If you have more pictures of this run, please email them to admin@KreationKrawlers.com

to be included here.

This run started out quite different than expected, lets step back a little and fill in some of the background.

A short time ago I was contacted by Kregg from The Vineyard Church of North Phoenix, he asked if he could join our trail runs, well that was a definite yes…  We emailed back and forth a bit and he said there was no wheeling group at his church and he wanted to start one.  Shortly after, at an event for the church, he set up a booth for a 4x4 small group to check for any interest, he had 18 sign up that day!  After that, I was contacted by Chris, who had seen the small group information in a pamphlet and emailed Kregg for information, who asked if he could join the run also.  We have a real small group to start with so a couple extra people is a great boost!  Saturday morning comes along and I get a call from Chris, he is on his way, then from Kregg who is on his way with a couple rigs in tow and states there are others also…….All total, seven other rigs show up from The Vineyard!!  God is amazing! That is more rigs than we normally have just from our group, all total there will be 15 rigs, including the 4 ATV’s, on the trail in our group!

(Thanks Chris for the Panoramic Picture)

This is the largest group we have run so far and as much as it was amazing, it was also a learning experience for us.
We caravanned our way to Price road in Florence to enter the south end of Box Canyon.  We stopped on Price to offload the quads and air down the tires in some of the rigs and then set off down Price in search of fun.  Price was by far the driest I have ever seen it and the dust was horrible but we all survived and finally made it to the sandy wash at the start of Box Canyon.  We stopped for a minute to regroup and found our first problem, Ben had picked up a nail in the rear tire of his ATV.

With the tire plugged we started back down the trail and into the canyon.  A short way in we made another stop but this time it was to admire Kregg’s undercarriage as it was nicely propped up on the rocks!! A tow strap to the Dodge behind him (I wanted to get a Jeep in there!!), a couple cheap shot comments and a quick tug had him off the rocks and rolling again.

 Progress was slow with so many rigs and many of them new wheelers, there were also a lot of other people running the same trails.  A little extra time was also afforded to the new wheelers to help them understand how to get through with out tearing up their rigs, always a worthwhile delay!

The trail was slow but calm as we approached the staircase.  At this point we encountered several other rigs coming down so we moved to the side and waited.  This gave the new wheelers a chance to see some experience rigs in action and time to look at what they were going up.  Good spotting got all of them up the stairs without incident and we were rolling on again.

Other rigs coming down

Parts of our group going up

From the staircase we proceeded on toward Ajax mine.  The day was warming up and the dust was still hanging in the air.  We pulled off the trail at the water tank about mid day for a bite to eat and some time to fellowship.  Of  course there was the usual trail talk and rounds of  “what should I upgrade next”!

Back on the trail it was on to Ajax.  There is not a lot left of the building but it is a great perch to look out over where you were and where you are going.  A bit more fellowship time and some words for the ATV riders, they were getting a bit weary and wanted to head back as the next section would be long and rocky.  The group opted to continue on through Telegraph Canyon with John in the lead and Peter and I would escort the ATV’s back to the trailers.  We bid our goodbyes and thanks for joining, then headed our respective directions.

We had no more hit the load point when I got a call from Kregg.  He had broken his truck and needed assistance.  He was stuck in the middle of the trail with a bent upper A-arm and could go no where.  He had already reached his wife and she was on her way with the parts he needed and he had sent the rest of the group on with the assurance that he would be ok, but he needed someone that knew the trails to bring him the parts.  Peter and I loaded the ATV’s, made a quick pit stop for fuel and headed to Florence Junction (where Hwy 79 and 60 meet) to meet Kregg’s wife and get the parts, then it was back to the cottonwood entrance and off toward Ajax again. We found Kregg about 1.5 miles from Ajax on an uphill section with the truck jacked up, braced and torn apart waiting on new parts.  He was quick to get it all back together; we cleaned up the tools and equipment and started back toward cottonwood.  It was getting dark quick but the desert is always fun for a night ride.  We made it back to the off load area at Cottonwood and stopped to air up the tires and chat.  From there it was off to McDonald’s for a quick bite and home to bed.

Because of the size of the group, I was not able to get as many pictures as normal and virtually none of the front of the group.  If you have pictures you would like added here, please email the to me (admin@KreationKrawlers.com).

A big thanks to Kregg for his work to get things going on The Vineyard side of things and another big thanks to all the wheelers that joined us from The Vineyard of North Phoenix for their participation and for suffering the long drive to our side of the world, I hope we get to see more of each other!!  The trips should only get better!

God Bless
Kreation Krawlers