Hobart Welders: Official Welder
The Hobart team shows up bright and shiny at the beginning of the week, but within a few days they're covered in dirt, grease, and sweat. Lucky for us, they're still smiling and having a great time cutting, welding, and grinding. This year, as in the past, the Hobart Tech Trailer offered up every option of stick, MIG, TIG, plasma, torch, and grinder you could imagine. The good news is all of Hobart's products will also fit in your very own garage for your next build or repair project. Our perennial favorite, the mobile MIG Trek 180, served up duty in places not able to be reached with an extension cord. Look for our full review in a future issue.
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Planning and executing the Ultimate Adventure has become an art over the years because it's such a herculean event. As much as we'd just like to throw a clean pair of socks and underwear in the glovebox and hit the highway, the UA just wouldn't be the same without detailed planning. We're not saying that it's as complicated as moving the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force to a new theater of war, but it does demand comprehensive logistics and a lot of local support.

Welcome to Part 2 of the '09 Ultimate Adventure. For those of you just joining in, here's a refresher on what the UA is all about. While the off-road convoy can easily be confused for a traveling circus, the reality is that this off-road adventure is great mix of people, trails, camping, and drives through the amazing countryside and small towns across the nation. With the expedition covering fresh territory each year, it has evolved into one of the most challenging and incredible weeklong wheeling trips on the planet.inline_mediumwraptextright25684901/eventcoverage/131_0912_2009_ultimate_adventure_four_wheeling_2131_0912_05_z+2009_ua_midwest_2+4x4_mud_puddle.jpgTrue

Did you witness "the flip"? If you did you must have been at the 4th Annual Vermonster 4X4 competition, home of the world's first monster truck backflip. Twice a year thousands gather in Bradford, Vermont, for the Vermonster 4x4 mud fling weekend. People from 12 states and two Canadian provinces attend the event. It is held twice a year: the first weekend in May and the last weekend in September. This whole event is thanks to the imagination of Randy Oakley. Oakley started it as a place to have his own mud run. Each year the event gets bigger. In May there were 2,500 people in attendance each day.inline_mediumwraptextrightPreparing to attempt the world's first monster truck backflip, Larry Quick had been practicing the stunt in his hard-charging Ghost Ryder truck-but lost out to gravity this time. Quick successfully did his 360-degree flip later that evening to become the world's first monster truck to complete a backflip. You can check it out at Vermonster4x4.com.26811952/eventcoverage/131_0912_2009_vermonster_4x4_monster_trucks_race131_0912_03_z+2009_vermonster_4x4+truck_backflip.jpgTrue

Everyone needs a vacation. It doesn't have to be an exotic trip to Thailand, but it's good to break away from your regular routine, if only for a few hundred miles from the place you call home. And while it's usually more fun to have a place to wheel when you arrive, sometimes the journey to your destination can be just as relaxing and enjoyable.inline_mediumwraptextright26572492/eventcoverage/131_0912_camping_at_jellystone_national_park131_0912_01_ford_f350_vacation+yogi_bear.jpgTrue

Readers: Dale and Zane Znamenacek
Dale Znamenacek grew up listening to her grandfather tell stories of wheeling his old GPW flatfender jeep, so it just made sense that her future husband, Zane, would be a guy with that off-road interest. After they got married, Zane talked her into getting a '99 Wrangler fresh off the showroom floor as a daily driver and wheeling rig. His real plan was to get Dale's consent to build a cool Jeep that would eventually be his, but it backfired when she got the four-wheeling bug even worse than he.

Every wheeling trip is an adventure. Whether it's the last-minute scramble to meet your buddies at the local mud hole or being broken on the trail and in need of that one tool you managed to leave back home, chaos seems to shadow most off-road journeys. It's these very trips that our campfire stories are built from. For true adventure seekers, we have created the off-road trip of a lifetime, the Ultimate Adventure.

Drummond Island, Michigan, is not well known by city dwellers many miles south in the expansive concrete wasteland known as the Motor City. You will be hard-pressed to find speed limit signs, traffic lights, or rowdy crowds to put a damper on your fun. The 136-square-mile island is just east of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and has a vast trail system that will keep you driving for days in the dirt.

It started with a $5 bet between Bob Schuler and his friend. Bob has some property in central Pennsylvania, and after logging a small section he ended up with a little mud bog fed by a nearby spring. As can happen, a wild hair got Bob stuck in the pit one day, resulting in long hours of digging, dragging, and winching to free himself. While telling the story to a friend, Bob commented that even his buddy's truck on 44-inch tires would get stuck in this hole since it was so deep, sloppy, and sticky. The next thing you know a small wager was placed on that hole.

Gray Rock ORV Park in Gardendale, Alabama, was home to a plethora of four-wheeling and rock racing competitions when both the Southern Four-Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA) and the Xtream Rock Racing Association (XRRA) converged there during a rainy weekend last May. Though threatened by mud, slick rocks, and looming tornados, the four-wheelers came from all across the south side of our nation for the action.

When it comes to nonstop entertainment it's hard to beat a good old-fashioned mud race. From the roar of the 2,000hp unlimited dragsters ripping through the slop to the daily drivers and beater Jeeps battling the trenches, mud racing is simply a blast to watch. Avid four-wheel enthusiast Darrel and Deborah Jones created the Lee County Mud Motorsports complex in Sanford, North Carolina, as a place to bring family fun, entertainment, and competitive mud racing together.

Nestled off the coast of North Carolina is a place of easy wheeling, cool ocean breezes, and a family-friendly atmosphere. Known by most of the locals as the North End, Freeman Park is one of the few remaining east coast beaches that allow seaside lovers to drive, camp, and shore-fish on the beach. To make it out onto the sand you'll simply need a four-wheel drive and a day or year pass. While it's not required, airing down makes the trek a bit easier.

