Montana Mountain (Wells #48) Trip Report....
Roll Call:
AZKJ - w/co-pilot
Corwyyn - solo
jeep108 - w/co-pilot and two young flight engineers
rkeegstra - w/the Queen of Hearts
Mike - (AZVJC)
Randy - (AZVJC)
Gary
Okay, so what do two little girls both named Sarah, a stock TJ, a brand new stock KK, two lifted KJ’s, two TJ rock crawlers, a built up JK Rubicon, ham radios, CB radios, FRS radios, varied GPS units, digital cameras, a hand gun or two and computers that brought it all together have in common? If you said people from all walks of life having a fun day in the Arizona back country running Montana Mountain Road, you hit the nail right on the head!!!
Originally planned as a last minute run with only four AZ LOST vehicles attending, it grew into seven Jeeps. We picked up two AZVJC TJ’s going out to test their ham radios and one straggler in a JK Rubicon at the Shell station parking lot in Gold Canyon.
Rowland drove “50” miles all the way from Tolleson out to Gold Canyon just to wish us bon voyage and show club support even though he couldn’t make the run. Now that is true dedication from a really nice guy who just recently caught the four wheeling bug.
The run itself was fun, the trail was a little more rough and wet than when we ran it last summer. There were more ruts and rocks thrown about. We made it to the top of Montana Mountain (brrr shiver, shiver) had lunch and let the two ham radio guys do their thing. They were able to get out to another ham radio 70 miles away in Tucson!!!
The ride down the switchbacks was fun and the views were great. The toughest part of the trail was saved for last. The Rock Garden, usually a dry creek bed, was full of water which made picking the correct line a tad trickey. Being in the lead, I set out first only to bottom out on a big rock hidden by the water. Everyone else took a different line to the right and made it through without any problems.
My hats off to jeep108 and his family in their brand new two week old KK. They made it through the Rock Garden unscathed, good driving Ken!!!
Just one minor sour note for the entire run... a mile or so from the end of the trail, Corwyyn, who was riding tail gunner, shouted out on the CB for us to pull over. Some Yahoo (and I'm being polite) was riding his bumper and wanted around us real bad. Being in the lead, I was the last vehicle the idiot passed. He was driving a beat up piece of junk with no windows. As he went by me he slowed, turned around, looked at me and shouted... "next time get a real Jeep!!!" What a jerk. He had a POS and he tells us to get "real" Jeeps??? I guess the 1950's Buddy Holly glasses he was wearing didn't help his eyesight all that much. It seems like there's always one jerk out there who tries to spoil your day, but it didn't work.
LOL... on the lighter side after the incident, one of the AZVJC guys said over the CB, "that's why I always bring my little friend with me". My wife Beth, took the mike and said, "AJ's got a big one AND knows how to use it". She kept talking and I was trying to get her to hush up. What she was saying just didn't sound like she was talking about guns. In the end, the Yahoo really made my day and gave us a a few laughs with a little help from Beth.
At the end of the trail we said our goodbyes. Some of us went for dinner at the little Chinese restaurant in Gold Canyon.
We really enjoyed the day. Thank you guys for coming out and making it a fun trip. We were glad to see old friends and meet new ones. We hope to see everyone again soon. Till then, everybody take care....
AJ and Beth
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