After trying to sleep with all the tree frogs and other critters (it was deafening), we awoke to our normal PB&J sandwiches and hit the road. We were off to the tallest hill in the state. It is just a few feet shy of being a mountain. This trail was a two-mile loop through the trees. We went down the seemingly endless grade that was covered in loose dirt and boulders only to find a boulder trail that went on forever. This thing weaved through the trees, making it impossible to navigate through from the driver compartment.

To solve the navigation, I decided that it would be best if I walked the trail and helped spot John through it. The truck is really tall, so John was not always able to tell where he was on the trail or, most importantly, where I was. We had no radios, so we had to come up with some hand signals on the spot to get through this.

Axle Breaker Trail

At the very end of the rock trail was the hill climb back out, which was called Axle Breaker. This climb was probably close to 1/8-mile long and seemed to be straight up with turns and the occasional rock ledges. On a couple of the runs, your front end can come off the ground and land on one side, usually breaking an axle (thus the name Axle Breaker). This thing was tough and many rigs needed to be winched up. Since it took some time to get everybody up, I ventured to the top to watch the action and help with the winching duties. Actually, I was scared and didn’t want to ride along, but it was a great excuse – right?

On John’s run, he was the star of horsepower hill. He took off flying up the hill and on the first ledge the front end came down on the left front, stopping the wheel instantly as the observers yelled, “broken axle.” But wait — it started moving again! Then, on the next ledge, it came down on the right and again they yelled “broken axle!” But it started turning again. On the third ledge, the front came down on the right again, stopping the wheel cold and nobody said a thing. They just stood there in awe, wondering what was going on. Once John topped the hill, I looked over at Rick and said, “I guess we didn’t need that locker after all.” He responded, “I forgot to get that locker for you guys? Now I am really impressed.” We told Rick that we really knew how to make the Power-Loc work for us. Besides, it made it even more challenging.

Ultimate Adventure Banquet

That night, we were given a real treat: a hotel with laundry service, a hot shower, and a banquet dinner. At the banquet, we were given an award for our sportsmanship and willingness to help others. We were invited to return for the 2006 Ultimate Adventure.

The Journey Home

One of the things that I found interesting is that it took us three days to return home from a trip that only took us 24 hours to complete in the beginning. Although we did a little sightseeing on the way home and convoyed home with some of our new friends, it was still three days.

On the way home, we showed up at our new friend Allen’s parents house in Flagstaff, Ariz. They had an incredible house up in the forest where they put up their son and the half-dozen strangers he brought with him. These people opened up their house, treated us like family, and were actually sad to see us go. You should have seen the look on the neighbors’ faces when they saw all of our trucks invade their peaceful community.

A New Outlook on ‘Wheeling

This trip changed my whole outlook on ‘wheeling! I no longer care for mud. I want to return to the rocks! This inspired me to start building a 1969 Bronco for myself, and John completely redid his Bronco to make it more rock friendly for his return in 2006. I made a whole bunch of new friends that I continue to communicate with and cannot wait to reunite with them on the trails again. Unfortunately, I was not able to return to Ultimate Adventure in 2006 with John due to a death in the family, but you can read about all of John’s exploits and others at the Petersen’s 4 Wheel & Off-Road website. There is a lot more to this story than I have told, but they are my personal highlights.

For more information on truck and jeep parts, visit 4 Wheel Parts.

Here are a few other pictures from our trip.

 

Thanks again to 4 Wheel Off-Road Magazine.