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Currently working on hard mounting the compressor in the back. Picked up a Quadratech JK tailgate shelf used and mounted in in the bed. Compressor is a Puma 3.6CFM 1.5gallon and is just strapped in for now as I need to get power to the bed and get the plumbing run. I still use the truck to haul wood for my woodworking so I wanted to keep this off the back floor. when I get custom or exotic rough cut it usually come in 8 or 10' length so I need all I have!! Still a long way to go

Yep diagnose 11 years ago and been cancer free over 5 years... We really missed the old LJ and when my son bought a 21 JL we were hooked all over again!! Love this truck. Thanks for the welcome back

Some photos from a 13 hour exploratory run on Sunday (10/10). We attempted to find (and were successful!) the townsite of Packer, an old ranching camp, which is tucked away deep in the Bradshaw Mountains. @johnpa & @theksmith were excellent company, as always! We started the day out at one of the Table Mesa staging areas, hoping to form a loop up through the Bradshaws to Packer, then southwest towards Lake Pleasant or the Crown King Trail. The views were, frankly, stunning. Some of the best I've seen along all of the trails along the entire I-17 corridor. You could tell that the trail is almost never run. We didn't encounter another vehicle on the trail all day, and there were zero signs of tire tracks in the dirt. The trail conditions ranged from "Typical Table Mesa" to narrow shelf, rocky/bouldery to rough/bumpy, grassy 2 track to recently bladed. There were multiple wash crossings and many, many, many mountain passes. The trail was a heavy moderate to difficult in some areas with some ledge obstacles, boulder crawling, and some narrow shelf sections with fallen boulders. A few spots were needed in the shelf+boulder areas due to lack of visibility. Along the way we found some pretty well preserved ruins, several windmills, and panoramic vistas. Black Canyon City is in at the base of the canyon in this image. There wasn't a lot of space to turn around, so you really need to commit, especially along the shelf roads. We did find a few clearings where there was enough space for 2-3 rigs to park/turn/camp, but little-no shade. Our lunch spot was insanely gorgeous - you had sweeping southerly views of Black Canyon, Table Mesa, all the way to Lake Pleasant. Here's a windmill and coral we found along the way. Here's a video of the windmill in action (video). Here are some photos of the Packer townsite. The set up was interesting - the site itself was on a spring, down in a sort of box canyon. There were a ton of lush trees, green grass, and the breeze and temps were cool. Pretty ideal place for Arizona! If you look closely in the following image, you can see something very large died in that shed. Just above Willow Creek on the way to Packer we discovered that Arizona has its very own Monolith. This rock was approximately 2x the size of a full size pick-up and was somehow, impossibly, standing on edge in what was an absolute freak of nature. Unfortunately, our idea to form a loop didn't quite go as planned. We ran into a rancher that is denying passthrough access due to vandalism that has occured on their property. They noted that folks have been shooting at their building, solar powered water pumps, and even cattle. We ended up needing to back track about 4-5 hours as there are no alternate routes out of the area. As frustrating as it was, this is an excellent example of "the few ruining it for all". On the way back, some cows decided to slow things down a bit (video). We made pretty quick work on the way back, getting a great second look at the trail from the reverse direction. We stopped again in the canyon above Boulder Creek just as the sun set and the moon rose.

some background for those interested... Boulder Creek Ranch owns a tiny little square of property which cuts off all trail access to the "back side" of the Tip Top Mine ruins. they also have an agreement with the folks that own the mine to have a large metal gate on their property which cuts off access from the "front side". the ranch has grazing rights on a bunch of the surrounding public land and supposedly they nixed access because of vandalism. though i sympathize with their plight, i'm still not OK with them effectively blocking OHV access to hundreds of acres of BLM and State trust land by closing a route that has existed since well before my time on the Earth. back in 2016 a small group of us ran from Table Mesa to Tip Top Mine, then eventually found our way over to Lake Pleasant. the metal gate before Tip Top Mine was either non-existent at that time (or open and we didn't even notice it), and no-one was at the old shack owned by Boulder Creek Ranch. there were signs saying we were being recorded by trail cams, but no signs or anything barring access to the trails that ran beside the shack. Here's the 2016 trip report... then in 2019 another group of us tried a slightly different (and backwards) version of the route. that time we ran into a worker at the old shack who wouldn't let us through. i also noticed they had been busy upgrading many of the fences in the area. we did find an extremely brushy alternate route over to Tip Top Mine which bypassed that Boulder Creek Ranch property. however, we still ended up behind the new locked metal gate at Tip Top Mine. The 2019 trip report... cut to last weekend (2021) - we wanted to visit Packer - which was just a name and dot on a map along with some shacks in satellite photos as far as we could find. however, our secondary goal was to evaluate the trail as a potential way to get to the lake again from Table Mesa since it would bypass the entire gated Tip Top Mine area. it was an extremely long semi-circle route that heads North just a bit before Tip Top and then heads back South toward the ranch shack. however, as Ryan mentioned, there were a couple folks working at the shack and they wouldn't let us through to either way to connect to the lake, despite the trails only crossing about 200ft at the very corner of their property. i should also mention, both of the ways to get to the ranch shack from Lake Pleasant are quite difficult and not for the faint of heart. the route we took this time from Table Mesa to Packer was a strong moderate, but extremely remote and rarely traveled. i wouldn't recommend any of these routes be attempted alone.