What makes a rig seem indestructible? Is it an over-the-top multilink suspension system fitted with shocks that sound more like your grandpa's heart surgery? Maybe it's a set of custom Dana 60 axles with cryogenically frozen parts that even Superman can't break? Well, for all of you looking for that perfect bombproof formula for building a rig, just ask the competitors of the King of the Hammers, or maybe just the ones who finished (sorry, guys--just a little race humor).

Flat Nasty off-road park is not flat, but it sure is nasty. We headed out there for the New Year's Eve Ride and Pig Roast (we admit our stomachs have a great influence on trail ride selection). It was a total blast. This 850-acre park in central Missouri is a great mix of rolling wooded hills, rocky rutted riverbeds, and sometimes muddy climbs. Flat Nasty also has one cabin perfect for a small group to rent as well as campsites, and they hold lots of events all year. One such event is their 15-Hour Nightmare Run, where you wheel all night and have a big breakfast come dawn. The park is also open to ATV and motorcycle riders, and they even have a small off-road race course. Plus last year BFGoodrich picked the park's White Knuckle trail as part of its Outstanding Trails program. We'll definitely be back some day to do more wheeling, especially if they roast another piggy.

Whether you are a full-time welder or an industry foreman, chances are you're feeling the economic crunch. For many of us this means holding off on any 4x upgrades and cutting your hobby budget in half. But don't let that stop you from getting out on the trail. Sure, you might not think a weekend trail ride is a sound idea when money is tight, but think of it not as spending money but rather investing in happiness.

I'm not the King of the Hammers, but for all the fun and laughs I had racing, I probably qualified to be the Jester of the Hammers. I spent the weeks prior to KOH buttoning up the Fun Buggy to transform it from a trail buggy to a race rig. I knew going into this race that crossing the finish line in front of some of the biggest names in rockcrawling/racing would be a long shot, but having always wanted to be a "professional" race truck driver I was going to give it my all.

Friends, family, great trails, having fun. That's what four-wheeling is all about. While the blistering cold and windy weather might keep some bundled up by the fire, we found a group of die-hard wheeling enthusiasts that can't be scared away by bad weather. Meeting up on the red clay hills of Barnwell Mountain OHV Area, we jumped in line in East Texas as the kind and fun-loving locals locked in their hubs, aired down their tires, and--for those lucky enough to have them--turned up their heaters all the way.

The arid desert landscape may look foreboding to first-time visitors, but Johnson Valley is a recreational Mecca and one of California's most frequented off-road vehicle destinations. There aren't very many designated OHV areas left in America that offer the diverse terrain that can be found here. The Hammer Trails, located in the Hartwell Hills of Johnson Valley, are world famous and as extreme as trails get. The sandy washes, dry lakebeds, and vast stretches of desolate high-speed trails attract thousands of recreational enthusiasts each weekend. This area has been enjoyed by millions over the past few decades. It's disheartening that parts of this recreational haven may soon be closed to the public.

Believe it or not, there are still little-known four-wheel-drive trails scattered across this great country that are worthy of national attention, but kept as well-guarded secrets. The locals who frequent these trails won't give up their locations easily. But for those lucky few outsiders that get to wheel them, the experience of an extreme trail in its pristine state and remote wilderness adventure is all too cool.

Thursday, February 26th 2009, 38 drivers and rigs from all across the nation lined up at the starting line to take on the grueling 2-mile King of the Hammers Last Chance Qualifier loop that included high speed desert whoops and gnarly rock crawling up the famous Back Door trail. The top 14 competitors to finish the LCQ earned a spot in the 2009 King of the Hammers Race.

Each and every vehicle entered in the 2009 King of the Hammers race was required to go though Tech Inspection. Held the day before the race, after the LCQ, this is where all vehicles were equipped with a satellite tracker, each driver given the opportunity to sign up for contingencies, and each rig given the once over to be sure it was safe for competition.

As the world's largest 4x4 mag, we are required to travel around the globe and wheel our tails off, then come home and write about it. It's a rough job, but we do it for you. And many of our readers are located south of the equator in South America, with Chile being a prime 4x4 center. From the famed Patagonia in the south to the awesome Atacama Desert in the north, Chile has something for every type of 4x4 driver. Chile even has its own version of our Moab Jeep Safari, an extravagant desert event named Raid Atacama. It's called a raid because roughly 500 vehicles all start at the same time and somewhat followthe leader through sand dunes and desert for four days of fun wheeling, racing, and getting stuck.

Mud events are big news around the country, and rightly so--they are a blast. We usually have no idea what we are in for when we jump on a plane and head off to a mudfest, except we know we're always in for a great time. Being truck guys, we're certain it has something to do with the hundreds of uniquely and heavily modified rigs and furious 4x4 action--oh, and the fact that 99.9 percent of the participants and spectators have a smile on their face and mud in their teeth.

Panamint Valley is a vast desert basin wedged between the spectacular mountain peaks of the Panamint Range to the east and the Argus Range to the west. Both ranges are filled with amazing four-wheel-drive trails and replete with adventure and history. This has been the perfect setting for one of the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Club's (CA4WDC) best-known events for the last 23 years-Panamint Valley Days.

When we heard of an ice-racing feature, our first thoughts were of crazy Colorado guys with spikes sticking out of their tires Mad Max style. And while these Canadian guys and gals are just as crazy, the spikes were only in the quad and bike classes. We're talking about the Challenge Sur Glace Continental at Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Held every February since 1999, the event comes over from Chamonix, France, where we, having driven those mountain roads in the winter oursleves, figure they are even crazier. Continental Tire is the title sponsor of the event, and they hosted us at the event while giving us some winter driving tips.