(intense music)
(engine running)
- Day five of Ultimate Adventure
and we are on the Mogollon Rim,
at probably one of the best campsites in all of Arizona.
After another long day on the trail,
we made it into camp a little after 10pm last night.
As a result, everyone's moving a little slow this morning.
- Come and get it!
- Alright, welcome to day five at UA.
(cheers)
We got some road miles to cover today.
We're going to Cinders, then we're going to our campsite.
So Trent's going to explain the route.
What we have in store.
- We need to kind of make up some time.
So those of you that didn't air up last night,
go ahead and air up.
We're going to have some road miles today.
We are going to be headed north and we are going to the Cinders
which is kind of like a dune area.
But it's solid black because it's all volcanic rock.
(engines running)
- The Cinders OHV area is located just outside of Flagstaff.
About 85 miles away.
We're going to be on dirt for a little while this morning
on the Mogollon Rim, then we're going to hop on 87
for a bit to Lake Mary Road,
which is going to take us all the way to Flagstaff.
(intense music)
- We're driving down the road and we had a little wobble.
And so we pulled over to check it out
and there's a little clunk when we
push back and forth on the tire.
Not sure if it's in the unit bearing or the track bar
so we're going to jack it up and try to see what's loose
and double check all our wheel lug nuts.
- Today is as good as it gets.
It's nice and cool, all the trucks are happy.
Gorgeous scenery, we actually have trees and shade,
which deserts and cactus are pretty scenic and awesome also,
but this is really nice.
This is comfortable.
- The Voodoo Offroad Rugged Radio's offroad design
Falcon Tire, Power Products Skyjacker Warn winch,
Dana axle, Magellan Cummins jeep was doing great out there.
But the front end started getting a little bit of wobble
coming into the corners hot.
We found that there was a track bar that needed adjusted.
But we got that tightened up and we'll be passing people
on the rest of this road.
- Alright guys we're going to be changing
the route a little bit.
- The entire trip was planned out and then pre-loaded
while mapping it on the Magellan TRX7.
- Go to this way point, hit go and,
- Knowing that we had some 250 miles to our destination,
it was necessary to make more of a direct route
to the Cinders that was our plan,
in order to give us a fighting chance
at making it into camp before midnight.
(record scratch)
- Well this is a bit embarrassing actually.
So we got rolling, about four miles later this
thing sputtered and died.
Now, I am holding the entire group up while I put fuel
in the thing that I should've done ten minutes ago.
- After a quick stop in Flagstaff for some desperately
needed fuel it was onto the Cinder Hills OHV Area.
Think dunes with volcanic ash instead of sand.
Now this is the first day in the past several
where we've had everyone back with the group
after the various breakdowns and repairs.
This is good, because the Cinders offers a completely
different offroad experience.
- It's similar to sand but it's different.
And it's a lot harder on parts.
So beware of that. And tires.
We explored a little bit as a group,
then basically turned everyone loose for a few hours
to explore on their own. (intense music)
Located at the foot of the San Francisco Peaks
the Cinders are the remnants of the significant
volcanic activity in the region.
The 13,500 acre OHV area is one of the few in Arizona
where open riding is permitted.
Meaning you can pretty much go wherever you want
and don't have to stick to an established route.
Though still, running over foliage is prohibited.
If it weren't for the trees you'd think
we'd been transported to the moon.
(intense music)
- Here we are out at the Cinders OHV Area.
(engine roaring)
It's basically as you can see it's just a big pile
of volcanic pumice.
So it's just like a bunch of little pebbles,
so it should be some interesting wheeling.
There's some big hills, kind of dune-like,
so we're going to go out and see how high we can get up 'em.
- Sam Gillis' buggy is powered by an all aluminum
LS motor so the lightweight rig really didn't
have any trouble with the steep hills.
(engine roaring)
Wheeling in the Cinders is sort of like
being on the dunes except with steeper hills.
It has to do with the angle of repose of sand versus ash.
Dry sand hills reach a maximum angle of about 34 degrees,
but these hills of ash can reach upwards of 40 degrees.
- [Radio Voice] Coming up on the left you have dip there.
- After four days of poking around on the rocks,
it was nice to have a place to open up the throttle
and get some real speed going.
(engine roaring)
Damon's Ford-powered Scout 80 also seemed right at home
thanks to a suspension that soaks up the bumps
and plenty of power on tap.
(engine roaring)
- I've done some stuff at Pismo a bunch,
kind of close to my home so I'm used to the sand,
used to this kind of stuff but this will be interesting
because I'm sure it'll be slightly different.
So, I'm getting excited and ready, ready to get out
there and see what it's like.
(engine roaring)
- Meanwhile, Cooper has discovered that the problem of
the mysterious rotating front end on the
Diesel Power Product Ram, is much more serious
than just loose cam bolts.
