SC4x4G Superbowl of Jeeping
February 2012
Wow. What a weekend. Three days of four-wheeling in the Lake Havasu/Parker area. It truly earned the name Superbowl of Jeeping. We started up the event on Friday with a warm-up run on Deliverance, a trail that winds through the washbeds near the Desert Bar in Parker. Deliverance features some moderate waterfalls and off camber go-arounds that offer challenges and a chance to locate that long stashed tow strap. If you struggled with or broke on Deliverance, the rest of the weekend was going to be real tough. Fortunately, we all got through unscathed and enjoyed a great day of wheeling. Near the end of our day, Skip found a steep waterfall in a small canyon off the main trail. The hole at the bottom of the fall made the climb fairly vertical and, as usual, the pictures don't do it justice. As we headed back to camp that afternoon, we were ready for the next days challenges...
On Saturday, we headed up 95 into Lake Havasu City, wound through a housing tract, and met at the base of the hills overlooking Lake Havasu. We met up with Rick and a few others from the Sidewinders Four Wheel Drive Club who were to lead us on Upper Blueberry, purported to be one of the more difficult trails in the area. As we began the drive into the hills, we lost three tires on a rig pulling it sideways due to a driver-related oops. Upper Blueberry featured much steeper and longer waterfalls, larger rock gardens, and much greater potential for scrapes and dents. I know of a few front fenders that were clipped making the tight, off camber turns as the trail wound up the canyon. The day ended with an extreme waterfall that only two rigs attempted. After that, it we headed out the same way we came in; we now got to descend the steep waterfalls that we just finished climbing. Overall, another great day on an exceptional trail...
On Sunday, four of us met up to run Pit Pass, a rock buggy trail that was just cut last year. It is directly across the street from Skip's place in Parker, so the drive to the trailhead was short and sweet. Pit Pass winds into the hills then, all of a sudden, you hit a vertical wall that acts as the gatekeeper. If you can't or won't climb this, you're done. The trail gets extreme at this point with lots of rocks and opportunity for play. We completed Pit Pass in about three hours and called it a day. 2012's Superbowl of Jeeping was a big success - lots of fun, great trails, and best of all, great friends.
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