Day One
On the way to the official meeting and kick-off spot at the Cabazon exit off Interstate 10 near Palm Springs, California, the luster of driving our trail rigs such a distance glimmered brightly. Many of us had not met before, but we soon realized that we all had something in common: insanity. With four Toyotas, two early Broncos, a Wrangler, a fullsize GMC pickup, and a CJ-2A, we began our trek to Apache Junction, Arizona. The others would meet us there and continue on.
Arizona in the summertime isn't exactly cool. With temperatures far enough over 100 to make sheetmetal sweat, highway driving in some of these vehicles wasn't a picnic. The interior temp in John Cappa's CJ-2A was hot enough to literally melt the soles off his shoes. However, all of the Toyotas were sporting air conditioning, a fact which garnered the Toyota drivers many disgruntled comments about a compressor being used for something other than on-board air.
The first breakdown occurred in Blythe, California. Greg's Bronco suffered a chaffed oil-cooler line as we were exiting for gas. The subsequent leak sprayed about 2 quarts of oil all over the front of the Bronco. A quick fix bypassed the cooler but gave us enough time to install a winch on Tom's Bronco.
It was a relief to reach the hotel in Apache Junction before dark. Drew changed a lower ball joint on his IFS Toyota that had been rattling for weeks before the trip.
The rest of our traveling companions met us at the hotel to fill out our attendance expectations. These included Trenton, who had towed his Blazer from Louisiana to Las Cruces and then drove the orange bomber to Apache Junction. We understood why Sam towed his monster CJ-7 from Tulsa. It would otherwise be a long drive on unbalanced 39.5-inch Boggers. Rob towed his Jeep too, but we have to give him extra credit for camping at every stop, even though it was in a 90-foot motorhome. We frowned on trailering rigs for this tour, but each of their cases was understandable. Even so, we still affectionately called them trailer weenies.
The official start of the 4-Wheel & Off-Road Ultimate Adventure was the Cabazon exit off Interstate 10. Most of the group met here, but a few coming from the east opted to meet us in Phoenix where our first trail day would be. We staged below the dinosaurs, questioned our sanity, and headed out wondering if we had built our 4x4s good enough for this challenge and whose would break first. We didn't have to wait long. Greg's Bronco blew an oil-cooler line in Blythe, hosing him and most of the Bronco down. With the aid of Steve and his CO2-powered air tools, Greg was ready to roll in no time. | 
Day two also had an unplanned roadside stop. Arizona Highway Patrolman D.S. Holweger couldn't resist pulling over the leader of this battered group to offer an official warning that any lifted 4x4 truck on Arizona roadways needs mudflaps, but Jeeps don't--go figure. We'll fix that right away, and we hope officer Holweger put those 4-Wheel & Off-Road license plates and stickers to good use. | 
Tom impressed all of us with the speed and control that the quarter-elliptical Bronco had on the pavement, and it really helped him get into some interesting situations on the trail. The first trail in our adventure was Upper Ajax, and it held a few really fun obstacles for our group. |