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Gringo&Gun

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Hit the following:

NP’s/Monuments:
- Saguaro NP AZ
- Organ Pipe NM AZ
- Sequoia NP CA
- Sequoia NF CA
- Kings Canyon NP CA
- Death Valley NP CA
- Mojave Desert CA
- Joshua Tree NP CA
- Yosemite NP CA
- Tahoe NF CA
- Redwood NP CA
- Six Rivers NF CA
- Crater Lake NP OR
- Malheur NWR OR
- Christmas Valley OR
- Jordan Valley OR
- Leslie Gulch OR
- Owyhee Mountains ID
- Boise NF ID
- Sawtooth NF ID
- Caribou-Targhee NF ID
- Craters of the Moon NM ID
- Shoshone NF MT
- Custer Gallatin NF MT
- Yellowstone NP WY
- Grand Teton NP WY
- Bridger - Teton NF WY
- Great Sands NP CO

States:
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Arizona
- California
- Nevada
- Oregon
- Idaho
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Colorado

POI:
- Las Cruces NM
- Tucson AZ
- Yuma AZ
- Vegas NV
- Lake Tahoe CA
- Klamath Falls OR
- Swan Valley ID
- Soda Butte MT
- Jackson Hole WY
- Steamboat Springs CO
- Winter Park CO
- Black Hawk CO
- Alamosa CO


Countless cities, towns, pull-offs, and trails in between. Took scenic routes, fire roads, and trails whenever possible. Being alone and always needed depleting daylight resource definitely most stress inducing part of trip.

Better understanding of need for studded chains biggest gaffe. Recovered park ranger in Sequoia NP along with multiple others at end of “ten mile road“ after 5800ft snow accent from from Hume lake. Stuck briefly in Sequoia, Crater Lake, and outside Jackson Hole (Kinda brief in the “hole”). Ice and extremely deep snow no friend of BFG’s KM3’s. Planning summer trip through Alaska and Canada next year.

Noteworthy moments and observations:
- SOS used on trail outside Jackson Hole (20 degree roll on ice toward cliff no fun)
- Hit deer outside Redwood NP
- Hit coyote outside Craters of the moon
- Axle shaft seal addressed in Tucson AZ
- Recovered high centered Lexus GX off iceberg last crossing Medano Pass in Great Sands CO NP
- Watched amateur recovery JL jeep kinetic rope pull bending control arms on jeep renegade
- Dodged countless elk night-driving Idaho and Montana
- Pulled over once in Montana (warning)
- Air compressor lines freeze up in single digit
- Door lock deicer needed on alu-cab doors (lucky I had)
- Guide on trail in Joshua tree through canyon very helpful
- Abandoned LX outside Black Hawk CO due to high snowdrifts and high centered trying to turnaround on shelf road
- Cracked the hell out of windshield
- Run into ditch by A-hole in CRV refusing to share single land snow road
- Heated wipers installed are well worth investment
- 5.13 on 37 average 16.5mpg/made trails and passes considerably easier
- Ranger station calls or visits understanding fire roads helped numerous times (still got lost in Six Rivers CA/OR area)
- Saw wildlife constantly (Deer/Elk/Moose/Bald Eagles/Antelope/Bison/Coyote/etc.)


Need to add the following IMO:
- Road Hazard Gear
- More Streamlights/Strobes
- Ax
- Chainsaw
- Kinetic Rope
- Max Trax Xtreme Set
- Alu-Cab Lock Covers
- Extra Air Pump hose and Gauge/4 fill system
- Board ground stakes with ropes
- Pneumatic Jack
- Beefy zip ties for board unison attachment
- Lighter packing (duffels vs. hard cases/soft cooler vs. hard etc.)
- Binoculars
- Finalize suspension direction

Link to 5000+ Mile Spring Circle:

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/big-circle-2022.59168/

Link to My Build Page:

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/a-chefs-gladiator.38141/post-935455


Picture Dump!

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator BE1AEA26-5371-4A34-B27C-584CE551F843

Saguaro
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator AFAD03FD-62DF-4980-BE2A-D6A7B1743168

Organ Pipe
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 5DB78673-E4FE-40B1-806E-643CF47DFFD9

Organ Pipe
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 5D22F9E7-EE46-4CC4-A6B6-0D14B50ECE64

Joshua Tree

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 6DC4C1BB-DFB2-4331-9D17-6AB07FE9A9CA

Sequoia
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator DD9B24CA-C17E-45D4-862B-E182CDC5C88E

Death Valley
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator C9769EBC-A96B-4E06-AA72-0467AFA77282

Redwood
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 10612479-830F-4A66-BFA3-7102E3694061

Leslie Gulch

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 588F16EB-C05D-4D7E-9D83-42E4B7255989

Leslie Gulch
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator F21DC9FE-4D39-412B-AA25-F72D5F7AA11F

BFNWyoming
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator A447C44D-D9F7-481E-8B95-2110552687AB

Black Hawk CO
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator B7262C0E-9035-4FF2-8524-7986B4429655

Black Hawk CO
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 248FC50C-1A6D-4D4C-993C-53C4B5C682DF

Off 80 WY snow/ice storm
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Gringo&Gun

Gringo&Gun

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And Pics….

