Crown King (The 'New' Back Way)

January 15, 2000

(Trip Report by Todd Zuercher)

For our January run to higher elevations, sixteen vehicles met at the Burger King parking lot on Peoria Ave. just west of I-17 in anticipation of some beautiful scenery on a trail that most had not yet traveled.

I figured I had the Road Apple award all locked up as coolant was leaking from my radiator hose when I pulled into my parking spot. After a quick purchase of some new hose clamps, my problems for the day were solved.

Here's a closeup view of Winston Brown's very capable and very unusual rig. He's running a Throttle Body injected 383 Chevy engine with an NV4500 5 speed tranny. Take a close look at the strangely sinister emblem adorning its front.

(see inset at lower left)

We had 5 non-Broncos: a '64 Land Rover, Dodge pickup, Jeep TJ, Jeep Cherokee, and a Ford Expedition along on this run. They were all friends and acquaintances of club members and were of course welcome to join us for the trip.

After a quick meeting, we headed north on I-17, exiting at Carefree Highway and followed the familiar, and very dusty road to the west of Lake Pleasant and on up past Castle Hot Springs. Turning left on the Morristown road, we followed it for a short distance before we again turned right and dropped down into Castle Creek. For several miles we followed the creek and then turned right and spent the next several miles bouncing over rolling hills on a fairly smooth dirt road. We took our first real break at the old, rusty sign that read "Clovis Game Preserve" and locked in our hubs for the mild four wheeling ahead. Without much fuss we reached our lunch spot and spent the hour eating and looking at each others' trucks. After lunch we dropped into a canyon where we encountered some mild rockcrawling. The Expedition required some spotting at this point and talk on the radio indicated that the running boards came in contact with some of the boulders but snapped back into shape quite nicely.

After a few more ridgelines, we reached the Wagoner-Minnehaha road which was considerably better than the one we had just traveled. Our pace picked up considerably at this point as we gained elevation on our way to Minnehaha Flat. After several miles a call came on the radio that somebody was having some shift linkage problems so we pulled over to give the trucks a rest.

A cold, wet projectile on my backside soon revealed that there was still snow in the area and that my boys had found it! Deano's shift linkage had come apart so after that was repaired, the group continued on its way, seeing more and more patches of snow as we passed the Button Mine and drove through Minnehaha Flat. I pointed out the gravesite that exists there along with the dilapidated remains of the Lapham Place, a frame structure that Charlie Lapham once called home. From Minnehaha, we continued north for several miles until we reached the Senator Road. Once we reached the Senator, we traveled east for several miles towards Crown King.

Along the Senator Road, we discovered that Brian Spooner's and Tim Bowsher's trucks were having some problems. Tim's was having some vapor lock/fuel pump problems that were apparently more of an annoyance than anything else. Brian's truck wasn't running well on the auxiliary tank and he couldn't get it out of 4 Lo. I kept the group going for a few more miles until we reached Crown King.
There we cleaned up Brian's carb which helped the engine run better. We also worked on his loose shifter linkage and although we didn't get it properly repaired, we did get it to a state where he could shift into 4 Hi and run with his hubs unlocked.

True to his word, Mike LaChance showed up soon after we arrived driving the not-yet-sold '66.
Mike had chauffeured Jennifer Sallie, an Internet Bronco List member from Albuquerque, up to Crown King on the good road.
The group split up at this point. Many were still sitting in front of the bar downing suds when I left with Jeff Adkins and Brian Spooner close behind. We ate a lot of dust but had an uneventful trip home, arriving safely in Phoenix about an hour and a half later. I'm assuming that everyone made it home OK. My boss, Barry De Lue, who traveled with our group in his Dodge pickup, had a blowout just south of Rock Springs. It was a front tire and Barry managed to steer the truck safely to the side of the freeway and change the tire. I hope we are always so lucky if we have a blowout on our Broncos!

Brian Spooner was the hands-down Road Apple Award winner for this trip! After getting his carburetor cleaned up, Brian's truck ran pretty well, but the t-case linkage still needs some serious repair work. I trust he has repaired it by now and will be able to enjoy future runs without worrying about his truck.

I'm getting worse with the names as time goes on, but here's the attendees I can remember:

Winston Brown, Jeff Adkins, Deano Hathaway, Mike LaChance with guest Jennifer Sallie, Doug, Ken, Danielle, and Erica Schulz, Tom and Anna Alexander, Dennis(?) Alexander(Tom's dad) in a Jeep Cherokee, Barry and Faith De Lue in a Dodge, Dwight Smith, Dwight's friend Kim in a white TJ, Doug Schulz's friends in the Expedition, Brian Spooner, Tim Bowsher, new member Joe Cayer and a friend in a yellow Bronco, a member(can't remember his name) in a gold-colored truck, and Todd Zuercher with Doug, Ben, and Jake Fagan.

- Todd Z.