Along the Pig Trail Scenic Byway in the Arkansas National Forest we stopped at one of the
Day 7, Friday, July 9:
Long Road Day & Hard Work
Friday brought our second full road day, and it would be a different from any other day on any the UA. Péwé planned a cool endeavor for us that included quite a bit of hard labor. But first on the agenda was stopping at a liquor store in Missouri for some real beer. Oklahoma only sells 3.2 percent beer, and this one also sold puppies. The state also enforces crazy laws that beer cannot be sold on Sundays or most holidays (like the Fourth of July) or where folks may be unclothed. Now that’s just crazy!
We arrived in Etna, Arkansas, around noon and met our contact, T.K. Dictson (left). He exp
We know what you are thinking. The set-in-stone rule of the Ultimate Adventure is that alcohol on the trip can only be consumed in camp and only after the day’s driving or wheeling. Nobody guzzles hooch on the trail or on a road day. Inappropriate drinking on the UA is call for immediate dismissal. That said, there’s nothing wrong with having a cold beer or two around the campfire.
The county was still picking up the debris according to material types, so our UA crew mad
2011 was an extremely tough year for the Midwest due to a horrific tornado season. A number of communities in and around Tornado Alley were devastated, with some almost completely demolished. In the middle of the day we stopped in Etna, Arkansas, on Highway 23 just before crossing into Oklahoma. When we pulled into what was left of the community, we found it almost as devastated as when the tornado hit a month earlier. A huge swath of mangled trees, buildings, and wreckage was all we could see. We were told the devastating tornado ripped through the Johnson County and Franklin County areas for about 27 miles.
Our trucks, winches, and snatch ropes came in handy as we hauled debris and trees away. It
Péwé had set it up so we could help clean up some of the debris still lying around. After all, we had a crew of about 50 people, winches, and all kinds of tools. In a church parking lot we met T.K. Dictson, who would be our contact for the community. The church was one of the few remaining building after the tornado. T.K. directed us to a property where only a few walls of a residential house now stood. Most of us had never witnessed the aftermath of a tornado and were amazed at the devastation that twisters cause. It’s one of those reality checks that you really can’t comprehend or believe until you see it with your own eyes.
Making a separate pile of personal belongings for the family that lived here really drove
Our philanthropic mission for the day was to clean up the property for the family that had lived here. The couple survived the tornado by lying in the bathtub, the husband on top of the wife and children. We spent two to three hours cleaning up drywall, shattered and splintered lumber, personal property, destroyed trees and shrubs, and trash. Despite the triple-digit heat, we all felt great about helping out. Our time in Etna was certainly one of the highlights of this Ultimate Adventure.
When we rolled into Atoka later that evening the temperature was still blazing hot. After
Leaving Etna, we hit the highway headed for our final destination of Atoka, Oklahoma, our base for the last two days and nights. We arrived about 7:30 p.m. and the temperate was 107 degrees with 90 percent humidity. Some of our UA folks nearly hit the ground running into the Comfort Inn & Suites in Atoka. The air-conditioned lobby felt like heaven. We had spent four days and nights on the trail in some of the hottest, muggiest weather the Midwest has seen in decades. Clean sheets, hot meals, and cool showers were first on everyone’s agenda.
The fullsize V-8 FJ-60 owned and driven by Chuck Wigham with co-driver Mike Rasmussen amaz
Day 8, Saturday, July 10:
Buck Creek Ranch
Some of us lay in the hotel beds as long as we possibly could, soaking up the crisp air conditioning. The Comfort Inn & Suites is more luxurious than we really deserved, especially since this is the Ultimate Adventure. However, it gave us weary travelers time to clear our head, regear our energy levels, and rest up for one last day of tough four-wheeling. None of us knew that one trail would take us all day.
Dave Chapelle is one of those UA cronies who are great four-wheelers. We can’t tell if we
After the final drivers meeting promptly at 7:30 a.m. we met Joe Eaves of Toy Soldiers, who was our trail guide for the day. Joe took the lead as we hit the road for Buck Creek Ranch & Off-Road Park. Buck Creek is a 2,000-acre ranch that caters to off-road adventure and deer hunting. It has 12 trails now and plans on adding eight more with the addition of another 500 acres. The trails here are long, and the Redneck Rivera Trail is over 15 miles long.
Since everyone on Ultimate Adventure by now was a seasoned four-wheeler, Joe recommended we run the Say No to Joe Trail, which is one of the park’s toughest. We didn’t realize that it would take us all day and into the evening, almost causing us to miss the UA victory and celebration dinner.
The rocky trails at Buck Creek Ranch were challenging and tons of fun. Keith Bailey, a lon
The Say No to Joe Trail is a creek bed about a half a mile long. It’s filled with tight squeezes between trees and large granite rocks, some as large as small cars. Our Ultimate F-150 ran the gauntlet and performed exceptionally until the front axleshaft boot was ripped off and the shaft fell out. But after some fancy repairs by Randy Ellis, Chris Durham, and Fred Williams, the truck was up and running and through the obstacles in under an hour.
The owner of the park and staff carried quite an amazing BBQ lunch to us at the end of the trail. After a quick respite from the action, we quickly ran the last few hundred yards of trail and headed back to Atoka to throw the Ultimate Adventure victory dinner.
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One guy makes every obstacle every time: Chris Durham. He not only makes the obstacles, bu
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Ricardo Olavarrieta and Faron Tidwell represented Bubba Rope and wheeled around in Ricardo
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Our faithful tail gunner, Clifton Slay, has a whole slew of past and crazy UA stories to t
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Blake Shepherd wheeled one of the few fullsize Jeeps we’ve seen in years on Ultimate Adven
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Once the guys from Zone Off-Road got the front axle of their Comanche squared away they fi
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A Nissan Frontier isn’t a truck we see on the UA very much, and Mike Marrero’s was a great
After a week on the road and off, the Ultimate Adventure finally came to an end. The staff
Day 9, Sunday, July 11:
Homeward Bound
Ultimate Adventure 2011 was great. The staff, old cronies, invited readers, and film crew visited sites in the Midwest that we perhaps never would have seen, wheeled out-of-the-way trails we never would have conquered, made new friends, and helped folks in need in a very meaningful way. Although the Ultimate Adventure’s main purpose is to wheel the toughest trails we can find, putting both man and machine to the ultimate test, it’s also about learning, showing respect for the land, and setting a good example for other four-wheelers. If you’re interested in joining next year’s UA, see the application at 4wor.com/ua12app.
Ultimate Adventure Parks
Buck Creek Ranch/Off-Road Park
Daisy, OK
512.585.1954
www.buckcreekranch.us
D-Day Adventure Park
Wyandotte, OK
918.666.3411
www.ddayadventurepark.com
Jones Mudfest
Lockwood, MO
www.jonesmudfest.com
Kansas Rocks Recreation Park
Bourbon County, KS
www.ksrockspark.com
Wheelin’ World 4x4 Offroad Park
Eureka Springs, AK
www.wheelinworld.webs.com