05-25-2007 Crown King to Wagoner

Well I took Ruby out for her first desert run yesterday and did a back road from Crown King to Wagoner. I went with a couple of friends and our boys, and Drew came along with his 05 Rubicon Unlimited (3.5" RE Super-flex lift). This was a trail that he has done a few times as he has hunted in this area. After stopping off at Tower Mountain Lookout we proceeded down through the desert towards Wagoner. The trail is not very technical but their were some areas where I got to play with Ruby and get to use the lockers. I've never had lockers before on any of my vehicles so it was interesting getting to use them to get an understanding of how they work and what they can do. We did stop at a mining area for lunch and the boys got to do a little exploring. We came upon a 4' Gohper snake laying on the trail so we got to show the boys some native wildlife. As we started getting close to Wagoner we stopped off at Coopers Ranch to tackle an old fire road that took us up to the top of the mountains on the property. This road was nothing but loose rocks and small boulders for about 4 miles of bone jarring excitement. Of course I had to high center Ruby on a nice size boulder as I turned a corner and dropped into a runout. After building up some rocks and using the locker to back off we continued up the mountain to the top (where I proved that with front and rear lockers that you can dig into very loose dirt with all 4 tires and have to back down for a safer approach) to a small spring and a nice panoramic view of the surrounding area. After the drive down we spent some time relaxing in the Hassayampa river bottom catching tadpoles for the boys. Overall it was nice to get back out in the desert and tool around and explore. Hopefully I can get some pictures to post in my gallery (especially the high center one).

Ruby Can:

Well I took Ruby out for her first desert run yesterday and did a back road from Crown King to Wagoner. I went with a couple of friends and our boys, and Drew came along with his 05 Rubicon Unlimited (3.5" RE Super-flex lift). This was a trail that he has done a few times as he has hunted in this area. After stopping off at Tower Mountain Lookout we proceeded down through the desert towards Wagoner. The trail is not very technical but their were some areas where I got to play with Ruby and get to use the lockers. I've never had lockers before on any of my vehicles so it was interesting getting to use them to get an understanding of how they work and what they can do. We did stop at a mining area for lunch and the boys got to do a little exploring. We came upon a 4' Gohper snake laying on the trail so we got to show the boys some native wildlife. As we started getting close to Wagoner we stopped off at Coopers Ranch to tackle an old fire road that took us up to the top of the mountains on the property. This road was nothing but loose rocks and small boulders for about 4 miles of bone jarring excitement. Of course I had to high center Ruby on a nice size boulder as I turned a corner and dropped into a runout. After building up some rocks and using the locker to back off we continued up the mountain to the top (where I proved that with front and rear lockers that you can dig into very loose dirt with all 4 tires and have to back down for a safer approach) to a small spring and a nice panoramic view of the surrounding area. After the drive down we spent some time relaxing in the Hassayampa river bottom catching tadpoles for the boys. Overall it was nice to get back out in the desert and tool around and explore. Hopefully I can get some pictures to post in my gallery (especially the high center one).

 

Do you have any photos you can post?

Ryan 

ryangibson:

Do you have any photos you can post?

Ryan 

Ryan - I sent you some pics of my day out to Wagoner. I didn't take a whole lot of pics, so use the ones you'd like to post if any. I sent them to the info e-mail address. Didn't know where else to send them.

 JD

Look like a cool trail, I have never been there. And this time of year it should be perfect weather. I will have to place this area on my list.

-Ryan 

ryangibson:

Look like a cool trail, I have never been there. And this time of year it should be perfect weather. I will have to place this area on my list.

-Ryan 

I'd be willing to do this run again if you're interested.