The center of the front differential housing has been
spinning on the axle tubes and causing serious
drive line problems among other things.
Now Cooper has the truck tied up to two trees
and the plan is to get the pinion to rotate back upwards
so that the center can be re-welded to the tubes.
Big truck, big dude, big axles, one tiny ball-peen hammer.
(engine roaring)
Chris Durham's Gladiator JK looks unique,
but underneath the unusual nose, it is typical Durham.
Simple, strong, and effective.
Then again, a clapped out old car running on just two
cylinders could make it up these hills
with Chris behind the wheel.
The perfect gearing allows the Stone-Stock 3.8
under the hood to get the JK to the top, without issue.
- 65 (mumbles). - Alright.
(engine roaring)
- It's kind of like sand dunes,
never wheeled in this type of terrain before.
(engine roaring)
- Keith Bailey's Magellan CJ-7 really isn't built
for the dunes but the thirsty small-block Chevy
under the hood manages to get the job done.
Note co-pilot Steve taking video with the Magellan TRX-7.
(engine rumbling)
Some used horsepower but Fred decided on a different
approach and used the torque of the Cummins R2.8
to get Tubesock up the grades.
Certainly an impressive technique, if not terribly exciting.
(engine roaring)
It's hard to say which had the better exhaust fan.
The Watson's K30, or the 6.4 liter hemi in Skyjacker JK.
Regardless, it had no trouble with the Cinders.
(engine roaring)
The distinctive whine coming from the
Voodoo Ropes CJ 10 gives away the fact
that the JK sourced 3.6 liter under the hood
is packing heat in the form of Sprintex supercharger.
This combination has no problem propelling
the unique, lightweight rig.
(engine whining)
(chatter) (engine roaring)
Everyone had a great time at the Cinders,
and even better no one managed to break anything.
But with more than six hours to go before camp tonight,
it was time to gather up the troops and get rolling.
(engine rumbling)
Aired back up, it was back to the black top to
knock down some miles before dark.
And maybe this section of road will be
uneventful for a change.
- Well it appears that the thermostat's not open
'cause radiator's just ice cold.
With the motor showing it's overheating.
So we're going to try to pull this thermostat out right quick,
try to see if the thermostat's even open.
- Well, it ain't open but I think
it'll close right around it.
- I hope we get to, get to cool off a little bit.
(tools clanking)
- Heading due north through Cameron and Bitter Springs
on Highway 89 the group turn west after
passing through Marble Canyon.
In all we log about 150 miles in 14 hours before making
it to our group campsite for the night in Jacob Lake.
(intense music)
- Driver's meeting, we're being quiet for the neighbors.
Let's go.
- This is Rick Barry's special right here.
- Wait til we fire up all our engines,
that'll be a lot better.
- Alright, well welcome to day six of
the Ultimate Adventure 2017.
(cheers)
I think we're, what 7,300 feet elevation?
- I think it's 8,000.
- 8,000, great campsite, great route.
We've an even better one today.
- Who knows what's really close by?
- [Group] The Grand Canyon.
- And that is where we are headed this morning.
This leg is not too bad, this leg is like 100,
I want to say about 120 miles.
The next leg is a legit 180 and much of it is in low range.
Please have every drop of fuel that you can carry on you.
- When people talk about the Grand Canyon,
most of the time they're talking about the easier
to access South rim.
Our route was taking us to the North Rim,
which is more remote and receives less traffic as a result.
When you are this close to one of the
natural wonders of the world, you simply have to stop
and check it out.
Even it meant nearly a four hour detour
from our ultimate destination.
The drive to the North Rim from Jacob Lake
also happens to be one of the most beautiful
in all of Arizona.
The scenery at the North Rim is even
more breathtaking than the south.
And it's certainly more rugged.
The multiple scenic overlooks are just a short
hike from the historic Grand Canyon Lodge,
which is worth seeing all by itself.
- This year's Ultimate Adventure got together to
one of the highlights of America.
And this America's favorite hole in the ground,
the Grand Canyon.
The Grand Canyon was formed about 60 million years ago,
much around the same time Fred Perry
started growing a beard.
This is really cool.
If you've never been to the Grand Canyon,
you should pack your bag and hop in your 4x4
and drive out here.
This is an icon of America.
And there's actually two sides of the Grand Canyon.
There's the North Rim which we're on right now,
which closes down in the winter.
And there's the South Rim which I think is open year round.
And, Fred you got anything, any words of wisdom?
- Yeah, if you, you don't get any perspective on this,
until you see the sight-seeing plane fly through the bottom.
And then you realize how large a hole this is in the ground.
- America's favorite hole in the ground, the Grand Canyon.
Go check it out.