Some photos of the Jeep from this weekend's exploring: Thanks to @johnpa for this shot!

Probably an oldie but it made me laugh...

I occasionally use the AZ Backcountry Explorers website as a reference. Today I received a newsletter from them regarding Apache Trail and its 2 year and counting closure. Based on the newsletter the state is not wanting to fix or maintain it. They are considering handing it off to federal jurisdictions instead of dealing with it was my understanding. ADOT states that where the rock slide occurred was due to the massive fire out there in 2019. In reality the fire never touched Fish Creek Hill ,where the rock slide happened. This link will take you to a page that has some interesting information along with more details. There is an option at the bottom to send a pre-written letter to the governor if feel so inclined.

Been a member a long time but due to cancer I was out of Jeeping (per Oncologists request) for an extended period but back in now. Decided not to start over from scratch so bought a partially built Gladiator and am continuing it. So far it is lifted on a Mopar 2" lift with Teraflex IR adjustable front arms and synergy adjustable trackbar. 37x12.50R17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers, Tazer mini to align everything. Smittybilt Stryker front bumper with skid and Warn EVO VR 12K winch with synthetic. Rugged GMRS45 radio with stealth antenna and ASRE shell. Full underbelly on order as well as other stuff and as with any rig...the build goes on!!!

i'm sure he'll get those photos showing up soon... thanks for taking the time to document our exploration @4x4tographer! great trail - but LONG, rough, and BRUSHY - some of the new gouges i got are down into the primer! nice to have you along for the crazy ride @johnpa.

Your pics did not come through from what I am seeing. Should I just use my imagination? 😂

I would like to join up for this trip.

awesome to have you back! great looking rig too!

FYI, the yellow self-venting spouts are money well spent if you have a Rotopax or Fuelpax type gas can - eliminates the glug-glug to make filling your rig much faster. official rotopax version (~$13) off-brand version (~$10)

Hey, welcome to ORP! George and I know you from back in the day on AZVJC. It's great to see you back behind the wheel, and thankful you conquered cancer!

You know, it's never to late to redesign your interior design plans...just saying 😉

Today we went 'splorin our new stomping grounds. We went from route 66 to Gregg's Hideout on Lake Mead via Anteras Road. From the Lake we came down Stockton Hill Road towards Kingman, and then cut across on yet more dirt roads to find our way to the wineries behind Valle Vista. It was scenic and the weather is great. We're hoping to find some fun adventuresome places and camping spots. Here's a few pics from the day. Almost home, Valle Vista in the distance.

Found some history on Packer: http://www.apcrp.org/PACKER/PACKER_071707.htm

Whooooops! 😅 Fixed it!

cool shot of Gadget taken by @4x4tographer:

Alrighty gang we are a few days away and I am looking forward to this weekend. Weather looks to be nice all around so that's a bonus. If you are unable to make it please let me know. If you are on standby and can make it let me know as well, we should be able to figure it out. I will bring a couple of bundles of firewood just in case we need or want that in addition to @Trail Toy's propane fire ring. Full details are on the original post. However,here are some friendly reminders and helpful information: Meetup and Departure **Please arrive fueled up and ready**(There is a Circle K down the street on the way in and a Maverick gas station across the street) When: October 16th @ 8:00 A.M, departing no later than 8:30 A.M. Where: Camp Verde Bashas' Parking Lot (link) I will be there somewhere out of the way of shoppers. 650 Finnie Flat Rd, Camp Verde, AZ 86322 Other Important Details Bring 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, snacks etc.. Adult beverages at camp are more than welcome. Absolutely no drinking & driving. MORE water than you need Camping (PRIMITIVE) We'll camp at high elevation. Please bring appropriate clothing and bedding. Bring your GMRS or HAM radio(s). Recovery gear, first aid kit, fire extinguisher Folding chair, camera Consider extra fuel- There is a gas station in Happy Jack if needed. It would be approx 20 mile round trip there and back if we need to venture down. Looking forward to seeing you guys and meeting the new members!!

LOL....Slowly growing...the shell was on order for a month and finally came in last week

Welcome (back) to ORP @AZLugz! Hoep to see you on the trails some time. I'd love to see that good-lookin' JT in person.

@Yodamom 🤓

This is going to be a fun destination in Williams coming soon!! "Arizona's first and only mountain coaster, Canyon Coaster will feature a mile-long track complete with steep descents, dips, twists, hairpin turns, and 360-degree corkscrews." https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/arizona/mountain-coaster-adventure-park-az/amp/?fbclid=IwAR3MU8wEuYrgQ66aQzJGDcC4BC-1ZhEGm7Pt-5YCQBNZcdzPxOaaO08ZpDg https://canyoncoasteradventurepark.com/

Maybe in the 'man cave' but not happening in here... 😂

the friction from the loaded metal-on-metal contact is what gives this type of hitch its anti-sway capabilities. if you grease those contact points then it will still provide weight-distribution, but no longer act as a sway-control device.

I had to mark them as "shipped" to get them out of the to-do list in the software, so you're all good - no duplicates are coming. Thanks for letting us know!

Heads up....Ryan brought ours to us yesterday. We did not request/pay for shipping, but i just received notice of shipping. Uh so if we receive them will hand them off to you. Not sure if someone's order got mixed up with ours or what.

It's going to be toasty in here this winter! By the way its a beautiful 79 degrees here today.