March 15th
Lead by Tom

Tom and Mona left Mustang Corners with Sherry and Lesley to meet with Bruce in Tucson.  Also in attendance on this run was Rob in his Polaris.

Chimney Rock is a beautiful run through the Rincon Mountains on the northeast end of Tucson, east of Houghton Road off Tanque Verde.  This run is rated a 3, stock vehicles should not attend without dollar bills for extraction purposes.

There are a lot of intersections in this maze of a playground, it's a good thing Tom knew where he was going or we'd have had to use breadcrumbs.  We climbed hills and made our way through rocky washes to find an amazing stream at the end of one trail that is at least 6 feet deep with crystal clear water, perfect for swimming in the coming months.  We are definitely planning a trip back to this spot to see if there is water there when it is hot.

There's another hill that is steep and off camber on the passenger side but my passenger was too busy taking pictures to notice that she was supposed to be scared.  A little while later we switched positions and Lesley discovered the meaning of scaring oneself silly.  An open mic on the CB allowed Bruce and Tom to hear us laughing hysterically as Lesley struggled to not lose her breakfast climbing a rather steep hill.  She drove for around an hour until her neck was stiff and she could not possibly focus on another boulder, ravine, hole or tree.  Not bad for a city girl!  (In exchange for this therapeutic treatment she exacted her revenge with eyebrow waxing so we are even).

Chimney rock is a bit like Moab.  There are rolling hills of solid rock with deceiving drop offs that would be challenging enough for any serious rock crawling vehicle.  We stopped for lunch in this area and saw a few other rigs out playing around.

Tom took us to the waterfall and pool area that used to be one of his favorite spots.  The pools are now filled in entirely with sand but there is hope that another monsoon season will clear it out.

My personal favorite spot was 3 Feathers.  This is an intimidating hill that is more like a mountainous rock with a few angles of attack.  There is an easy way that a stock Rover did which, of course, meant that I could not possibly take that way (given the audience at the top waiting to see what a woman driver would do).  There is a treacherous way that even Tom was not going to attempt that day, it had chasms that looked large enough to swallow his cherokee.  Then there was the middle which would be rated "Holy crap" yet do-able when the pressure is on.

I did not hesitate long enough to change my mind on this seemingly vertical climb.  I didn't think about the extra gas can and heavy bumper Mark recently installed that could possibly cause the jeep to fall over backwards.  I didn't wait long enough for anyone to get pictures.  I pressed on the gas pedal and went for it!  Not only is it steep it is also full of giant holes and sheer rock face obstacles.  I am pretty sure my knuckles were white and I may have screamed but disguised it in laughter so as not to cause my passenger to leap out of the jeep, leaving me to die alone (what are best friends for?).

I made it!  I may have shortened my life expectancy by a few years but the sense of accomplishment was exhilarating.  I wanted to go back down and try it again.

After the run we stopped at Civano nursery to wait for Bruce to trailer his jeep then went on to meet in Mescal at the Bar and Grill off J Six Ranch Road Exit on I 10 for dinner where Mark joined us.

Doing a run in Tucson has always been an all day affair that many club members may not want to try but it is well worth the amount of travel.