump-N-Bump provides incredible traction for your tires. This area is not to be missed, just like the event itself. Chief TAP Tour organizer and instigator (and BRC representative) Del Albright cruised his stickered-up TJ over the Sleeping Princess Trail outside of Bullhead City, Arizona. The desert trail is steep and rocky but provides a spectacular vista from the top of the mountain. We opted to go down the backside for a more interesting way home. Contact the Bullhead 4 Wheelers at <a href="http://www.bullhead4wheelersinc.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.bullhead 4wheelersinc.com</a>. The Bullhead 4 Wheelers took us on an impromptu tour of the area. Reg and Karen Beck in their ’98 Jeep TJ known as the Mach Turtle wheeled with us all day. Doug and Paula Ohm, Phil Strittmatter, and Joan Beck, along with Reg and Karen Beck, took us on the Sleeping Princess Trail. The club maintains the trail as part of the Adopt-a-Trail program, maintaining it at least twice a year with trash removal and sign upgrades. The view from the top is spectacular—and spans four states. Driving the Ultimate F-150 over 1,000 more miles on tough trails and desert highways was more fun than should be allowed. Getting used to the abilities and drawbacks of a hardcore IFS rig was a great experience. Shane Miller, secretary of the Parker 4 Wheelers, suggested a few trails we could try it out on. The Havasu 4 Wheelers (<a href="http://www.havasu4wheelers.org" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.havasu4wheelers.org</a>) gave us an impromptu tour of the Mohave Mountain area and Cactus Canyon. Jim Bowen, Darryld Kautzmann, Ken Weller, and Mike McClean took us through Cactus Canyon and showed us some great wheeling trails. That night, Del Albright hosted a BLM workshop with Rick Mooneyham from the Desert Sidewinders (who donated $2,000 to the BRC), and talked about their event called the 4x4 Fun Weekend (check it out at <a href="http://www.sidewinders4wheelers.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.sidewinders4wheelers.com</a>). About 50 folks from the area attended the workshop that the Albrights put on about land use, getting involved, and working with the BLM for public lands.
Rob and Katherine Graft from Nemesis took their four-door JK through the thick of it in Parker. We even let Rob drive (or dent) the Ultimate F-150 on a tight trail. His rig, Dixie, is set up with J8 axles stuffed with ARB Air Lockers turning 39-inch Krawlers on Hutchison beadlocks. A Burnsville 6.4L Hemi motors the beast along with plenty of power. The Desert Splash is a three-day event with almost 20 trails, from mild to wild. Due to the size of our F-150, we decided not to go on the tight trails. The wide ones would be tough enough. The club decks out its members in “Staff” T-shirts so you know exactly whom to ask for help or spotting. Steve Hart of the Borrego 4 Wheelers tries a little squeeze in his Wrangler TJ—a spot where our big truck got gashed. T&amp;T Customs out of Wyoming came with its yellow JK as well as a spare two-door JK. Bob and Mary Levenhagen try to take as many wheeling trips as possible while still minding the store back home. Getting a hardtop four-door JK through this squeeze was just as dicey as with the Blue Whale. However, the yellow ride made it through unscathed. One lady not afraid to wheel is Joan Beck, of the Bullhead 4 Wheelers. She’s been a member since 1989 and is currently the club secretary. She trailered her ’78 CJ-7 down to the Parker Desert Slash, where she is a regular. Beck’s an octogenarian that can outwheel most people we’ve seen on the trail, with a style and smoothness not normally seen. Her rig is fully capable from the ARB Air Lockers to the muffled small-block, and she’s not afraid to use it. This optional waterfall denied the Blue Whale and Beck, but she only needed her own winch to get over. Don McMillan from Daystar (yes, known as the Daystar Don) helped support the TAP Tour as well by bringing his snazzy TJ-sorta-8 on the trail. Naturally it’s loaded with Daystar stuff: motor mounts, 3-inch suspension pucks, 1-inch body lift, winch rope rollers and isolator, and a Gr8tops half-cab kit. McMillan even applied the flat Tangelo paint as well. The GenRight sliders and Metal Cloak fenders save the sheetmetal on the Parker trails.
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