- Thread starter
- #1
Attendees
Felix808
@Broncsquatch
@BLTom
@Snacktime
@El Diablo
@_ocnorb_
@_ocnorb_ rolled over and we headed out at about 6:30
Met @Snacktime, @El Diablo& @BLTom At Delta Co in Barstow and gabbed some tacos. These aren’t your normal Delta Co tacos. Apparently, this this is one of the original locations that serve the original style tacos and they are pretty well stuffed as was I after eating them. Had known I would not have ordered 3 as we planned to get buffet a couple hours later.
After stuffing ourselves, we headed out to the parking lot and admired @El Diablo's new Armadillo hardtop. That thing is really nice!
This will be my choice but the squared off version if I ever find myself in need of a replacement. Then we were rolling down the the road to head for our late lunch early dinner at Casablanca Casino. My wife & I started hitting up this buffet on the way home every time we pass by. It’s reasonably priced & on Friday / Saturday they usually have steak & seafood. This was the first time I had stopped by during the week. It was still pretty good, but the Friday / Saturday meal is much better!
As we were rolling out @Snacktime made the comment that he was the only one without a 2 door accessory referring to the fact we had a 2 & 4 door in A51 & white but no Eruption Green until the end of the trail on the last day he finally got one
So, we stuffed ourselves again at the buffet and continued towards the Barracks Trailhead where it started to lightly rain.
We aired down and headed down the trail in search of our campsite. We found a great spot on top off the mountain. The views were incredible and no wind which is really surprising being on top of a mountain with large valleys around. The views were epic. We all found our spots and set up camp. Before we knew it the sun was setting & we sparked up the campfire, but before that @_ocnorb_ had to rebuild the existing fire pit as he rode straight over it when pulling into his spot, arguably the best, not that any were lacking in views. He did a fantastic job of building the fire ring, much better than before. We got to work splinting up some wood when @_ocnorb_ was given the new name of Axeman. Don’t ask don’t tell 
. You had to have been there.
@El Diablo showed off his fire-starting skills using his cheater sticks and Fuego, we found ourselves telling stories about past adventures, present adventures and future ones to come all while being mesmerized by smoke & flames .
Next morning we woke up to a beautiful morning and epic views. We broke down camp and headed out down the sandy road and into the beautiful canyon. This trail has a lot of soft sand & I ran the trail mostly in 2wd, but there were a handful of obstacles and optional lines that will get your attention. I found the main trail after I had taken just about every option because I didn’t see the other route until after being committed , so it got a little exciting more than once. This trail would cross the Virgin River 22 times.
Having read up on others fortunes about this trail, I figured we would run it in reverse due to a long tall sand hill that when we approached did indeed seem near impossible to drive up as it is very loose deep sand. @Snacktime gave it a go once we were all down & got about 3/4 the way up before being halted. He was not light on the throttle either. There is a sharp bend at that point of the trail and when you try to make the turn you plow through losing a lot of momentum and you are stopped before you know it.
As we were coming to the end of the trail we came across a very large mine of what I believe was Sandstone
. We all figured this was a good place for lunch despite the lack of shade. We ventured into the large/ tall mine where our resident expert determined that it was developed for water drainage for the highway just above.
After our adventures within the mine, we lined up along the roadway using the hillside to shade us from the sun the best we could and broke out the food.
The group finished the trail with no damage to report .
After lunch we jumped on Hwy 9W that took us straight into Zion National Park. This park is one of breathtaking beauty all around. We only saw it driving through but WOW just WOW!!!
There were 2 tunnels that we passed through one was historic and one had to be well over a mile long. It kind of reminded me a little of the Indiana Jones Ride at Disneyland. Definitely cool to experience.
Later we stopped off at the Fort Zion gift shop. It’s a pretty neat little hwy attraction with some fun buildings and even a petting zoo with Llamas, pony’s, goats & some devil looking sheep. We looked around the shop that had a lot of Native American Jewelry. Thank goodness my wife wasn’t with me as it would have cost me a fortune. She already has a large collection but like all of us we always want more. @Snacktime wanted to feed the animals and have his picture taken in a jail he could walk out of on his own free will
. He actually paid my admission so I was the photographer of his incarceration. Later we went into the salon to get some ice cream. Well, @Snacktime got a cone while I opted for the free sample after I saw the prices. It was homemade & good but I guess I’m just too cheap for that 
.
