Vance and I were itchin to go on a trail but it was the middle of the summer and scorching hot on all of the close trails so we decided to go on an over nighter and wanted it to be a little cooler. So we agreed on a trail called Pyeatte Draw, just north of Payson. This is us fueling up and waiting for Sam and his friend Jesse to meet up with us. Notice the blazing hot clear sky in the background.
This is what greeted us just up the hill in Payson. We went from above 110 degrees to the mid 30's for a moment. Shortly after this picture was taken, the rain started pouring down. It was so cold, I loved it. Being able to go on as many trails as I did this year is such a blessing and this made me feel even more blessed. It felt like a beautiful fall day only on the fourth of July.
From Payson we headed to Tonto Villiage to stay in Kyles Grandpas house, which no one lives in. Because it's no fun setting up camp in the rain. When we got there the rain had stopped and we went over to Say hi to Vances dad and his wife Janice. They live in Tonto Villiage. Oh...and see that little window at the peak of the gable? That's where I slept, and also where i hit my head multiple times on the slanted ceiling. Yeah, that room wasn't made for big guys...neither was the bed! But I'm not complaining, thanks for the dry beds Kyle.
This is the beginning of the trail. Looks pretty mild huh?
Well...it stepped up a notch real quick! the trail went from rocky creek bed to huge boulders and steps in just one turn.
It's no fun being stuck. Kyle got his center section hung up on a big boulder and didn't want to be yanked out. He wanted to do it himself.
Vances bedside found a big limb that was camoflauged in a little bush.
Here are some of the steps I was talking about earlier.
And here's Kyle stuck again.
Only this time he got some body damage and it wasn't from a rock or a limb. It was from the handle on his high lift jack. Poor guy...not a good day.
I don't know why,but I sure do have alot of lizards pose for me.
Vance looks like a good supervisor.
Now it's Vance's turn to be stuck. See that boulder underneath the passenger side? That's just one of the problems.
This is what greeted us just up the hill in Payson. We went from above 110 degrees to the mid 30's for a moment. Shortly after this picture was taken, the rain started pouring down. It was so cold, I loved it. Being able to go on as many trails as I did this year is such a blessing and this made me feel even more blessed. It felt like a beautiful fall day only on the fourth of July.From Payson we headed to Tonto Villiage to stay in Kyles Grandpas house, which no one lives in. Because it's no fun setting up camp in the rain. When we got there the rain had stopped and we went over to Say hi to Vances dad and his wife Janice. They live in Tonto Villiage. Oh...and see that little window at the peak of the gable? That's where I slept, and also where i hit my head multiple times on the slanted ceiling. Yeah, that room wasn't made for big guys...neither was the bed! But I'm not complaining, thanks for the dry beds Kyle.This is the beginning of the trail. Looks pretty mild huh?Well...it stepped up a notch real quick! the trail went from rocky creek bed to huge boulders and steps in just one turn.It's no fun being stuck. Kyle got his center section hung up on a big boulder and didn't want to be yanked out. He wanted to do it himself.Vances bedside found a big limb that was camoflauged in a little bush.Here are some of the steps I was talking about earlier.And here's Kyle stuck again.Only this time he got some body damage and it wasn't from a rock or a limb. It was from the handle on his high lift jack. Poor guy...not a good day.I don't know why,but I sure do have alot of lizards pose for me.Vance looks like a good supervisor.Now it's Vance's turn to be stuck. See that boulder underneath the passenger side? That's just one of the problems.
This is a view at the drivers side.
And this is what it looks like from the rear. When Vance gets stuck he makes sure he does it right. As seen on the Woodpecker Mine post.
I also got stuck on this trip. It was on the filter, of which I have no pics. Sometimes I get so busy with the action I forget to document it. Anyway, this is a picture of my Liberty minus the roof rails (because a rack is in the works) fender flair and fog light.
And the finally...which only one of us attemped (Kyle) and didn't even make it up the first step on the left. It looks even worse in person!
We finished off the day in Tonto Villiage with some dinner at the Double D. Their patty melt is delicious...even though it wasn't on marble rye. Mmmmm...mmm!
What's with all the white vehicles?
As you can tell from some of these pics, it was a beautiful day and the creek was runnin a little cuz of some previous rain.
Which wasn't good for Vance. Water, sand and dirt, in my experience make quicksand. Oh Yeah! 
I was able to cross this mud hole in my Liberty cuz I straddled the rutts by keepin my tires on the right side of the hole and on a little ridge that used to be between the two rutts. Vance was right behind me and tried the same thing but slipped right in. We came to the conclusion that it was a combonation of the weight of the truck and his locker makin him fish tail off track. Once he noticed he was slipping he throttled up to try and make it out. Which I really think he would have if i wasn't for the huge sunken boulder at the end of the hole that he caught his differential on. As barely seen in the picture below.
I tried to pull him out the front of the hole strapped to my Liberty but couldn't. So Kyle (pictured above) said he could do it with his winch. Well...it didn't work cuz he was to light and couldnt get enough traction. The same problem I had.
So we all decided that Levi should strap to Kyles truck for the extra weight. Well on the way around the mess he found one of his own. Those other tracks you see in the mud are Kyles so Levi thought it would be a safe path. I guess his truck was to heavy.
So now Kyle had to go winch Levi out. Which thankfully was pretty quick.
At this point we were probably already here for an hour and Kyle is tryin to winch Vance out by himself.
So we decided to hook Levi up again. Even with him winchin and both of them runnin in reverse there was still no movement.
We finally realized that we had to bust out the high lift jack. We lifted it enough to stack some rocks under the tires so he wasn't plowin so much mud, hooked up a chain and jerked him out.
FINALLY FREE!!!
Over two hours later and minus a bunch of mud that's been plowed out of the hole. It was a fun experience.
