Motoman's Bronco Pub Crawl

[motoman]

We were getting pretty tired of the 100+ temperatures here in the valley.... so we hatched a plan to get out of the heat and stay hydrated at the same time. The Bronco Pub Crawl was born! I think in the biker community they call these poker runs!

I put together a route that would start us at Carefree Hwy and I-17 and keep us on dirt almost the entire trip. We ended up with 3 Broncos and 1 well equipped 4 Runner for the trip.

The stops were The Roadrunner (New River), Javalina Crossing (Black Canyon City), Cleater Bar, Crown King Saloon, Billy Jacks (Humboldt) and finish at Whiskey Row (Prescott).... all offroad and all on Saturday.... here's a map of the trip

Roadrunner Pics (7:30 am)

The motley crew!!

Family showed up to see us off!

After a hearty breakfast we were off to our next stop.... Black Canyon City

 

[motoman]

We took BLM land from New River to Table Mesa...cut over to the Gasline Road

This was our air down spot and a little fun in the wash!

Street pressure was too much in two wheel drive

Steve trying to show me up and stuck it in two wheel drive!

Making our way north on the Gasline road out of Table Mesa

The've got some nice hills to play on... here's Steve

Vinnie getting out to take a look at the descent.....

Johnny giving it the berries to make it up this twisted hill

I found the tunnel that goes under the freeway to get to the Power Line Road

 

[motoman]

Alot of the rocks had been kicked out and it was quite a step up getting into the tunnel

Steve suffered a bit of carnage when the welds broke on his spare tire carrier. He ended up strapping the spare in the bed for the rest of the trip

Vince and I found a rock..... ;D

The trail ended at an old abandoned BMX track.... so we had some fun running around the track in our trucks...

 

[motoman]

The second stop on our journey was the Javalina Crossing in Black Canyon City

Amy the barkeep came out to snap a picture of all of us.....

Wasn't long and we were off on the next leg of our journey.... we took Maggie Mine road to Bumble Bee

Our next stop was to the town of Cleator... POP 7

It was time to chill for a bit... was getting hot in the Broncos

Last year a picture I took of Steve's Bronco in front of the bar was accepted in the ClassicBroncos calendar. I brought a framed copy up to Darlene to be permanently hung in the dark shadows of the bar......

This pic:

Once back on the road we headed up the Crown King road.... we stopped to help this family with their flat tire....

Looks like quite a few supervisors!! ;D

We followed Johnny up this shortcut along the way! Some nice rock ledges...

 

[fungus]

Outstanding!!!

 

[motoman]

Once into Crown King we found a shady spot in town, pulled out our picnic stuff and listened to the band at "The Prospector".

After we filled our bellies we said good bye to our new friends from Boston and headed to Steve's cabin for a sit on the porch

We decided to try some target practice

Our day wasn't over...... we said goodbye to Johnny and Terry... they headed back to Phoenix. Now we were three... all Broncos! We headed off to Humboldt AZ.... via Senator Hwy.....

We arrived at Billy Jacks in the mid afternoon. Temperatures were in the 90s as we came out of the elevation and into Humboldt-Dewey

A quick self portrait

By this time we were pretty hot and tired and decided not to finish on the Senator Hwy into Prescott... we took Hwy69 into Prescott and onto Whiskey Row.... we found a hotel on the edge of the White Spars, unloaded our gear and headed back to town for food, drink and an awesome band...... we finished the night back at the hotel with beef jerky, string cheese and pringles... the air was cool and made for a great night's sleep! END OF DAY ONE!

 

[Mountain Ram]

Looks like fun!! Good times!

TD

 

[carter2772]

Very cool!!!!!

 

[motoman]

Day two began with a 9am wake up call.....or Vinnie letting the air out of his......ah.....air mattress. ;D We got everything packed up and took Vinnie up on his idea for breakfast in Chino Valley. We had NO official plans for Sunday just enjoy the day.... BRONCO STYLE!!!!

We took a cool air ride up the highway to Chino Valley. Vinnie had found this restaurant during an earlier visit to the area.... kinda fitting! THE IRON HORSE Restaurant!

Breakfast was incredible!! GOOD GREASY FOOD!!! After breakfast Vinnie seemed to think he had crap to do at home and we parted ways in Prescott Valley. Steve and I had been staring at Mingus Mountain and decided to head to Jerome.

 

[motoman]

The twisty road up to Jerome is one of the most beautiful drives in AZ.... the Broncos ran great through the curves. When we hit the summit we decided to veer off and try a new road to Mingus Lake.... the wash board was obnoxious. The bad road was worth the reward! WOW!!!

After taking in the view for a bit we were back on the road to Jerome.... stunning views all the way down!

We arrived to the bustling town of Jerome!

A stop into the Spirit Room for hydration and a listen to the band

We departed out of Jerome and took a stroll through Clarkdale. We then went across 260 to the Cherry turn off and took the dirt road up and over the mountain. It was nice and cool in the pines of Cherry.

We made it down to Hwy 169.... I did NOT want to get on the freeway and go home.... so I found a "Motoman shortcut" through Orme AZ.... all dirt all the way to Dugas. I had never been on that road and was rewarded with spectacular views from a never ending ridge line all the way into Dugas.

Steve and I labored our way down I-17 at that point trying to find a speed that the Super Swampers weren't bouncing...... we slowed our descent in New River and ended at the Roadrunner where this whole adventure began!!

Thanks to Steve, Vince, Johnny, Terry and my family for making this a most excellent adventure!!!

Oh and remember ..... when in the town of Cleater AZ:

 

[1sicbronconut]

And all this time I didn't steve even liked beer;D looks like a good time was had by all !!

 

[thegreatjustino]

Wow, sounds like a great trip. Puts a whole different perspective on "Road Trip" - More like Off Road Trip

 

[wpaeb]

Sounds like an awesome trip!!
Then anywhere you get to go in a bronco is a good trip.

 

[weasel]

Awesome trip!! Thanks for sharing.. ;D

 

[sgtdcoulter]

THis is what this great country is all about, wheelin in the free country, and most folks spend big money going outside the 49. Thanks for the story!

 

[jlake4130]

Awesome trip! I've been to all (well most) of the bars you stopped at. I would like to tag along next time, though i'd be driving my dodge ram until the broncos finished. Let me know?

 

[motoman]

Everyone is really anxious to do it again! I'll have to post up next time!!

 

[AZ69EB]

Post up your next road trip as the east valley crew would like to join in.

Someone needs to keep you guys from getting into trouble.%)

 

[medwards01]

Motoman, thanks for sharing those awesome pics....Great change of wheelin scenery for us east coast guys and gals. I have got to make plans for another road trip to the southwest. Did a 3 week trip in 1977 when we drove parts of Southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Can't believe it's been 34 years since that trip....Maybe when I finally retire, I can haul the EB out and do some high desert wheelin with you guys....Now that's the stuff dreams are made of....;D

 

[motoman]

I am super glad everyone is enjoying the story and pictures!!! It's all about getting out of the heat right now.... either wheeling at night or getting in some elevation.......it looks like this needs to be more than just an annual thing!

OH YEAH!!! I forgot to give the link to all the pictures! We took a bunch!!

Motoman's Madness Bronco Pub Crawl!