Now would be the longest part of the day. The search for our next camping spot & the quest for shade as it was a bit warm. Not sure of the actual temps but plenty warm and we had enough standing out in the sun for the day. Before we left, I had planned to run down Sheep Bridge Rd. and find one of the BLM sites, but failed to write down the coordinates in my travel plan. Though I knew what I was looking for and the general area, somehow passed right by it. I noticed we were getting close to the next days trail head and thought I would at least see a sign for the Hurricane Cliffs area. Nope. We traveled all over the area looking for 1 shade & 2 a legal place to camp. What we found was nothing but desert shrubs not a single tree and a whole lot of no trespassing no camping signs through out the area. After driving around in circles for what seemed like an eternity @BLTom had enough & wanted to make sure he got a good nights sleep for the next days adventures. To be fair, he didn’t get much sleep the night before & I don’t think any of us actually thought the search would ever end. So Windgate headed off into the realm of clean sheets & cable T.V.
After several tries to locate some other options @Snacktime was able to find the road I had planned on traveling all along. We bounced all over the place as it was full of people in most of the spots. While a lot of people, most of the spots had a decent distance between them. We were all pretty tired of driving in circles the last couple of hours at this point. We found a site right off the roadway. Not ideal by any means but better than nothing at this point. @_ocnorb_ & @Snacktime ventured off to scout out any other available sites while I stood guard of the only place we have been able to find at the time. Luckily, @_ocnorb_ struck gold
. A nice secluded spot with decent views of the canyons & surrounding mountains. Still no shade so we made our own with @_ocnorb_’s roof top tent. I guess they are good for something after all .
We had one spot beside us which the plan was to have @Snacktime park at to dissuade any neighbors moving in. Unfortunately, he left his post too soon and some solo guy pulled in and set up camp. He was quiet enough though.
We set up camp and cooked up some dinner. Before long @El Diablo was again showing off his fire starting skill with the cheater sticks. It was another night of jaw jacking around the flames and nobody was safe from the banter.
The next morning some had breakfast while I took a shower & we broke down camp the camp.
We stopped by the vault and made our deposits then headed to the Rattlesnake Gulch trail head to meet Windgate & @Broncsquatch at the trailhead. Glad Windgate was rested after his stay at the Windom or whatever it was and were glad to have him back with us.
It was suggested to a few to air down a bit more for what was in store up ahead on the trail.
During this time @Snacktime made the prediction that @Broncsquatch was going to lose his license plate and have more than a few scuffs. After taking a look for myself, I fully endorsed this prediction. 2 others would suffer an ill-fated license plate issue.
I was having a squelch problem with my radio again so I enlisted the help of @Snacktime to help figure it out. He had helped me the night before but it reverted back to nonstop squelch. We ended up just keep changing the setting and finally something worked. What a relief! He's a good guy to have around for sure.
After a quick drivers’ meeting and lineup, we headed down the trail. We came across 2 fawns and after the radio crackled, they spooked & ran off.
Before we knew it we were down in the canyon and into the river more times than I could count. Thankfully @_ocnorb_ helped & we ended up in the river 28 times over the course of this trail alone and 50 times for the trip in total,
Those rocks in the river are big & slippery. I think @Broncsquatch was the first to get turtled completely. @Snacktime was back there working through it stacking a number of rocks & trying this and that and eventually he was able get him underway until the next time. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was on a quest to find every hole and large boulder under the water & there was no shortage of either. I got hung up a few times but with enough back & forth and line adjustments I was always able to get myself going again, but there was one time I even started to question myself on being able to get through some of the bigger sections.
There were also more than a few steep drop-ins from the hillside into the river.
We finished up trail at the Tocqueville Falls area and stopped for lunch. @_ocnorb_ had some issue with his display & @Snacktime pulled out the laptop and found all signs pointed to the clock spring. Consensus says a bit too much ramming of the submerged rocks.
