Arizona wheeling to the Coke Ovens (Florence, Az)

[Triathlete]

The Canyon gets pretty narrow in some spots.


Once out of the canyon it was typical Az desert terrain...dirt and rocks!




dsrtrat reshaped one of his "bling" crome side steps which had to be removed to prevent it from rubbing on his tire. The second carnage of the day. The group stopped for a short break.


Some rare Az water..if you look close


We traveled along some more dirt and rock...thing were still going pretty good at this time.

[Triathlete]

Around this time the Toy got it first flat tire. Somehow he found the only screw on the trail in the middle of nowhere! Not having the tool to lower his spare, we got creative and got the tire out and changed the flat.
Had time to snap a few shots of the area.






Traveling down a ridge just before our next problem.






About this time the Toy tore a side wall...second flat in less than a mile! The 15 inch spare from a Trooper would not fit on the front...but it did on the rear. Musical tires! While they were changing the tire a few of us continued down the hill too see if the Gila River was crossable for the short way out. The brush was pretty thick.




Mother nature had done a job on the river crossing making it impassable...the crossing had turned into a house size washout/sinkhole! So the only way out was back the way we came. More bad news...30 yards after changing the flat the Toy tore a side wall...flat number 3! We ended up having to move the Toy off the trail and leaving it to be retrieved on a following day. Now the son was starting to run out! We loaded up and started heading back the way we came deciding to skip the Coke Ovens and save a little time. Heading out the shadows were getting very long.

[Triathlete]

The Coke Ovens from up on the ridge.




Shadows getting longer...sun geting lower in the sky.


This was the toughest obstacle of the day (both coming and going). The left line was actually the easiest due to a large hole on the back side the crossed up the axles if you took the right side...unless you had lockers, then it didn't matter.


After getting everyone through the obstacle we were making pretty good time but still had a long way to go.


Still on the trail we ran out of sunlight.






With the sun gone we forged on

We attempted to find an alternative exit at Box Canyon but after several wrong ways we decided to just go out the way we had gone in. Night time navigating is pretty hard if you are not familiar with the area. It was slow going but we found our way out! We hit pavement at 9:30. A short stop at the mini mart in Florence to air up the tire, grab a quick snack, and say goodbyes. Then it was a long drive home. I made it back to my door at 10:45. A long day, but I had fun. I wasn't able to take a lot of pics this trip, my photographer (wife) wasn't able to go on the trip. I stayed pretty busy driving and spotting.

[Triathlete]

Here is the post on the Planet board with more pics!
Victor, I know you guys got some pics...lets see them!

[Triathlete]

Victor,
Vincent wanted me to tell you THANKS for the help with his trail repairs.

DSRTRT and the toy guy wanted to throw you out an even bigger THANKS for helping with the toy recovery...they said they owe you a beer