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 7C75BEAE-4B75-47D5-9DD2-E62C37F0337D

Organ Pipe
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 6CB31D02-2643-4694-A41E-43DDB62C17B7

Joshua Tree
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 766D4E9A-CD95-4078-880B-B71D43CC8F7B

Joshua Tree
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 468B0099-A3CF-4E7B-9676-9BD2FFBC036F

Death Valley
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator CB2896BF-066A-489D-9CE7-E6C126914EA3

Redwood
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator FFF414D1-077D-4692-86A5-B299AB69DBCC

Crater Lake
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 56984631-998A-46DB-AE7D-E9F8FA81AD20

X-mas Valley
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 1705A2B2-DD1C-4F88-AE5E-172208A41F60

Leslie Gulch
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 76DC8998-A37A-43B3-AB36-5D7237E5F217

Leslie Gulch
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator A8251F86-0F2B-451C-A7BF-8AF6D9705FAF

Leslie Gulch
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator ACF48497-E732-4CBE-AE4D-B5C3B4FB6A09

Yes I liked Leslie Gulch
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator C3A9487F-4F8E-4E1B-91A2-EEE084ED2F33

BFN WY
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator B5514B8F-B113-42E9-8E69-E2304A695CE3

Black Hawk CO
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 70088BE7-2A04-4703-BD2A-1D58B48E8A17

Heading to Great Sands
 
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Gringo&Gun

Gringo&Gun

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And Pics…
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 1817FBC2-56D9-4C7A-9CED-DE24E7159CE7

212 climb outside Yellowstone
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 01A16D80-F93D-4427-975C-18DB48B617C7

Ten Mile Road Outside Sequoia
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 6D356AA8-F4A4-4805-8E4D-E06F27A68887

Sequoia digging

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 90B5F204-BC9D-42E7-B278-077222903D64

Ten Mile Road from Hume Lake outside Sequoia NP. This is when you know the snow is deep.
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator B95A6B73-5D6B-4533-91B2-35FE7B77DFEC

Boards and shovel rescued a many.
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 0A7B8EF9-6B1A-47EC-845F-81707CA3E527

Random lake in Sequoia
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 4E1DBF7D-7E71-48F2-B902-74C4CDDE3B4D

All the time camera clear.
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator D596B13E-F381-4B21-955A-4CFD0038B4F6

Back down 212. Went just pass 9000 ft before brain kicked in.
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 4BE5F661-6BA3-4851-A51F-06529FBFC866

Medano pass constant deep ice crossings
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator E501DA61-666F-4CB9-AC8C-C6CE6369F5EB

After ”breezing“ through last deepest and steepest crossing I spent 1 hour recovering high centered lexus. Took 36000lbs of winch to rescue.

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator C3869E94-D468-44BF-A75B-5AD0170FAB2C

Smokey Yosemite
Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 668CC0D7-E93A-4D84-BE19-0267522F9CF9

Six Rivers area before late night fire road driving.
 
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rr11

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Great trip.
 

Hemicommander

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This is exactly why I bought mine. Now I just have to work on my build and buy our little camper. Would love some pointers on how to plan the trip out and where to find the trails to take.
 

Medical_Bartender

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Awesome adventure!!

Can you elaborate on the compressor lines freezing? I have an ARB dual installed in my JK and just moved to CO where I’ve already seen multiple days into the 6-7 degree range. Did they just stop flowing air? I don’t quite get it unless moisture was introduced into the system somehow?
 

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Free2roam

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What is the little box with the fire in it? Awesome trip!
 
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Gringo&Gun

Gringo&Gun

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Awesome adventure!!

Can you elaborate on the compressor lines freezing? I have an ARB dual installed in my JK and just moved to CO where I’ve already seen multiple days into the 6-7 degree range. Did they just stop flowing air? I don’t quite get it unless moisture was introduced into the system somehow?
I snap hose and fill/gauge, next snap hose into fitting circled below, click compressor on and wait for tank to fill. Not uncommon for me to air-down two or three times a day. I must be creating enough moisture compressing air to block a line. Negative single digits night before and single digits morning of across swan valley at just under 8000ft. Hose will typically take pressure on immediately after kicking compressor on. That morning it did not, water was first thing to come to mind.

Tossed hand warmers along hoses, fittings, and quick connect coupler circled below and clicked on propane heater. Five minutes later hose popped with pressure coming back in. Solution is probably draining water more often. NOS bottle heat wrap not worth the effort.

Jeep Gladiator 8500mi Winter Big Circle 2022 Survived in Gladiator 532F90FE-6816-4809-9E31-9A4345FD0AB1
 
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BearFootSam

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Awesome trip, I really appreciate your taking the time to share your adventure. With regard to compressor lines freezing, do you have an onboard tank by chance? When I drove a lot of air braked vehicles in Afghanistan, it was critical to drain the air tanks before putting them away to blow out moisture that accumulates through condensation in the tanks. When we got a call to go at midnight in the cold it was critical that those trucks were ready to go in 15 minutes. Now I doubt you are moving the same volumes of air through your system as required on such large vehicles with brakes but this may be a good starting point. If you have the ability to blow out your lines after use that might help clear the lines as well to keep them from freezing up.

When you are pumping air the compressor is filling the lines with hot moist air, especially in winter, as the air in the lines cools, moisture condenses in the lines and freezes.
 

Medical_Bartender

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Good to know. I don’t have a tank with storage/lines to freeze per se but still something to consider.
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