CKayaks
Well-Known Member
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I lead a group over a short segment of the AZ Peace Trail the week of President's Day (15th-20th) Left Kingman on Sunday am. Came out in Parker Friday night. Following is an edited version I posted to the Peace Trail's FB forum. This trail was originally setup by SxS groups, so parts of it are iffy for full size rigs. It is a fun area to explore if you get a chance!
Photos on Flickr
How not to cross a river...
YouTube video - Crossing Bill Williams River
FB Post (edited):
One Jeep Gladiator (me), two Bronco Badlands, one 1995 Bronco (2-door, Baja racer rig), one Bronco Raptor, one lifted and modified Xterra ProX. All these guys are current or former Xterra owners that I've offroaded with for something like 15 years now. The Xterra's are hitting end-of-life. I am the lone Jeep among those migrating to Broncos.
Route included the main trial down the Hualapai Mountains. Trail down to Survivalists Camp was not passible for our rigs. We did a side loop to the "Old Cabin - Yucca". Route in from north was fine. Route out to the south required lockers and spotting. Some rock walls and slick, off camber spots. Lots of wash outs. Route out to Wood Ladder Mine was fine. Met a prospector from Alberta and his grandson there. Some good stories from them about the area. He has a set of claims in the area and was pulling assay samples.
The trail over the southern Hualapai is badly washed out. Passible with full size rigs with care. 4Lo required. With the exception of the Old Cabin, lockers not required.
No issues for the Gladiator, Xterra, older Bronco, and the Badlands that had a lift. The one that did not have a lift got a work out on their skid plates. The Raptor had no issues with vertical clearance, but it took some maneuvering and spotting to get the rig through the spots where the boulders choke off the trail.
In all cases, expect desert pinstriping! The brush and trees are thick and the trail narrow. Branches, not just twigs. My philosophy is that if you have an offroad rig, are offroading, you should not be whining about pinstriping. Stay at the mall if loosing shiny paint is a worry. The Hualapai's were the worst along this line. Some brush in the other parts of the route, but relatively minor. The river crossing areas had heavy willow growth and narrow passages in spots.
Monday night camp was in Deluge Canyon. Aptly named. We got over an inch of rain (per a tub left out overnight). Forecast said the winds were 40mph gusts. Sounds about right. One tent got blown out and they slept in their rig. Slick mud down from there to Chicken Springs Rd. Made the off camber spots especially interesting.
Given the Monday weather and more of the same forecast on and off during the week, Tuesday night we decided to setup a base camp about a half mile north of Groom Springs Corral. Did day trips out from there. Signal township, McCracken Mine, then out to Wikiup for gas on Wednesday. More rain and high winds Wednesday night. Thursday, down to Alamo Lake and a loop back. Flowers are starting to bloom and the two geologists in the group were having a grand day with all the rocks. Lots of stops to explore and take pictures. Half the group peeled off and headed out early on Thursday night and Friday morning early.
The two Badlands and the Gladiator wandered out to the Swansea area. I can attest that the deep water crossing of the Bill Williams is, indeed, deep. About half way up the doors of the 2" lifted Gladiator. We were more swimming than rolling. The Broncos wisely took the shallow crossing route. The Glad is now christened the "Swamp Bus". It will take a while to get that smell out of it.
I misjudged the boundaries of the Parker 400 race closure and we ended up in the area after we headed south from Swansea. (Original plan had us going to Salome, so I was winging it on the maps on the tablet.) Thankfully, we did not come across any racers before we ran into some of the race staff who got us off the course. They graciously arranged an escort for us out of the area and onto the main road to Parker. Got to see some fun vehicles fly by while waiting for that.
Photos on Flickr
How not to cross a river...
YouTube video - Crossing Bill Williams River
FB Post (edited):
One Jeep Gladiator (me), two Bronco Badlands, one 1995 Bronco (2-door, Baja racer rig), one Bronco Raptor, one lifted and modified Xterra ProX. All these guys are current or former Xterra owners that I've offroaded with for something like 15 years now. The Xterra's are hitting end-of-life. I am the lone Jeep among those migrating to Broncos.
Route included the main trial down the Hualapai Mountains. Trail down to Survivalists Camp was not passible for our rigs. We did a side loop to the "Old Cabin - Yucca". Route in from north was fine. Route out to the south required lockers and spotting. Some rock walls and slick, off camber spots. Lots of wash outs. Route out to Wood Ladder Mine was fine. Met a prospector from Alberta and his grandson there. Some good stories from them about the area. He has a set of claims in the area and was pulling assay samples.
The trail over the southern Hualapai is badly washed out. Passible with full size rigs with care. 4Lo required. With the exception of the Old Cabin, lockers not required.
No issues for the Gladiator, Xterra, older Bronco, and the Badlands that had a lift. The one that did not have a lift got a work out on their skid plates. The Raptor had no issues with vertical clearance, but it took some maneuvering and spotting to get the rig through the spots where the boulders choke off the trail.
In all cases, expect desert pinstriping! The brush and trees are thick and the trail narrow. Branches, not just twigs. My philosophy is that if you have an offroad rig, are offroading, you should not be whining about pinstriping. Stay at the mall if loosing shiny paint is a worry. The Hualapai's were the worst along this line. Some brush in the other parts of the route, but relatively minor. The river crossing areas had heavy willow growth and narrow passages in spots.
Monday night camp was in Deluge Canyon. Aptly named. We got over an inch of rain (per a tub left out overnight). Forecast said the winds were 40mph gusts. Sounds about right. One tent got blown out and they slept in their rig. Slick mud down from there to Chicken Springs Rd. Made the off camber spots especially interesting.
Given the Monday weather and more of the same forecast on and off during the week, Tuesday night we decided to setup a base camp about a half mile north of Groom Springs Corral. Did day trips out from there. Signal township, McCracken Mine, then out to Wikiup for gas on Wednesday. More rain and high winds Wednesday night. Thursday, down to Alamo Lake and a loop back. Flowers are starting to bloom and the two geologists in the group were having a grand day with all the rocks. Lots of stops to explore and take pictures. Half the group peeled off and headed out early on Thursday night and Friday morning early.
The two Badlands and the Gladiator wandered out to the Swansea area. I can attest that the deep water crossing of the Bill Williams is, indeed, deep. About half way up the doors of the 2" lifted Gladiator. We were more swimming than rolling. The Broncos wisely took the shallow crossing route. The Glad is now christened the "Swamp Bus". It will take a while to get that smell out of it.
I misjudged the boundaries of the Parker 400 race closure and we ended up in the area after we headed south from Swansea. (Original plan had us going to Salome, so I was winging it on the maps on the tablet.) Thankfully, we did not come across any racers before we ran into some of the race staff who got us off the course. They graciously arranged an escort for us out of the area and onto the main road to Parker. Got to see some fun vehicles fly by while waiting for that.
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