Ok guys,
So I will be available from Thursday the 10th through Monday the 13th for shooting. I don't know how far everyone is but for those that are in the immediate area that wanted to come together for a preliminary meet and greet dinner on Friday that would be a good idea so everyone knows exactly what we are going to be doing the next day. If someone has a big back yard and BBQ we could do it at someone's house or if the group would rather meet at a restaurant that would be great too. It might be a good idea to have a backup restaurant just incase the weather gets bad. Then there is the question on where and what trails we should hit? I will be going through Flagstaff so it would be nice if we weren't too far out of the way, plus others were saying that because of the heat it might be better to meet more towards the north anyway. It is totally up to you guys though. You guys know all the best places so post em up and we will all decide as a group where we end up. Let's hear it guys!

 

My appologies...
All posted dates are during the month of August.

 

Picked a good time to be down there, eh?

 

Everything sounds great, I would love some gnarly stuff but I want to include as many people as possible. We are in the middle of discussing the same problem with the NM guys. I could be in AZ as early as Wed and leave as late as the following wed so if people are available for a mid-week ride I'd be down for it too! Then we could have a easy run during the weekend so we could get everyone together? Or we could do an easy run on friday and a harder run on sat-sun what do you guys think?

 

Trails in the area south of Flagstaff:

Sight seeing day trips:

Take Woody Mountain Road south from Flagstaff to the cliffs overlooking Sedona Red Rock country - awesome veiws in the high pines.

Schnebly Hill Rd. is Sedona, AZ. - easy graded road with stunning veiws.

Broken Arrow in Sedona, AZ (scenic, easy trail in the red rocks)

Mingus Loop trail (very easy dirt road from Cottonwood, AZ. to the top of Mingus Mt., connects to Smiley Rock Trail)

More difficult trails:

Smiley Rock near Jerome, AZ (easy trail on Mingus Mt.)

Smasher Canyon near Cottonwood (very difficult trail - Solid axle rigs only on 35's or better, night or early, early morning only due to temps in the upper 90's to low 100's, must be willing to take some damage)

There are several other opportunities near Prescott, AZ. that range from easy to very difficult: DeSoto Mine trail, Maverick Ridge/Mount Trittle (including Riggles Hill), and the Iron King Mine Loop.

Unfortunately, I'll be unavailable during your trip dates. Gone fishin'!

 

Well here is the deal. All of the "really hard" stuff is down the I-17 in the desert near Phoenix.

If you "really" want a show, it's Lower Terminator. This is a very serious trail and is only for very experienced drivers and very well built trucks.

There are a bunch of local guys that recently added front ARB lockers and have done well on some of the other not as hard as this but hard none the less trails.

The only draw back with Lower Terminator is that not every one can go.

If you want "everyone" trails, that would be what Longfield posted above, since your skipping Moab, Broken Arrow would be interesting, but really nothing like Moab at all.

I think if they were really really careful, I'm willing to bet Brian K (Tall) Bryan K (Navajo) YokoWongo (Kent), Ben, Brian, Joshua (Other SU Dana 44) and probably Steve (Elvota) can probably make it through, we'll have to do it early and it's 2 hours south of Flagstaff.

Smiley Face is fun, but it's really not all that hard. Hard in a sence that we want to represent what Arizona has in a nation wide video.

FWIW, Casey did the Rubicon with me, durring the hardest spring in years. He flopped on Lower Terminatior. This is a serious trail and I will have to hand out a serious pre-warning. But awsome video !!!

 

August is still a ways out there, but I should be available for that weekend and I will have my truck ready to hit some bigger rocks by then.

Terminators, Upper Ajax, Martinez (always good scenic run for visitors), Hackberry Creek...

I know we could get a good size group together for a harder run.

Smasher Canyon - that sounds like a good one Mark.

 

Well skinny man, what do you think? (Austin is skinny & very tall)

We can have a BBQ at my place, everyone pretty much has already been here a ton of times and we have a pool.

So what exactly are you looking for? Silly hard or something for everyone?

More than likely you'll have to come down to Phoenix. I qualify for Smasher Canyon but really don't want any dents as the truck is still worth money.

 

That sounds good too,
so what does everyone think? All in favor of doing something harder around phx/tempe area and have a bbq at Steve's say I... those that don't want to don't say anything. wait...

 

I'd be interested in which ever route is chosen.

 

Awesome! Who else?? I know there are more AZers than this...

 

if my truck will make it through whatever trail is chosen. im in!

 

I'm sure I'll be there. Gonna be REAL hot.

 

alright awesome!

Just making sure I'm not going to get there and not have anyone to shoot!

 

Don't worry. Like I said we have to do it a bit different out here. Especially if we go to Lower Terminator. That is not a run for the general public.

You'll have lots of stuff to shoot don't worry.

 

So what if we setup a weekend run where everyone could come out and get on tape and then I'll stick around for the hard-core guys and we can do some nutty stuff on monday or something? Structure is key to any film shoot, this I know for a fact. Thats what makes the difference in having a home movie and something worth producing and distributing to the YT community...

 

Time to nudge this thread along.

If there is an "everybody run" I'd like to attend, but would be limited to Fri 8/11 or Sat 8/12. Do we want to start firming this up yet?? Opinions??

 

We should skip Terminator all together then. I have no clue where to go that will be somewhat cool in August. If anyone has some suggestions, let's hear them.

Other wise I don't know.

 

I wont be able to attend unless a miracle occurs and I get my engine swapped by the end of the month.

However, a trail suggestion to get out of the heat would be Pyeatte Draw just outside of Payson. This would be about ~2hrs from PHX area. I have not done this trail but its high on my list to do. The trail provides 4wheeling opportunities for all levels, mild to extreme, allowing one to jump off the trail before the big rocks come.
FR198 and Houston Mesa Rd are roughly the crossroads.

Pics and Info on the trail:
http://www.higherground4x4.com/PyeattDraw.htm

This is the falls towards the end, but from what I understand you can exit the trail before this point.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...47290257cQnMpm

 

Ok, many people have e-mailed me.

Pyeatte Draw just outside of Payson

It is. Temps should be alot better and everyone can run it.

Steve