This was a challenging trail for sure, but a really fun time for all. So much so that when we finished at Tocqueville Falls, @Snacktime & @BLTom decided to run back down it with another Bronco group we ran across from Nevada at the falls we were eating lunch at.
So we parted ways with @Snacktime & @BLTom & continued down the Tocqueville Falls trail which is a rough 2wd road with a few ledges.
We ran into some chuckled head in a pickem up truck. He was pressuring our tail gunner so we let him pass then he couldn’t make up his mind whether to stay in front of us or behind us. At one point he came off a ledge and started to back up on me as I was approaching. WTH??? Finally, I had enough of his nonsense and we all went through on him
.
We hit the end and aired up and headed over to Matt’s Off-Road. We got some shirts and stickers and the lovely Ms. Presley gave us a tour of the vehicles. After this @_ocnorb_ and I parted ways with @Broncsquatch and @El Diablo.
@_ocnorb_ and I stopped and caught the steak and seafood buffet which was much better than Thursday’s meal. Then we rolled on home. We stopped for gas out on the 18 at a Shell Station just before the need of pulling @_ocnorb_ ‘s truck with a rope as the vapors were getting thin. First gas station I have ever seen with such the collection of bottled booze. We are talking a whole wall full & more. After filling up we tested the plumbing. I unfortunately found that they used what seemed to be coarse paper towels as toilet paper. Smokes, the actual paper towels were softer. This stuff was like 400 grit sand paper. I had to bring examples out to @_ocnorb_ because he would never have believed me. And yes, I am still butt hurt about it. Literally my BH is still sore as I write this. Serious, Cornholio would have rampaged if this is what he was offered during his search for TP for his bung hole
.
Recap of the damage report:
@_ocnorb_: clock spring creased plastic hood cowl after opening a hot hood? Yep, it still happens folks & it is easy to forget.
@El Diablo & @Broncsquatch : complete departure of the rear license plates.
@BLTom: a Crumpled license plate.
This was a great time. Thank you all for coming out on this one. Some more than others.
Attendees, please add pictures, videos & thoughts about your experience.
Looking forward to the next time
Pictures in no particular order:
Felix808
@Broncsquatch
@BLTom
@Snacktime
@El Diablo
@_ocnorb_
@_ocnorb_ rolled over and we headed out at about 6:30
Met @Snacktime, @El Diablo& @BLTom At Delta Co in Barstow and gabbed some tacos. These aren’t your normal Delta Co tacos. Apparently, this this is one of the original locations that serve the original style tacos and they are pretty well stuffed as was I after eating them. Had known I would not have ordered 3 as we planned to get buffet a couple hours later.
After stuffing ourselves, we headed out to the parking lot and admired @El Diablo's new Armadillo hardtop. That thing is really nice!
This will be my choice but the squared off version if I ever find myself in need of a replacement. Then we were rolling down the the road to head for our late lunch early dinner at Casablanca Casino. My wife & I started hitting up this buffet on the way home every time we pass by. It’s reasonably priced & on Friday / Saturday they usually have steak & seafood. This was the first time I had stopped by during the week. It was still pretty good, but the Friday / Saturday meal is much better!As we were rolling out @Snacktime made the comment that he was the only one without a 2 door accessory referring to the fact we had a 2 & 4 door in A51 & white but no Eruption Green until the end of the trail on the last day he finally got one
So, we stuffed ourselves again at the buffet and continued towards the Barracks Trailhead where it started to lightly rain.