- We had a Griswold look at the Grand Canyon.
We're all set up, we've got a lot of miles to go
so we're going to load up and head out.
And there's some dirt coming up soon.
- Leaving the North Rim behind,
the group probably thought that this was
the last of the Grand Canyon they would see for this trip.
But they were in for a surprise.
Not far up the highway, we took a shortcut to
save some time on you guessed it, a dirt road.
And also saw some pretty cool stuff along the way.
(funky music)
After gassing up at Pipe Spring and making sure
every gas can was full as it could be,
it was back to the dirt for the longest leg
of the entire trip.
(intense music)
- Well we are airing down for the last
really long stretch of trail, road day combination.
At least 120 miles, (engine roaring)
Ultimate Adventure time could be two hours it could be six.
- Trent's got some more dirt roads planned for us,
so we're getting ready to put the dust mask back on
and hit the trail.
- We have some good dirt miles, it's a little bit warm out,
and it's going to be a little bit dusty.
- This Ultimate Adventure, we had a pretty good struggle
with mechanical issues.
Everything fell off.
Transmission coolant leaked, fuel line leaked,
brake line leaked, so we've kind of had our hands full,
stayed on top of repairs a little bit
and keeping the motor from getting too hot.
We were having that issue too
so we had to wire a fan direct to keep that going.
But I think we have it all under control.
We'll see.
- Well, since we've been in dirt the last
four or five days, 160, 70, 80 miles of dirt
probably won't be nothing, but as you can see
by looking at the row of vehicles,
I'm next to last.
I'll get my fair share of dirt.
I'm going to try to keep a little distance anyway.
- It's doing great.
It's great being tail end.
You just sit here and mop up all the problems
that the other people have.
What's really cool is on this trip even though
I used to lead it, I don't know where we're going.
So it's, it's really coming back.
All I know is that it's 100 miles that way,
100 miles that way to get to where
we're supposed to be going.
This isn't the right way.
So this is going to be great.
- Hurricane Utah is our destination for the evening.
And it's northwest of where we are right now.
But, we are headed due south, roughly towards Tooele
before eventually turning west towards Mount Trumbull.
This route is going to take us right through the heart
of the Arizona strip, one of the most remote places
in all the United States.
Most of the normal ways in and out of this area
involve going to Utah, Nevada, or California.
Of course, our route is far from normal.
(engine rumbling)
Mount Trumbull is a tiny little settlement,
and it's most notable landmark
is the Mount Trumbull schoolhouse.
Now this is a well-cared for recreation
of the original building.
Inside are displays depicting the history of the area
and the settlers in it.
The schoolhouse is a historic building,
so we were sure to leave it exactly as we found it,
while we explored.
- I think we got a little dusty today.
We had 32, oh, I mean three to two miles,
two to three miles of dirt.
And, we'll eat as much as we can since
we got to see the Grand Canyon today.
(engine roaring)
- I'm trying not to be that guy.
You know that guy that holds the group up.
- And I would say if you showed up
with Ultimate Adventure this year without goggles
you're sorry, you're sorry.
- You're, you're very much regretting that right now yeah.
- 'Cause they're a requirement this year for sure for sure.
- One this is for sure, we are well off the beaten path
as no tour bus would ever go near where we've been
or where we're going.
From Mount Trumbull we are headed due south
past the Bar 10 Ranch, and to the Whitmore Overlook,
one of the most remote vistas of the Grand Canyon
that is accessible by vehicle.
(engine rumbling)
Whitmore Overlook is also the site of where
an ancient lava flow once dammed the Grand Canyon.
The path to the overlook follows this flow
so it's rough and extremely bumpy,
but totally worth it.
How many people get to see two distinctly different
vantages of the Grand Canyon into one day?
Especially one this remote.
- One of the advantages of vehicles like this
is that we can get to remote destinations
to see these majestic views like we have behind us here.
It's a view that very few people ever get to see.
It's a little bit of work, but we can get there
and it's worth it.
- Alright well it's been a long, dusty day.
But here we are at the Whitmore Overlook.
We, we came in via Mount Trumbull,
this is a 25 mile one way in and out,
but as you can see we're at the beautiful Grand Canyon,
the Colorado River's right down there.
Everybody did great, we made great time down here.
We're checking it out, but we're not done yet.
We actually have to still get to Hurricane
and the hotel for a badly needed shower.
We're going to get rolling and head to Hurricane.
(intense music)
- The sun's going down, but there's another 85 miles
of dirt between us and the hotel for the night.
So it looks like we're going to be doing some night trail.
Close another long day, but seeing the Grand Canyon
was a bucket list item for many in the group.
There's on more day of Ultimate Adventure yet to go,
and we've saved some of the best and hardest,
free leg for last. (engine roaring)
(intense music)