Many thanks to Craig Stumph and his son for once again sharing their spectacular trails with us. Saturday morning they met up with us at the Delta Proving Grounds (at the Fair Park). Our group was comprised of 5 Broncos and 2 Jeeps. From there we trailered to the trail head just past the IPP site. At the trail head there was a giant cement culvert, too small to turn around in but big enough to nearly tip Craig’s jeep over as it stretched like a runner to warm up for the first trail.
New Helldorado was the first trail. It’s probably rated around 7 of 10. We were told to expect big rocks, tight spots and body damage. And so it began. Rocks and steps over 2 feet, a number of tight spots where I was glad I still have stock width axles and of course, the rock sliders.
We knew the trail would test Keith’s mostly stock rig with its open diffs but he opted to drive it until he got stuck. He did real well but eventually the trail got the best of him and his stock 28 spline rear end gave up. I happened to catch it on this video.
At that point Keith climbed in B-Rad’s bright red CJ7 for more fun.
As the trail went on it got more technical and the overhangs got tighter. Eventually at the top of the trail there was a steep and slippery rock hill that my rear locker refused to lock for. To make it worse my t-case linkage was rubbing hard enough to disengage the front. We winched me out and at that point I jumped into Fred with Carl for the next trail, Hell’s Backbone.
No sooner did we get started up Hell’s Backbone, Brent got tired of his gorgeous narrowed Bronco heating up and we left it there with the others and now we were down to four rigs.
This trail turned out to be a test for the best. It’s probably a 9 of 10. Steps around three feet, holes that could swallow a Subaru, and trees and rock out croppings that were guaranteed to decorate body panels. Of course I had to ask Carl how far Fred could tip before it rolled. That’s all it took, next thing I knew we were on our side.
That night after a fun day on the trail we camped over at the Proving Grounds parking lot and the next morning all that were left was Keith and I. We opted to take a few minutes to play on the rock crawling course. My finicky locker started working again. Of course it doesn’t help much when you turtle up on big rocks. Hey the trusty old 8274 came in handy yet again. As soon as we got off the rocks we took one trip across the teeter totter and over the logs then headed for home.
Here's a few teaser pics that I took.
There's a bunch of great pics that Keith took here on the Sexton Offroad site
http://sextonoffroad.com/home/forum_index.php?page=viewthread&threadid=230 .
The Utah Bronco Club does a number of trail rides and events every year. We're not fussy about what you drive, feel free to join us.
-Steve
New Helldorado was the first trail. It’s probably rated around 7 of 10. We were told to expect big rocks, tight spots and body damage. And so it began. Rocks and steps over 2 feet, a number of tight spots where I was glad I still have stock width axles and of course, the rock sliders.
We knew the trail would test Keith’s mostly stock rig with its open diffs but he opted to drive it until he got stuck. He did real well but eventually the trail got the best of him and his stock 28 spline rear end gave up. I happened to catch it on this video.
At that point Keith climbed in B-Rad’s bright red CJ7 for more fun.
As the trail went on it got more technical and the overhangs got tighter. Eventually at the top of the trail there was a steep and slippery rock hill that my rear locker refused to lock for. To make it worse my t-case linkage was rubbing hard enough to disengage the front. We winched me out and at that point I jumped into Fred with Carl for the next trail, Hell’s Backbone.
No sooner did we get started up Hell’s Backbone, Brent got tired of his gorgeous narrowed Bronco heating up and we left it there with the others and now we were down to four rigs.
This trail turned out to be a test for the best. It’s probably a 9 of 10. Steps around three feet, holes that could swallow a Subaru, and trees and rock out croppings that were guaranteed to decorate body panels. Of course I had to ask Carl how far Fred could tip before it rolled. That’s all it took, next thing I knew we were on our side.
That night after a fun day on the trail we camped over at the Proving Grounds parking lot and the next morning all that were left was Keith and I. We opted to take a few minutes to play on the rock crawling course. My finicky locker started working again. Of course it doesn’t help much when you turtle up on big rocks. Hey the trusty old 8274 came in handy yet again. As soon as we got off the rocks we took one trip across the teeter totter and over the logs then headed for home.
Here's a few teaser pics that I took.
There's a bunch of great pics that Keith took here on the Sexton Offroad site
http://sextonoffroad.com/home/forum_index.php?page=viewthread&threadid=230 .
The Utah Bronco Club does a number of trail rides and events every year. We're not fussy about what you drive, feel free to join us.
-Steve
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