(epic music)
- Welcome to day one of Ultimate Adventure.
(applause)
Fred scouted where we're going today
so I'm going to hand it over to Fred,
he's our trail boss for the day.
- Hey guys.
(cheering)
All right so we are going to drive about an hour
this morning to the trail head.
We are going to go to a town called Trona.
The trail is tight, rocky, hot.
Watch out for snakes, watch out for scorpions.
Bears, it's going to be really hot out there.
Ready to roll out at 7:30.
Everybody fueled up, had food, have waters.
- [Narrator] It's the 2016 Petersen's 4 Wheel
and Offroad Ultimate Adventure.
I'm editor in chief Christian Hazel,
and this year we're taking UA
on some of the most legendary
bucket lists trails in the USA.
As usual, participants have no idea where they're heading.
For day one we're hitting Isham Canyon trail.
It's a hard core rock crawl trail
about an hour north of Ridgecrest, CA.
(traveling music)
This year there are 18 rigs on the Ultimate Adventure.
Of course we have our sponsors,
without whom the Ultimate Adventure wouldn't be possible
and a motley cast of characters
including the 4 Wheel and Offroad staff,
your favorite cronies, and new and returning readers.
- Ben Mahin from Delano, Minnesota.
First time reader, selected for the 2016 Ultimate Adventure.
I'm the small tire guy of the group here
with a 2003 Grand Cherokee on 35s
so I'm sure the day will be plenty interesting.
- Everybody I'm Wayne Lambert from Hermosa Beach.
I'm one of the voted in readers
for Ultimate Adventure 2016
and I'm driving this Chevy K30 you see in the background.
- I'm Robert Keller, I'm from Deland in Florida
and I'm this year's returning reader
on Ultimate Adventure and I can't wait.
- [Christian] With the tire pressure dropped
and the thermometer climbing,
we make for the trail head.
(traveling music)
4 Wheel and Offroad editor at large Fred Williams
led the group up Isham Canyon
in last year's official UA vehicle,
the ultimate summer camp Jeep.
It's a 46 CJ-2A with a supercharged 6.2 liter LSA engine
and 38 inch Falken Wildpeak M/Ts.
I'm driving the 2013 UA Super Dirty.
It's a full size F250 that's a lot of truck
for this tight trail.
but the 38 inch Falkens
and Offroad Design magnum box add a major amount
of capability and control.
- Chris Durham and Fred Perry coming up
on our first obstacles on Isham Canyon.
These guys drove this Jeep out here
from South Carolina.
We're out here in the deserts of California.
We're going to work our way up through here
and keep on trucking.
Trying to keep cool today.
- [Christian] This 2005 TJ Unlimited is piloted
by father and son team Andrew and Drew Hoit.
They're representing Falken tires,
the official tire sponsor of Ultimate Adventure.
Bubba Rope is the official recovery rope
of Ultimate Adventure.
Rich Conlon and Jim Grass made the trip
in Rich's 08 Wrangler Unlimited.
We had another father and son team
for the official transfer case of UA
with Offroad Design's Stephen and James Watson
in Stephen's super capable 81 Chevy K30.
After a few years away,
Skyjacker is back in its role
as official suspension of the Ultimate Adventure.
Lonnie McCurry Jr and Dillard DeLasalle
took the patriotic 11 Wrangler Unlimited
through all the hard lines.
This year, Rugged Radios came aboard
as the official communications of Ultimate Adventure
and ended the garbled CB experience once and for all.
Mike Ruzicka and Steve Bechard made everything
look easy in Mike's 97 TJ.
Long time sponsor Power Products Unlimited
was back as the official retailer of the Ultimate Adventure
and so was Cooper Rasmussen
and his 75 Cherokee affectionately known as Grandma.
It just wouldn't be an Ultimate Adventure
without Warn on board as the official winch.
This year, offroad legends Chris Durham
and Fred Perry represented Warn
in Durham's awesome two door 2010 JK.
(growling)
- Everything's going really good up there
and everything's really good back there.
It's right here that we have
a couple of problems, there's rocks.
But we're getting it figured out.
A lot of times people get into a place
where they need to back up a long ways
and they back up a little ways.
See he backed way up
and now he's got his tires out where he needs to be.
(engine chugging)
- [Christian] Our very own tech editor Verne Simons
finished his 49 Willy pick up literally hours
before the start of UA.
(clunking)
Apparently this is how Verne breaks in a new trail rig.
- Sometimes Jeeps fall down,
usually when I'm driving them.
- Obviously he turned over,
but we were pulling the rear plugs
to check to see if there was oil in the cylinders
and there was so it was a good thing we checked.
Would've lost a motor if we wouldn't have.
- I'm just happy like none of the glass is broken.
(metallic winding)
(engines rumbling)
- I'm in 2013 Ultimate Adventure Super Dirty.
It's the 2013 6.7 liter,
power stroke, Super Duty that we built.
Took our standard cab long bed,
made it into a shorter bed.
It's got portal axles.
The axles take portals under it.
Offroad Design magnum box T-case which I've got
both units in low right now.
And um, I'm using the hell
out of the lockers which is a pretty,
pretty good climb we're staring down right now.
This thing doesn't like the,
doesn't like the turns so sharply.
Trent McGee is one of the few people
who has been on every Ultimate Adventure since
the first one in 1999.
He's back in his 97 Wrangler based buggy.
- We had a meeting, trying to figure out
how we could put the smoke back in the little motor.
We finally gave up on that
so now we're going to try and mount fan
from like three different things
with some baling wire.
Might even throw a little duct tape into the mix
'cause America.
- We're going to make a fan out of duct tape in America.
(engine rumbling)
- [Christian] Long time UA crony support staffer
Keith Bailey is a wealth of offroad know how,
and when called upon,
can help fix any mechanical problem
or just show you a better line through the trail.
(engine starting)
- So we've got a truck hung up on the rocks,
we're going to use this Ultimate Adventure Bubba Rope
and a synthetic shackle, they go around this rock
and slide him over and get him out.
(hydraulics)
- Had a lot of help from the Offroad Design doubler,
the Warn winch, the Bubba Rope.
- Just did a pretty gnarly rock trail.
It was several times harder
than anything I'd ever done in this truck that's for sure.
- Doing pretty good today,
it's a good obstacle.
Little uh, tight on the big rigs.
(rock music)
- Fun little obstacle, you get a little off camber,
it's a little tight there.
(rock music)
- Lot of big loose rock.
(rock music)
Makes some good crawling for the day like today.
(rock music)
- [Christian] The cronies ensure Ultimate Adventure
keeps moving no matter what.
Sam Gillis has been an important member
of the Ultimate Adventure for years
and together with his 09 Liberty based Alabama tuned buggy
has helped countless UA participants
make it to the end of the trail in one piece.
(engine revving)
This is Dave Chappelle's first year
as an official UA crony.
His super cool 73 Hilux is definitely capable
but its power steering system didn't like
the 120 degree temps we encountered.
(engine revving)
(jingling)
(engine revving)
(creaking)
(engine revving)
- [Spotter] No turn passenger Lonnie.
- Here's where I'm at.
Trying to fix the U joint on the front.
(clanging)
- [Spotter] Right on.
- Been a pretty hot, long, hard, tight, trail.
But it's also been a lot of fun,
it's been challenging.
Gotten a few scratches.
Broke a reverse light.
But those are all just character marks
for the Jeep and just shows
you actually get out here and use it
and it's not just to look pretty.
So it's been a great first day.
- Today was our first offroad day
of the 2016 UA and it was awesome.
We hit a wash and as we went further
it got harder and more difficult.
A lot of--