Ed Melendy, better known as Mr. Ed, pilots his built "Arizona Rock-R" CJ5 over part of White Line. He was one of the first to find and traverse this new trail. As usual, Ed's wife, Rhea, was out video taping the action. Her videos are quite popular!

White Line is the first major obstacle on the trail. At this point in the wash the rock walls converge into a tight wedge with a deep v-notch at its base. White Line gets its name from a narrow vein of quartz running through the left face of the sloped wall. To keep from sliding into the deep middle slot and rolling or slamming against the right side wall, you need to keep your left tires as far on or over the quartz line.

Henry Garcia crawls into White Line. The water makes the off-camber obstacle more difficult.

Normally, the path through here is only badly off-camber and slow. Smooth progress will keep your vehicle from sliding to the right too much. However, a little standing water in the bottom of the wash changes everything. You can choose to ride low on the left wall keeping yourself more level, or you can ride high on the left giving your tires more distance to slide as you pick a line toward a large outcropping on the left.

Easing up over the outcropping tilts you quickly to the right and once you crest the top, your front tires may unexpectedly slide downward. With wet tires you lose a lot of control over your line and the pucker factor increases dramatically.

Exiting White Line......hoping to stay out of the water hole and off the right side wall.

Along the trail there are a number of small obstacles, boulders and places to play along the way. Randy decides he really only needs three tires on the ground.

Ed climbs up one of the many ledges along the trail.

Another major obstacle on this trail is a severe s-turn compounded by changes in elevation and lots of big rocks. Approaching the obstacle you try to steer as close to the tree on the left in preparation for the hard right turn down into the s-turn. A sloping ledge leads you down and depending on wheelbase and turning radius you may be forced to drop your right rear tire almost three feet coming down the entry ledge.

Once you make it past this little drop-off you try to pick your way through the rocks down in the wash while trying to keep an eye on a line to exit the wash. Cutting the final corner sets you at an angle and makes squeezing past the last big rock on the left a real challenge. But.......swinging wide to the right forces your front bumper and fender into a rock wall, tipping you first into the wall and then forcing you to drive up the side of the wall to make the turn.

Griz picks his way through the boulders in the s-turn.

The tight exit causes most vehicles to three wheel it out or make serious use of nerf bars if you chose a line too close to the large boulder on the left.

A Defender 90 makes elegant work at the tight boulder squeeze.

Eric lifts a tire climbing out of the s-turn. Eric's flat fender Wrangler runs a Dana 44 front and Dana 60 rear with 35 x 15.5 Swampers for lots of traction.

Dan successfully exits the s-turn. This '90 Toy truck has been converted from IFS to live axle for more hard core pursuits.

Though the trail is fairly short and there are only two major obstacles, there are plenty of other spots to play along the way.....depending on what you're looking for. After a short distance down the wash there is a short climb onto a dirt road or an easy trail continuing down the wash. Either way will take you to the start of the second half of the trail.

Uh oh....hey Randy.....stay off the rocks. They eat paint and sheetmetal!

It was getting a bit late in the afternoon so we didn't have time to tackle Terminator II that day, but the group made plans to return the following weekend to finish the trail. After a quick run back down a dirt road, we were soon headed back toward the highway and into town. All in all a good day on the trail......lots of fun!

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Jay Kopycinski             '85 Toylet  (ROKTOY)
Gilbert, AZ                '91 4Runner (hers)
Arizona Lo-Rangers          ASA4WDC   UFWDA
Fun Country Fourwheelers    SWFWDA    TLCA
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