Big Yellow Jimmy, Speedo, Brutal, Tow Mater, and Bronco2 all went to Table Mesa to run Raw Deal and to do some "testing" on new and improved crawlers and axles. We arrived at the "parking lot" of Table Mesa at 9:00 am and then set out to find and conquer Raw Deal. The directions from ACW were real close and got us there. After what we thought was a wrong turn actually put us on upper Raw Deal. There was not one problem for any of the crawlers getting through that one. After going back to the entrance again, we did lower Raw Deal. Tow Mater and Speedo (in a stock TJ) decided to wait for us on the main road. Brutal, BigYellowJimmy, and the Bronco2 all flew through without a hang-up. With only a few hours gone we decided to explore some. We found a creek with water and Deep water at that. Speedo was the first to go across nearly submerging his winch. Then it was Brutal's turn with Nicholas driving! Then it was on to another mishap when Bronco2 tried to cross where he thought there were tracks. Come to find out, Bronco2's sink real good. With a rear tug from BigYellowJimmy Bronco2 was free. After some more exploring, we found a 4.5 to 5 off-chute off the main trail that we walked. We'll have to go back later and try this "little" obstacle. Fun was had by all and we cannot wait till the next time!

The Day began with the escaping the 13 degree Temp in Prescott to the warmer climates of Table Mesa which was closer to 45 degrees. Already at the staging area were Shane, His Mom & Dad in his Mom's TJ, and Tom with the now Famous Mater. Brutal showed up soon after with his kids Nickolas and Cody, as well as Alex (Nick's Friend ). Big Yellow Jimmy was close behind as all unloaded, aired down, and got ready to go.

Our first destination was to find Raw Deal, which we did without too much trouble considering that none of us had wheeled it before. We started up the wash and quickly found a few small obstacles that we believed to be Lower Raw Deal. Nothing to difficult as we were able to get all 4 vehicles through the trail without the use of tow straps or rock stacking. Very Impressed with the still Mostly Stock Mater as his longer wheelbase allowed him to get up the Obstacles without much or a problem. We then heated back to the main wash and took the other direction to stare Upper Raw Deal. As the TJ and Mater chose to stay behind there was not much of a challenge to Shane, BYJ, and Brutal. Some light spotting from Shane was need on one of the tubs for BYJ and Brutal, but no Damage and Little Bits of Green Paint were left on the rocks to show that Brutal had been there.

After exiting the Wash we headed up to the highest Point with a nice hill climb and rejoined the rest of the group. After deciding to just explore the area we headed down the hill and started to explore some two-track roads. Brutal then elected to turn over the wheel to his 11yr old and ride with BYJ while giving slight driving advise over the CB. We headed down into the Aqua Fria Basin and started to travel upriver.

We stopped to enjoy lunch in the much warmer river bottom and let the Dogs and Kids run free for a while. The decision was made to keep traveling upstream and find out what was there. We found some sand bars and even a 02' Explorer that had been rolled and burned and left in the bottom of the wash. After careful examination it was determined that the only usable part might be the frame and nothing was salvaged.

We headed up the river a bit more and came to a large mud crossing that looked easy enough, but Shane quickly found that the mud was deeper than originally thought al all 4 tires were sinking. With the bake of the Bronco II cut open to handle the bigger tires he had to stop or fill the rear end full of mud and he still had to drive it home to Prescott with him, his wife Stephany, and daughter Morgan riding in it. BYJ came to the rescue and quickly pulled the Bronco Beast from the mud and we were on the trail again.

We found a trail leading out or the river bed that seemed to have some good potential as a rock crawling canyon, and although there did seem to be one technical area we avoided for the sake of the group. The Trail eventually led us back to Rock Spring where we took I-17 back to the staging area.

Some good times and great fellowship were had by all with little to no real damage (Shane did shear off a cotter pin). Special thanks to BYJ whom showed up even though he was feeling a little under the weather, only made worse by a blow out on his trailer on the way home; To Shane and his whole family for coming out and wheeling even though His Red TJ isn't trail ready yet; To Tom and Mater for showing us a good time and positive outlook on everything, even the garbage piles. And for Nickolas whom piloted Brutal for hours out on the Trail.