4x4tographer 2,531 Posted July 17, 2022 Thanks for leading a great trip, running a double-header on Upper and Lower Terminators, @SonoranWanderer! Terminator was a pretty awesome experience for sure - even more so in the dark in an electrical storm. Fitting, I'd say! 😆 @capsul hope everything turns out OK with the front axle! @theksmith and Capsul against the storm. We had a pretty sizable storm that grazed us just to the south. We had a bit of rain, but a ton of lightning. The geology in the area was pretty interesting. We had a glimpse of the sunset from inside the gulch. This was the most nerve-racking obstacle on both trails, in my opinion. The "White Line". Pulling from the interesting geology in the area - you can see a line of white calcite(?) running through the rock below Capsul's front driver tire. You need to be careful on this section due to some extreme off-camber and some tight quarters. I believe Capsul was about 6-8 inches from the opposing rock face here. In the wet, this would have been pretty slick with risk of sliding down the rock towards the cliff face. TheKSmith showing off some flex We had some recovery work to do throughout the night. We had a turtle situation with SonoranWanderer, I needed a little tug up a boulder, and Capsul broke something on the front end and ended up in RWD for the last 1/2 of Upper Terminator. I only got photos of the big turtle - TheKSmith was the MVP of the evening, first helping SonoranWandering de-turtle with a little tug. He also tethered up to help give Capsul the extra umpf to get through the last 1/2 of Upper Terminator after he lost 4x4. We had another recovery situation when Capsul was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Front passenger tire was against a large flat-faced boulder, rear differential was high-centered on another large rock. With only RWD, there was no way we were pulling or pushing him around that situation. The hi-lift jack came out to lift both rear wheels off the ground while we stacked rocks under the rear wheels to get him the clearance to reverse over the rearward rock. Once we got him over that hump, a slight turn a little earlier got him around the front passenger boulder and we were off to the races! All in all - a fun night out on a pair of pretty serious trails! Challenging for sure, especially in the dark, in a storm! Thanks for an awesome experience, 'gents! 3 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
capsul 40 Posted July 17, 2022 19 minutes ago, 4x4tographer said: Thanks for leading a great trip, running a double-header on Upper and Lower Terminators, @SonoranWanderer! Terminator was a pretty awesome experience for sure - even more so in the dark in an electrical storm. Fitting, I'd say! 😆 @capsul hope everything turns out OK with the front axle! @theksmith and Capsul against the storm. We had a pretty sizable storm that grazed us just to the south. We had a bit of rain, but a ton of lightning. The geology in the area was pretty interesting. We had a glimpse of the sunset from inside the gulch. This was the most nerve-racking obstacle on both trails, in my opinion. The "White Line". Pulling from the interesting geology in the area - you can see a line of white calcite(?) running through the rock below Capsul's front driver tire. You need to be careful on this section due to some extreme off-camber and some tight quarters. I believe Capsul was about 6-8 inches from the opposing rock face here. In the wet, this would have been pretty slick with risk of sliding down the rock towards the cliff face. TheKSmith showing off some flex We had some recovery work to do throughout the night. We had a turtle situation with SonoranWanderer, I needed a little tug up a boulder, and Capsul broke something on the front end and ended up in RWD for the last 1/2 of Upper Terminator. I only got photos of the big turtle - TheKSmith was the MVP of the evening, first helping SonoranWandering de-turtle with a little tug. He also tethered up to help give Capsul the extra umpf to get through the last 1/2 of Upper Terminator after he lost 4x4. We had another recovery situation when Capsul was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Front passenger tire was against a large flat-faced boulder, rear differential was high-centered on another large rock. With only RWD, there was no way we were pulling or pushing him around that situation. The hi-lift jack came out to lift both rear wheels off the ground while we stacked rocks under the rear wheels to get him the clearance to reverse over the rearward rock. Once we got him over that hump, a slight turn a little earlier got him around the front passenger boulder and we were off to the races! All in all - a fun night out on a pair of pretty serious trails! Challenging for sure, especially in the dark, in a storm! Thanks for an awesome experience, 'gents! Fun night, well until the front axel broke. Still fun, thanks for all the help guys getting my rig off the trail. No big deal replacing the front axel, I'll be back!!! Great pics too!!! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SonoranWanderer 394 Posted July 17, 2022 (edited) Here are @4x4tographer and @theksmith making it through the White Line obstacle with @capsul skillfully directing them Pictures from the opening of Lower Terminator Stills taken from White Line videos above Random cool rock light shot Edited July 17, 2022 by SonoranWanderer 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SonoranWanderer 394 Posted July 17, 2022 (edited) Here are a few cool captures of lightning along 9999 (AZCO Mine Rd) from the GoPro as we worked our way back to the highway. Photos are in time order with the middle four being the same “event”. Edited July 17, 2022 by SonoranWanderer 1 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 3,667 Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) thanks for leading this @SonoranWanderer, and thank you and @4x4tographer for posting the photos/videos. i had a great time with you guys in the crazy weather. it was fun to see someone besides me impersonating a stranded turtle this time! no worries @capsul, we all have our time to break eventually. 😅 Edited July 18, 2022 by theksmith 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
