ultimate Adventure 2011 Part 1 - jeep In Mud - Photo 38351976

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It had rained heavily, and the trails were slick and muddy. It was so slippery that everyone had trouble walking around, much less driving up a steep slippery slope. We put the recovery gear and winches to the test the entire day.

The Country Inn & Suites in Nevada, Missouri, was the starting point for Ultimate Adventure 2011. Amazingly, everyone showed up on time ready to rock.

Sometimes the adventure starts before we even make it to our first destination. On the way to the UA we found Tech Editor Fred Williams limping along Interstate 40 at about 45 mph somewhere in New Mexico. The bearings had gone out in the trailer’s wheel hubs. After some parts chasing and the help of a Ray’s Truck Service in Tucumcari, New Mexico, we were back on the road in a couple of hours.

There’s always some component being repaired, altered, hopped up, or installed anywhere we stop. It just wouldn’t be the Ultimate Adventure without impromptu wrenching. Trent McGee and Verne Simons quickly finished wiring a new Warn winch on Dave Chappelle’s ’99 Isuzu Amigo.

The first day of the UA old friends and new get together to check out the rigs and new hardware and catch up after another year has flown by. Some of the guys gather around the Warn Jeep as Chad Schroll tells them about the latest and greatest winch.

Editor Péwé doesn’t let anything slip during the vehicle inspections. Every part and safety equipment on the checklist must be on the vehicle when he walks around with the infamous clipboard. It’s not uncommon seeing participants searching around town for overlooked requirements.

Early Sunday morning brought the first road-day drivers meeting, which was quick. For the new guys, Rick went over how we travel. Even though we had a short 50 miles to our destination in Kansas it would be a long day of driving, wheeling, repairs, and fun.

Our road days are filled with stops, always a great time for one more meeting before we make it to our destination. “Everyone make sure you are sticking together and nobody is doing anything screwy like stopping on the side of the road to buy a puppy.”

Former UA’er (2005) and cover boy Jake Good drove with us from Fort Scott to make sure we found the park without any complications. Once we arrived at Kansas Rocks and after a quick meet and greet with the park staff, Jake led through the trails in his tricked-out early Ford Bronco.

It had rained heavily, and the trails were slick and muddy. It was so slippery that everyone had trouble walking around, much less driving up a steep slippery slope. We put the recovery gear and winches to the test the entire day.

Luckily the Ultimate F-150 was rolling on 40-inch Nitto Mud Grapplers, which greatly helped with traction. The massive tread blocks on the Grapplers offered better grip than other less aggressive tires. However, we think even steel tank tracks would have had problems here.

Kansas Rocks is heavily forested. The tight, tree-lined mazes made for the most technically challenging driving on the UA. Feature Editor Ali Mansour didn’t have any problems here blasting through the trials in a 5.9L-powered TJ.

Even the smallest of rocky ledges on the trail were a challenge. Tires quickly filled up with mud like snotty goo, making traction almost impossible. The rigs with big horsepower, like the Warn Jeep manned by Chad Schroll and Fred Perry, fared better.

Just as much time was spent on recovery and repair at Kansas Rocks as on four-wheeling. We couldn’t keep track of how many times winch lines were pulled and the Bubba Rope snatch straps were used.

Trail repairs are great fun. Throw a little mud in and … well, you crawl under the rig and fix it! There were more repairs this day than any other, including Mike Marrero’s driveshaft bolts, which fell out before we hit the trailhead. That might have been a practical joke, but we’ll never know!

On the other side of Zuk’s Squeeze was an unassuming 2-foot ledge, but the slick mud made climbing it almost impossible. The ledge beat some of our best drivers, such as Clifton Slay. His Jeep easily started the climb, only to slowly slide backward then flop on its side.

The Ultimate F-150 received a fair amount of damage on the last trail of the day. The climb was steep with lots of trees, which wiped out both sides of the truck then took out the side mirror and shattered the rear driver-side window.

Up early and off on the Fourth of July. It was a great day for a drive though the Midwest on one of America’s finest days. We only had a 50-mile drive to the Jones Mudfest and Trails, but it wasn’t without fun and unusual stops.

On our way we stopped at an abandoned store in the middle of nowhere. The roadside stops are welcome. They are a great way to soak in the history and culture of areas we’ve never visited.

Yup, another meeting. “Spray for bugs, be safe, watch for copperheads, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.” Brad Jones introduced us to the crew at the park and explained the trails and history of his working cattle ranch.

Tim Coltey of Nitto Tire was one of the few drivers and vehicles to make it across this section of mud. Lucky guy, because all of the vehicle recoveries were extremely muddy and messy.

We sure found what we were looking for at the Jones park: mud. Three or four rigs made it across this section of bog, but most took a high-rpm running start only to be stopped dead center.

Matt Kime gave us the thumbs-up after he throttled through the mud pit. Undoubtedly this is where horsepower and driving skill helped conquer another crazy Ultimate Adventure obstacle.

Even the most capable rigs, like Blake Shepherd’s ’78 J-10 Honcho, didn’t make it very far into the muck. He’s trying to explain his line, but the 3-foot wall of mud put an end to any progress.

More tight trails! Outside of the mud pits the trails wind their way through the heavily forested park. Corey Osborne pushed his way through the brush knowing there was no need to worry about paint here because it was already scratched.

Here’s a close look at the mud that stopped most rigs in the tracks. This isn’t typical of the park’s event mud pits, but this stuff smells like what it looks like! Thankfully we were able to use a high-pressure sprayer at the end of the day.

Phil Dunievitz and his old ’75 Ford blasted through most of the obstacles on the UA with ease. It was refreshing watching Phil wheel his truck since we don’t get many fullsize classic Fords on the Ultimate Adventure.

Ed Covey at D-Day Adventure Park chats with the UA group to explain the park and trails. D-Day’s trails are an incredible and challenging mix of every type of terrain we could think of, and then some.

After our mud run we found ourselves on tight trails with some creek crossings. Chuck Wigham found this a great opportunity to wash some of the tarlike mud off his FJ-60.

On the way off the trails at Jones Mudfest and Trails, we had to climb up and over an old farm wall. The stones were placed here over a hundred years ago when the fields were cleared. Paden Saracino’s ’98 XJ made short work of the climb and was up and over in no time.

Carter Reed and co-driver Dave DeVormer from Zone Off Road Products blasted up this tricky hillclimb. The hill wasn’t too steep, but the loose gravel and stones made gaining traction extremely difficult.

Builder of the Ultimate F-150, Randy Ellis wheeled everything with ease in his last-minute, thrown-together Sami, so much so that we bet everyone shows up in a Samurai at next year’s Ultimate Adventure.

Faron Tidwell representing Bubba Rope and his driver Ricardo Olavarrietta were a couple of great guys to have on the trail. Faron supplied everyone on the trip with a Bubba Rope, which was one of the most-used recovery tools of the trip.

Stephen Watson of Offroad Design and his brother Brandon are always great to have out on the trail. Both are expert off-road drivers. Stephen quickly made it up and over an obstacle that gave so many other drivers trouble.

Chad Noll from Quigley Motor Company joined us this year and brought along one of the company’s ’11 Ford 4x4s to shuttle the film crew in. More than a few of us were a little jealous watching Chad and the film crew motoring along in comfort.

The Quigley van quickly turned out to be more than a shuttle. It was lifted and fitted with lockers front and rear and a Warn winch. The van inevitably turned out to be an awesome recovery vehicle.