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I went out w/ my wife to Tempe for a long weekend as part of a business trip & conference for her work. Steve Scheafer (sscheafer3 on Yotatech) was nice enough to plan a weekend of Arizona Desert Wheeling around my trip. Many thanks to Steve and the other guys that showed me the Arizona Desert and how nice it is to have a vehicle that can take you to places like this and get you back home in one piece. Not many people can say that they've seen this part of Arizona, and thanks to Steve and those guys, I am proud to be one of the few who can. I'm sorry that I can't remember everyone's names on the trip, but we had a good group. Too bad that Casey and a few others couldn't make it for the Saturday run, but I feel their pain with the long drives home. As far as our trip to AZ is concerned, we initially rented a Jeep Wrangler but when we arrived on Thursday night we discovered that not only was it NOT a Rubicon like the Hertz Pictures suggested and the rental agent confirmed, but it was a base "LS" model unlimited. We had trouble from the beginning with the rear window zipper (at least it was a soft top) and then next day we couldn't get the top down, so I had enough of the HEEP and turned it in for a 2006 Mustang Convertible - ahhhh, much better! It was a nice little car and was great to drive around AZ with the top down. I spent the better part of Friday and Sunday with the wife checking out the sights in and around Tempe and Scottsdale. Old Town Scottsdale - Neat little area of town On Saturday, I met up with Steve at his house a little before 8am. From there, we met up with the "locals" out at a Texaco on Route 60. From there, we went out to the desert and met up with Joe - the new owner of the Slee School Bus. That's one impressive rig to see, but as the group discovered over the course of the weekend, it had never really been wheeled. Over three days of wheeling, it lost 3 of it's 4 fender flares, the rear mud flaps, some yellow paint on the rear driverside quarter panel, and quite a bit of the virgin powdercoating on the front & rear bumpers along with the underside of the sliders. In all, it did very well, but then again, it is a beast of a rig on a solid locked full-floating axles and 35" MTR's. Desert Flats From there, we ventured closer to the mountains where we eventually ended up at the Cabins at Martinez Canyon. Don't let the name fool you into thinking that these are rental units like I did at first. These are some old abandoned homes where some of the miners lived back in the 50's and 60's. This is where the Martinez Canyon Trail (actually a loop) both starts and ends. On the way to Martinez Canyon The Cabins at Martinez Canyon: These old cabins mark the beginning and end of the loop known as the Martinez Canyon Trail The first obstacle was the Rock Garden. With a choice of two paths and multiple lines on each, you can pretty much pick your difficulty all the way thru. As you might guess, Steve opted for the hard side - all the way to the right - and took it with ease. The "Rock Garden" Another fairly large obstacle after the Rock Garden was something similar at the Old Mill. It was optional, and basically an old Creek Bed full of boulders. The "Mill" The next obsacle was Yellow Belly. The approach to it was easy enough and the bypass to the right was a breeze. However, the pics of the ledge don't do it justice for how steep and how tall it really is. I rode up with Steve the first time and had a blast! I opted to sit out his second run up the wall so that I could get some good pics. It's a thriller for sure. First you have to "get in the launch position" which is no small feat in itself. Steve approached the wall in first gear w/ the twin sticks both in low. His runner made it an easy task to crawl up and position it's belly on the rock with the front tires on the top of the ledge prepared for launch. From here, it's either all or nothing - actually, it's either make it or roll - literally. Luckily for me, Steve's done this one more than a dozen times, so I was pretty confident that he'd do fine, but the feeling it gives is nothing but an adrenaline rush. Here's a pic of me in the passenger seat, holding on and enjoying the ride! From the launch, I held on and watched my view from the passenger seat change from seeing the tops of the mountain to a near-vertical look at the pristine blue sky. What seemed like an eternity later, I again saw the red canyon walls and swallowed my stomach down out of my throat! One hellova ride! After that, I watched as Jim and one other 3rd gen runner conquered the ledge and then bringing up the rear was the yellow beast of an 80. A few quad guys missed our first run in the solid axle runner, so one of them offered Steve $5 for a ride up yellow belly - and of course Steve obliged him with the ride of his life. Going up "Yellow Belly" After that, we eased on up the trail with really only one more moderate area. This time, Steve let me take his runner thru the rocks. Similar to the Rock Garden earlier, the SFA 3rd Gen with Crawler made short work of it. On the way to the top, we navigated the narrow switchbacks and passed an old mine entrance before making the crest of the trail. From there, we dropped down into the "Luge" and basically coasted down from the 3500+ ft elevation back to the Cabins at the entrance to the canyon. Up the Trail to the Top of the Mountain then down the "Luge" to the Cabins On the way back, instead of taking the trail thru the desert like we did on the way in, Steve gave up the driver's seat for me to navigate Box Canyon. Although an easy trail with few obstacles, it still offered amazing views and a surreal experience as we traversed between 100+ foot tall cavernous walls, sometimes with just a foot or two clearance between the rock and the sheetmetal. I then followed the gravel roads back out to highway 78 where we met back up with the group for a quick air-up after the fast run through the canyon. Driving thru "Box Canyon" on the way back Views around Phoenix and the Rental Car for the Trip