We aired down and headed down the trail in search of our campsite. We found a great spot on top off the mountain. The views were incredible and no wind which is really surprising being on top of a mountain with large valleys around. The views were epic. We all found our spots and set up camp. Before we knew it the sun was setting & we sparked up the campfire, but before that @_ocnorb_ had to rebuild the existing fire pit as he rode straight over it
when pulling into his spot, arguably the best, not that any were lacking in views. He did a fantastic job of building the fire ring, much better than before. We got to work splinting up some wood when @_ocnorb_ was given the new name of Axeman. Don’t ask don’t tell . You had to have been there.@El Diablo showed off his fire-starting skills using his cheater sticks and Fuego, we found ourselves telling stories about past adventures, present adventures and future ones to come all while being mesmerized by smoke & flames
.Next morning we woke up to a beautiful morning and epic views. We broke down camp and headed out down the sandy road and into the beautiful canyon. This trail has a lot of soft sand & I ran the trail mostly in 2wd, but there were a handful of obstacles and optional lines that will get your attention. I found the main trail after I had taken just about every option because I didn’t see the other route until after being committed
, so it got a little exciting more than once. This trail would cross the Virgin River 22 times.Having read up on others fortunes about this trail, I figured we would run it in reverse due to a long tall sand hill that when we approached did indeed seem near impossible to drive up as it is very loose deep sand. @Snacktime gave it a go once we were all down & got about 3/4 the way up before being halted. He was not light on the throttle either. There is a sharp bend at that point of the trail and when you try to make the turn you plow through losing a lot of momentum and you are stopped before you know it.
As we were coming to the end of the trail we came across a very large mine of what I believe was Sandstone
. We all figured this was a good place for lunch despite the lack of shade. We ventured into the large/ tall mine where our resident expert determined that it was developed for water drainage for the highway just above.After our adventures within the mine, we lined up along the roadway using the hillside to shade us from the sun the best we could and broke out the food.
The group finished the trail with no damage to report
.After lunch we jumped on Hwy 9W that took us straight into Zion National Park. This park is one of breathtaking beauty all around. We only saw it driving through but WOW just WOW!!!
There were 2 tunnels that we passed through one was historic and one had to be well over a mile long. It kind of reminded me a little of the Indiana Jones Ride at Disneyland. Definitely cool to experience
.Later we stopped off at the Fort Zion gift shop. It’s a pretty neat little hwy attraction with some fun buildings and even a petting zoo with Llamas, pony’s, goats & some devil looking sheep. We looked around the shop that had a lot of Native American Jewelry. Thank goodness my wife wasn’t with me as it would have cost me a fortune. She already has a large collection but like all of us we always want more. @Snacktime wanted to feed the animals and have his picture taken in a jail he could walk out of on his own free will
. He actually paid my admission so I was the photographer of his incarceration. Later we went into the salon to get some ice cream. Well, @Snacktime got a cone while I opted for the free sample after I saw the prices. It was homemade & good but I guess I’m just too cheap for that .Now would be the longest part of the day. The search for our next camping spot & the quest for shade as it was a bit warm. Not sure of the actual temps but plenty warm and we had enough standing out in the sun for the day. Before we left, I had planned to run down Sheep Bridge Rd. and find one of the BLM sites, but failed to write down the coordinates in my travel plan. Though I knew what I was looking for and the general area, somehow passed right by it. I noticed we were getting close to the next days trail head and thought I would at least see a sign for the Hurricane Cliffs area. Nope. We traveled all over the area looking for 1 shade & 2 a legal place to camp. What we found was nothing but desert shrubs not a single tree and a whole lot of no trespassing no camping signs through out the area. After driving around in circles for what seemed like an eternity @BLTom had enough & wanted to make sure he got a good nights sleep for the next days adventures. To be fair, he didn’t get much sleep the night before & I don’t think any of us actually thought the search would ever end. So Windgate headed off into the realm of clean sheets & cable T.V.
After several tries to locate some other options @Snacktime was able to find the road I had planned on traveling all along. We bounced all over the place as it was full of people in most of the spots. While a lot of people, most of the spots had a decent distance between them. We were all pretty tired of driving in circles the last couple of hours at this point. We found a site right off the roadway. Not ideal by any means but better than nothing at this point. @_ocnorb_ & @Snacktime ventured off to scout out any other available sites while I stood guard of the only place we have been able to find at the time. Luckily, @_ocnorb_ struck gold
. A nice secluded spot with decent views of the canyons & surrounding mountains. Still no shade so we made our own with @_ocnorb_’s roof top tent. I guess they are good for something after all .We had one spot beside us which the plan was to have @Snacktime park at to dissuade any neighbors moving in. Unfortunately, he left his post too soon and some solo guy pulled in and set up camp. He was quiet enough though.
We set up camp and cooked up some dinner. Before long @El Diablo was again showing off his fire starting skill with the cheater sticks. It was another night of jaw jacking around the flames and nobody was safe from the banter.
