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| | | Forest Road 875 - Tonto NF, AZ | | | |
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Forest Road 875 - Tonto NF, AZ
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| 4x4 Trip | 2.40 Miles |
760 AEG |
| | 4x4 Trip | 2.40 Miles | 46 Mns | | 3.13 mph |
| 760 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | Although a very short 1.2 miles each way, with the daunting challenge it turned out to be, it truly deserves its own triplog.
Noting the comments from Preston the Yeti (see hike description http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=981) it's probably been 50 years since Forest Road 875 was actually a road. But not one to be easily daunted and with the Cherokee ready to tackle the worst, we buckled-in and hung on for the drive. Drive is hardly the word though, as the Cherokee was tested to its absolute limit.
The steepest section where the surface was loose 4-6 inch rocks of all shapes was the worst. As each rock gave way a tire would spin for a moment before grabbing the next rock, which of course would want to slide into the hole left by the previous rock, so it was bounce-spin-bounce-spin over and over again, until all forward progress was stopped even with front and rear lockers engaged and all four wheels slowly turning. Backing down the full hill was simply not an option due to an off-camber corner that was a chore to do going forward, let alone trying to do in reverse.
By this time Tracey was well past her comfort level as we are still at a high enough angle looking off the end of the hood we saw more sky than anything else. She asked if now was the time to use the winch, which if it was part of the bumper like on my Samurai I very likely would have run out the cable and pulled us up. However, the winch was in a receiver cradle in the back underneath our camping gear so rather than pull everything out and slide it into the receiver up front, I decided to brain-storm a bit first.
So I got out to survey the situation. Each tire was in its own void between rocks and each with a larger rock immediately ahead of the tire. So no matter what I did, I'd first have to back up at least a few feet to get out of the voids. The only ground that seemed relatively smooth if not solid was a small section of dirt on the right edge of the rocks. Although there were small trees along the side, my intention was to place the right-side tires on the dirt so the tires on that side would not be bouncing.
I backed up 3-4 feet before trying to drive that 3' feet to the right but no matter how I turned the wheel, we were contained in the ruts. Ok, so I'll try once more before winch-time. This time I backed up about a dozen feet, turning hard left at the end so the Cherokee would be angled to the right for the next attempt. It's now or never. It took a few feet forward before I could get the right side onto the dirt but I caught just enough of it to get the next 30' where the trees closed in forcing us back onto the rock with both sides. But I kept a constant pressure on the gas so the wheels, although spinning were still grabbing enough we continued our snails-pace forward progress. Just as it leveled out enough for us to take a collective breath, there was a loud metallic banging. 
Uh-oh... did we break an axle with all the bouncing up and down with both differentials locked? Not being one to waste much time worrying about what-may-never-come-to-pass, I figured this was a good a spot as any to begin our Bearhead Mountain hike. Once that was complete, we'd figure out what the noise was.
Upon the return from Bearhead Mountain I took a short 1/2 mile jaunt to the summit of Picture Mountain before checking under the Cherokee for possible problems. I couldn't find anything loose or broken so just fired it up and started to drive away. No noise now so all I could think of is a loose rock may have gotten up somewhere where it bounced around for a time and fell out once we stopped and backed up to park. Whatever, we had absolutely no issues the rest of the two-day trip over some more rough roads.
The drive back down the rocky area had Tracey a bit worried due to the off-camber turn but with care we made it back out safely.
Wow, that was some challenge but the Cherokee came through with flying colors. Well, to be accurate, not near as much color as before as there is not a square inch of the sides that hasn't been scratched though the color-coat. Oh well, I got it to go where no sane person would take their vehicle so that's what I expected.
Hmmm, now to find more challenges... JJ3 will get a chance to experience one next week. |
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