We first went to the dreaded "Boulder Alley" of Coyote Canyon, a 1/2 mile stretch of 8-18" rocks and ledges that changes every time I go from vehicles or people moving the rocks. This was my third time, and it actually gets easier, except for the getting stuck part. Three heavily modified Broncos went past us (I waved them through) and had no trouble at all. At one point, I went over a rock that spun up and went its long way under my frame, picking up the passenger front wheel. Instead of driving forward, which would have wedged it tighter, I stopped to take a look before trying to back up and take a different line. Glad I did! If I had backed up the rock was about to destroy my steering tie rod on that side! (Sorry - no pics. Was too annoyed, and besides, I was blocking the trail totally at this point.)
So I whipped out the Hilift with the Wabfab rock slider adapter my daughter got me for my birthday. Teebes built a chock under the rear wheel out of rocks so I wouldn't slide backwards, I jacked it up 10", we threw rocks under the tire, and drive out - no sweat. Well, bunches of sweat, but no real issue. Good to be equipped for getting stuck.
Got to the top, drive over to a campsite with a little shade, and opened the cooler for lunch. Then the Jeep that was behind us came up and reported a mountain biker had met him and asked for help. The biker was going downhill to get cell coverage to call for assistance. He had left some other bikers in some brush shade who had overheated in the 100+ sun. They were coming down a hiking trail from the north, and some of the group were older, not in condition, and were carrying insufficient water for an 80 degree ride, let alone 104 degrees. When I saw them, not one was carrying a hydration pack, just little 1/2 liter bike bottles. EVERY ATV and offroad motorcyclist I see in the desert has a hydration backpack. I don't know how these bikers failed to get the word.
So the Jeep and the two trailvoys went north to find the bikers, and the three Broncos had already found them. Everybody shared water and ice, and the bikers got rides with the Broncos downhill. By the time the convoy got to the top of the rocky 1/2 mile section, a full-size truck arrived to carry the bikes, and the lady Park Ranger had arrived in her Rubicon. The convoy all headed downhill, with the Ranger just in front of Teebes.
Then we headed over to an uncharted, but legal, trail on a ridgeline overlooking the badlands where we discovered a historical marker I had only seen pictures of before.
Finally, we poked around and discovered the entrance to a dead-end wash called Hills of the Moon Wash, which I had been looking for years ago. The maps weren't specific enough to locate its mouth, but now with GPS and TOPO maps on my tablet PC, it was much easier. In Hills of the Moon, I scraped a bunch of Herculiner off my rock sliders, Teebes backed into a dried mud overhang and got a 1/2" dent just above a taillight, but didn't break the taillight, and he also got stuck on a 40 degree, 8 foot tall mud/sand hill by taking a slightly different line than I did. Just before we needed to drag out a strap, he backed up, got a better line, and made it. I was standing on top of the hill with the Roadiecam, and we were both roasted by the sun when that was over.
The Hills of the Moon video is up now on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGRuZ75b4bs
I'm still editing the Coyote Canyon video.
Here's some stills:
Awesome flex:
Sequence going up Coyote Canyon:
In the convoy heading down:
Bikers at the bottom:
Historical marker:
