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 with Bill Johnston Habenero Falls, Las Cruces, NM
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  The
group of vehicles for this particular adventure is a mixed bunch of
enthusiasts that have come from far and wide to try their luck at the well
known rocks of Las Cruces. The trail leader was Max Bennett from the Las
Cruces 4 Wheel Drive Club. He has been wheeling these trails for a long
time. He led the trail driving his highly modified CJ-7. Coming in all the
way from Memphis, Tennessee was Tim Justice and his wife, with their
caged, flatbed, VW diesel powered Samurai. |
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  Desert
highways really suck when there is an accident. There is no way around, so
you wait for hours with nothing to do. This is what happened to Chris
Villarreal on his way to Las Cruces in the (very) early morning before the
run. When he finally made it to the meeting spot, the group had already
headed for the trail. For anyone that has driven these trails, they can
attest to how hard it is to find them. Chris unloaded his bright yellow
Samurai and headed for the canyons and found us on the first try.
Amazing! |
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 When
was the last time you saw a Chevy Luv out on the trail? How about one
outfitted with dual transfer cases and a PTO winch? Greg took this rig
through everything the trail had to dish out and it rocked every obstacle
(pun intended). Greg is a member of the Desert Mountain Four Wheelers in
Alamagordo just
northeast of Las Cruces, so he knew what to expect. Since most folks
aren't used to a little 'LUV' on the trail, he has 'Not a Yota' written
across the front of his hood! |
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Even the trip out to the trail had some tricky spots. Above, you can see where Tim came down a little hard on a radius arm for his quarter elliptical rear suspension. The force of the drop ripped the front bracket off of the frame and had to be welded back on to continue the day. Max's CJ7 has a Premier Power Welder under the hood, so after a little imaginative re-engineering Tim was ready for the rest of the trail. |
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  The
trail is mostly a series of seven waterfalls. They are very difficult, so
it is not unusual to find them stacked with rocks by the folks that didn't
come equipped to handle the challenge. Here you can see us cleaning out
those rocks in order to run the trails correctly. Stacking rocks isn't
really a sin if you have to, but a good 'wheeler will move those rocks
back off the trail once they are through. Remember - Leave the trail as
you found it or it will become a highway. Then the challenge is lost. |
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Tim went after this waterfall with a line that was slightly off. That's all it took and the flatbed rolled gently onto its side. We heard a small yell, but then found out it was only a bag of unsecured Doritos that had taken Tim by surprise as it glanced off of him on the way down. No one was hurt and the vehicle only suffered slight hood and fender damage. Good thing zooks are easy to roll back over with a few folks to help lift. |
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09/14/04 16:44
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