The next morning some had breakfast while I took a shower & we broke down camp the camp.
We stopped by the vault and made our deposits then headed to the Rattlesnake Gulch trail head to meet Windgate & @Broncsquatch at the trailhead. Glad Windgate was rested after his stay at the Windom or whatever it was and were glad to have him back with us
.It was suggested to a few to air down a bit more for what was in store up ahead on the trail
.During this time @Snacktime made the prediction that @Broncsquatch was going to lose his license plate and have more than a few scuffs. After taking a look for myself, I fully endorsed this prediction
. 2 others would suffer an ill-fated license plate issue.I was having a squelch problem with my radio again so I enlisted the help of @Snacktime to help figure it out. He had helped me the night before but it reverted back to nonstop squelch. We ended up just keep changing the setting and finally something worked. What a relief!
He's a good guy to have around for sure.After a quick drivers’ meeting and lineup, we headed down the trail. We came across 2 fawns and after the radio crackled, they spooked & ran off.
Before we knew it we were down in the canyon and into the river more times than I could count. Thankfully @_ocnorb_ helped & we ended up in the river 28 times over the course of this trail alone and 50 times for the trip in total,
Those rocks in the river are big & slippery. I think @Broncsquatch was the first to get turtled completely. @Snacktime was back there working through it stacking a number of rocks & trying this and that and eventually he was able get him underway until the next time. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was on a quest to find every hole and large boulder under the water & there was no shortage of either. I got hung up a few times but with enough back & forth and line adjustments I was always able to get myself going again, but there was one time I even started to question myself on being able to get through some of the bigger sections.
There were also more than a few steep drop-ins from the hillside into the river.
We finished up trail at the Tocqueville Falls area and stopped for lunch. @_ocnorb_ had some issue with his display & @Snacktime pulled out the laptop and found all signs pointed to the clock spring. Consensus says a bit too much ramming of the submerged rocks
.This was a challenging trail for sure, but a really fun time for all. So much so that when we finished at Tocqueville Falls, @Snacktime & @BLTom decided to run back down it with another Bronco group we ran across from Nevada at the falls we were eating lunch at.
So we parted ways with @Snacktime & @BLTom & continued down the Tocqueville Falls trail which is a rough 2wd road with a few ledges.
We ran into some chuckled head in a pickem up truck. He was pressuring our tail gunner so we let him pass then he couldn’t make up his mind whether to stay in front of us or behind us. At one point he came off a ledge and started to back up on me as I was approaching. WTH??? Finally, I had enough of his nonsense and we all went through on him
.We hit the end and aired up and headed over to Matt’s Off-Road. We got some shirts and stickers and the lovely Ms. Presley gave us a tour of the vehicles. After this @_ocnorb_ and I parted ways with @Broncsquatch and @El Diablo.
@_ocnorb_ and I stopped and caught the steak and seafood buffet which was much better than Thursday’s meal. Then we rolled on home. We stopped for gas out on the 18 at a Shell Station just before the need of pulling @_ocnorb_ ‘s truck with a rope as the vapors were getting thin. First gas station I have ever seen with such the collection of bottled booze. We are talking a whole wall full & more. After filling up we tested the plumbing. I unfortunately found that they used what seemed to be coarse paper towels as toilet paper. Smokes, the actual paper towels were softer. This stuff was like 400 grit sand paper. I had to bring examples out to @_ocnorb_ because he would never have believed me. And yes, I am still butt hurt about it. Literally my BH is still sore as I write this
. Serious, Cornholio would have rampaged if this is what he was offered during his search for TP for his bung hole
Recap of the damage report:
@_ocnorb_: clock spring creased plastic hood cowl after opening a hot hood? Yep, it still happens folks & it is easy to forget.
@El Diablo & @Broncsquatch : complete departure of the rear license plates.
@BLTom: a Crumpled license plate.
This was a great time. Thank you all for coming out on this one. Some more than others
.Attendees, please add pictures, videos & thoughts about your experience.
Looking forward to the next time
Pictures in no particular order:
Sponsored
Last edited:
yeah, I did it to myself 
