It had been a long time since we really had the Jeep out and about, so Mr. Ladd signed us up for an organized wheeling class through the AZ Virtual Jeep Club. It was a full day of trails in the Table Mesa Recreation Area in the Northwest part of the Valley. We were signed up for the 202 class - the Predator trail, and then had extra time so decided to do Lower Terminator with the group as well.
Apparently the people who named the trails we were on 2 weekends ago were big Schwarzenegger fans, but it definitely fits. They were less like trails and more like large rock obstacle after large obstacle all day long.
The day started off with this view...
...which is the only benefit to being up that early, ever.
We met up with all the other off-roaders, probably about 100 vehicles all together. Some kind Jeepers were making everybody pancakes and sausage with their clumsy blue heeler pup greeting us as we aired down tires and had a quick talk on safety and technique from the Virtual Jeep Club. The Bureau of Land Managment also gave a quick overview of what they're doing to keep trails like this open for recreational use and mapping/designating areas for off-roading.
It was interesting, but I was freezing. It was definitely the coldest weekend we've had this year with temps in the 20's when we started and climbing up to 45-50 eventually. (See, it's not always 100 here.)
Then we set off and most of the day looked like this...
With some breaks to help this poor stuck Toyota FJ - nice girl, but she needs a Jeep.
And a break to watch this craziness. Don't worry Grandma. Our Jeep is not set up to be quite that adventurous and neither are we. These guys we ran into on the trail had insane rock-crawling rigs built for such things as this...
And this...
Pulled it back upright. Good as new.
And there was of course the scenery - the reason I get up early, pull on hiking boots and layers, and am willing to pee in the wilderness.
