Joe and I took off for Las Cruces, using only 1 week vacation. What a mistake. (Next time it will be 2 weeks!) The trip down and back was too long and we had too little time to do some of the really great wheeling they have to offer there. We did have a great time down there in spite of being tired from the trip and the jerk that ran his fricken' generator all night. This was my first trial of the 35's. Joe was able to puncture a tire on a rock, but thanks to Discount Tire, we got their last 35x12.50.

We did a few trails on our own, nothing exciting, before the Challenge started. Once we started on the official trails, we had a great time! We ran Tabasco Twister, Habanero Falls and Amaitista Ledges. Amaitista Ledges was great! There were only three of us, including Randy, our leader. The rest of the people wanted to be on the runs where the photographers were at and we just wanted to go and wheel.

Joe wrote great article for our newsletter, so I've reprinted it here. Thanks Joe!

Photos are at the end.......

Four Wheeler TV said: " Here we find some of the best engineered 4x4s from California, Arkansas, New Mexico, Ari-zona, and as far away as ILLINOIS... It's the classic scenario, incredible crawlers versus the impossible trail obstacle, a contest between man, machine and hard rock...through a deceptive extreme trail that very few have yet seen or navigated. " (Couldn't have written that better myself ?)

Breakage: Front axle U joint, 35 " BFG, Hi-lift jack, seat mount, trailer tire, bent axle/trailer, collapsed rear springs on motor home (rough ride back home!) Las Cruces Discount Tire went through 50-33 " and 50-35 " tires in one week!

Sunday: Gas in Tulsa as low as 85.9, nearby is a liquor store 200 feet from the DUI school; supplies for class are convenient!

Monday: After 1500 miles and 28 hours, got set up outside Radium Springs, NM., started to explore the Dona Ana mountains.

Tuesday: Went out on a few trails in the Dona Anas. Nothing exciting but a good test of the 35s to see where they rubbed on the sheet metal. That evening more wheelers started to come in . Winter storm warnings posted - what the heck?? We're only 40 miles from Mexico!!

Wednesday: Registration day. Drove up a mountain. Joe was a bit queasy on his first mountain trail experience. (Couldn't have been the Yukon Jack!) Really steep and rocky - needed both lockers at times just to keep from sliding down the trail. Came back, got registered and set up in the camp next to a Texan with a pretty much stock Suzuki who claimed he could do everything an " impressively built Jeep " could do, but he was only registered for " 1 " rated trails. He ran his motorhome generator all night and the fumes were so bad that the gas vapor detectors in our coach and others went off and shut down all our LP gas. Had a short talk with him and he decided to move to another campground. He got kicked out of that one too!

Thursday: Tabasco Twister - rated extreme. Great day - short sleeves. Left with only two other people on the trail. All the other Jeeps went on the trail with the ESPN crew! Played on some rocks in the Marble box, scattered with boulders the size of the Texas guy's Zuk. There were maybe five waterfalls to go up. On the first, I had to winch the leader, Randy from the bottom so he could get up. Then he had to strap the rest of us. On the next waterfall I hammered it a little too much and broke an axle U-joint. Then Randy punched a hole in a side wall. Five minutes later, on another waterfall, Rick punched a hole in his side wall. We made it out without incident and had a great time on our first " extreme " rated trail. Got back to camp, had some beer and had a great time talking with others and looking at the day's video.

Friday: Amatista Falls , rated hard. Weather for the trip was fine in spite of a little rain. Joe drove the whole way (almost) until he had a close encounter with a rock and poked a small hole (4 " ) in the sidewall of a tire. Discovered the Hi-Lift was broke! We left the rest of the group behind and finished the trail on our own to get a replacement tire, finished the trail with 3-35s and one 33. Went to town, got a new tire, some beer, and felt all better. That night at camp others on our trail complained about how tough the rest of Amatista was and the amount of breakage. Huh??? More beer back at camp.

Saturday: Habanero Falls (aka Kronos): rated extreme. This one is so tough they even had a special run on " 1 " rated trails so spectators could watch us folks with " the best engineered 4x4s " do the 7 falls. They were tough! I needed strapping on two of them. Not a lot of breakage but it was great fun to watch full size vehicles get winched and strapped up the falls. Took all day, I never cease to be amazed at the stupidity of myself and others! Got back to camp in one piece and headed out to the event supper. Great time, excellent Mexican food (what else) and cer-vesa.

Started the trip back (30 hours worth) at 8pm. The interstate fell apart in Missouri and with the collapsed rear springs on the motor home we felt more bumps on the ride home than on the trail. All in all it was a great trip. Trails were comparable in toughness to the Dakota challenge and equally as much fun.

Created 05/04/99. Last Modified: