We met at the Chevron on Carefree hwy at 9:00 am. many people were early and alot of introductions were done. We had 12 vehicles show up at the beginning and had 11 hit the trail and approx 24 people, JohnxyX who was not able to go even made a guest appearance. We waited until around 9:30 for a few others we were expecting, At which time we figured they were going to be no shows, We lined up along Carefree Hwy and made our way up to the Lake Pleasant area where we aired down and started our ride to the trail head at around 10:00 am. With DR leading the way we made our way up the road in good time. we made our way up the trail a mile or so when we came up on a Range Rover 4x4 group of about 8 vehicles and with them included a brand new Hummer H2 still with temp tag. we will running into them several times along the trail as it turns out. At the first big obstical DR climbed up effortlessly and set the stage for the others. Datz510 showed us all why SAS and all his hard work was worth it when he did the hill with the AC chanking, Stereo Jamming and the Pirate Ship flexing its way to the top with zero effort. Spike then gave it a try and ended up breaking a rear axle shaft . JasonAZ and his Dad Both made the obstacle look like it was no problem also. Several of us also made the climb and a few did the bypass. we continued up the trail working the different obstacles and enjoying some awesome scenery. A big "WAY TO GO" for SoldierX and BillWil for some great driving just to name a few. Conundrum had is usual "No problem" skills in place. The SWANKy gang as always were fun to wheel with and very supportive during the run. We made it effortlessly up the trail and past the Ledge Obstacle which is no longer. It has been basically leveled out and for most, wouldn't have even noticed until we stopped at the next ostacle they were told they had already gone past it. Which brought us to what may just be the next "Ledge" A new route had been added when the rain washed out a section of the trail, this area is a steep climb in soft powder dirt with a sharp left hand turn at the top. Many other wheelers and people were taking a break here and enjoyed watching the trucks climb this hill. We were once again held up at this point with a back up of vehicles making up this obstacle. Since the broken Half Shaft Datz510 has running ahead of spike just in case and this became a "just in case issue" with the incline and angle of the turn. A creative winching technique had to be used to get Spike up this hill. With the use of a snatch block and good teamwork spike was up and over with minimal time delay. Everyone else made it up without incident and we continued up the trail. About 2 miles up the trail further and about 5 miles outside Crown King we stopped for a break and to stretch our legs, what a beautiful spot! Wide open area, shade trees and even has a crystal clear creek running through it. The kids played by the creek and others snacked and eat some lunch and we talked about our trip to this point. Very nice and enjoyable rest break. We continued on after about an hour and arrived at our destination of Crown King just before 4:00 pm. Most went to the Mill for a late lunch or early dinner, and a few people headed out at this time. After eating some went to the General store for the fudge and others departed towards home. It was an awesome day spent with great people and good trails. I for one look forward to getting out again with this group and enjoying more of the AZ trails. I will get some of my pictures up shortly, Again thanks goes out to all that went on the run, and I look forward to doing another run with you all soon.

It was great to finally meet Andy (desert rat) and John (Datz510). Especially, after reading so much about them (buildups etc.), watching all the swanky videos, and looking at all the pictures from the past few years on N4W. The actual run itself was incredible. Ck provided enough challenge to keep everyone (speaking for myself and my dad) on their toes, and lunch was great (awesome food). This has been the best single day run I have been on since moving to AZ 7 months ago. Thanks for the great experience everyone!

Niice Sounds like a great run. I know the weather was great, I was outside either doing yardwork or wrenching on the X. Sounds like you made good time and in hindsight, perhaps I might've been able to get home in time to clean up and get downtown to the DBAX game Sat. night . Good game but we lost by 1 in the 9th..
LESSEE' some pics!!!

Nice writeup Mike.
I was a long but enjoyable trip and I would most definately do it again. Thank you everyone!

I need one of those 'This Thread is Useless without Photos' icons!

Awaiting an Admin to approve my subscription to n4w, so someone put some photos up. If you need somewhere to upload them, then create yourself an account at: http://www.rinky.us/coppermine/ and upload them there.

Here are my pics.. didnt take too many, but there are a few cool ones:

A nice rover on the trail:


Desert Rat going up one of the hard spots:






This is where Ben broke his rear axle!!!

and *BANG*.. and he backed down..




Jasonazx conquering another optional hill:

The pirate ship flexed out a bit:





Andy fixed his seat covers (he has the black & blue frontier):

Rinky, you should be able to get to the Tire Tracks forum:

http://nissan4wheelers.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/119603133/m/85110600521

Nice. I like the modded seat cover Looks / sounds like a fun time was had by all. Apart from the dude who broke the axle

Here a few pictures I took, didnt take many myself, Although the memories of this trip will remain for along time, Was fun!
/Crown King Pictures /

I had a great time and it was nice to finally meet many of you. Thanks for a great day!

Here are a few pics...enjoy.

A few more can be seen here in my Crown King Backroad Album .

*************************************
Airing down at the trailhead


The brand new H2 (still had temp tags) that had to pull over because the DVD kept skipping. I don't know who said that...but it was the funniest thing I heard all day...


And some more from the trail. Sorry some of these were taken through my very dirty windshield. Thanks to my buddy and passenger, Todd, for taking care of my camera most of the day and getting many of these shots (not to mention making sure I got my passenger side tires where I wanted them).

And a few more...





And how about a little scenery?




Not a bad way to spend a Saturday...

Absolutely awsome pictures, especially the Flex ones. Thank you all.!

Mucho fun. Great pics guys!

Great write up and great pics. I was on a 200 mile motorcycle ride that I had been planning for 2 months otherwise I would have been there.