Bradshaw Trail 250: 2023 edition

[Turboyota]

Trucks:
@Kellyex1450’s sleeper linked 80’s toyota
FatJeff’s ‘88 TC/Deaver 4Runner
@Motiracer38’s Grand Cherokee
@dose’s ‘97 linked Tacoma
@Turboyota’s Turboyota
Goldberg’s Dirt King/Deaver SilveRAYdo

Dirt miles day 1: 130
Casualties day 1: Beaumont’s steering
Turns I missed on day 1: surprisingly only 1

@GahnRacing drove down the night before the trip and FatJeff met at my house at 815AM on December 27. We all met in Indio at 9:15, topped off fuel, and hit the dirt off Dillon Rd. There are substantially more motorhomeless out there than there were a couple years ago. Gross.

We headed east on the power line road toward Pinkham Canyon(not pictured here… top left shown on the map pictured below is Pinkham canyon.)



On the power line rd regrouping after a super cool washed out uphill rock crawl section. Weather was phenomenal.


At the turnoff to Pinkham Canyon. Goldbergs Chevy dwarfs my Toyota.


In the Pink Ham Canyon. It’s rocky, washed out, twisty, narrow, with some good technical areas in the wash section.
Hello Kelly, Patrik, and fatshadow!

After the wash portion, the trail goes through a scenic and super fun valley with rollers, bumps, fun flowy trails, and a couple jumps.

Goldberg’s massive truck was getting some gorgeous creosote accents on the brand new fiberglass! JennaAntenna is still making the rounds.

Pinkham canyon ends right by the Joshua Tree visitor center. We moseyed down to Chiriaco summit for fuel and addressed FatJeff’s front end shudder and wobble issue:

Well done America’s Tire, well done.


Next trail: Red Canyon Jeep Trail

To be continued….

 

[Turboyota]

Day 1 continued:

A few miles into Red Canyon Jeep Trail Beaumont radioed that something was wonky with his steering. I had already done the 3 miles~ish of whoops, so I turned around and did them again. Patrik and I high fived a couple times because my truck was absolutely slaying the rough stuff, and the gayzer chop wasnalmost completely soaked up.


Beaumont broke the steering stabilizer mount. If we had a drill, we could have fixed it, but alas we only had a grinder, so we ratchet strapped it together and he took the highway to our camp spot.

Dusty headed back to talk shit/help


The remaining five trucks got moving again and enjoyed the ridge running section of Red Canyon Jeep Trail.




This should be a Total Chaos poster. Dusty’s Tacoma is prime example of exactly how a truck should be built.


The 4Skinner is also an excellent combination of utility, speed, passenger fitment, sleeping comfort, reliability, and budget.


@GahnRacing and I laughed our fucking asses off


Somewhere on Bradshaw Trail:


To be continued

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

So the picture of the Wheel weight? That's real? He drove on that for how long?

 

[GahnRacing]

So the picture of the Wheel weight? That's real? He drove on that for how long?

Definitely for real. He had them mounted in Fontana, trip started in Yucaipa at Turbo’s. Dirt started in Indio and we address it at Chiriaco.. I’m thinking 120-150 miles?

 

[GahnRacing]

Day 1 additions..

Leaving Rouse’s
Arrival at Dillon Rd or Dixon Cider Rd.. I’m still confused.

Hitting the Power Line Rd leaving Dillon
Vatos Locos
My favorite part about @Turboyota ’s whip

 

[Turboyota]

Continuation of day 1

Running the ridges and canyons on Red Canyon Jeep trail. It’s a fucking fun drive with great scenery.


^^^pics from @GahnRacing

About midway thru the Bradshaw trail. Everyone maintained a nice brisk pace. I never had to wait more than a few minutes for everyone to regroup.



Made it into Palo Verde for expensive gas and refreshments, and then arrived at our campsite in the Colorado River not too long after dark.

Look at this picturesque motherfucker right here! @GahnRacing fucking HANDLED the codawg duties.


@dose is a straight fucking G


Nappy Patty


Shit talking extravaganza

 

[Turboyota]

Day 2!

Tools used: crescent wrench & 9/16” open end wrench.
Oil added: couple quarts
Music serenaded thru our headsets: Sublime, Wheeler Walker Jr, Allman Brothers Band, Beastie Boys

Morning was brisk and beautiful. No, @GahnRacing and I didn’t fog up the cab with adult shenanigans.


After we packed up, I started the Turboyota and Patrik noticed a substantial oil leak h der the truck. The AN-4 tee that my oil pressure sender and turbo oil feed line connect to had fatigued and cracked because it was fucking cantilevered out of the side of the block like a sumbitch.

We eliminated the oil pressure sender and screwed the oil feed line directly into the block. Note to self and all the rest of you truck prep brofessors: carry teflon tape or your preferred thread sealant.

I’m stoked that @dose’s brother was able to partake with us.

Goldberg aired up and headed North to pick up dogs and dependents, as did @Motiracer38 because his steering was wonky.


We procured overpriced supplies at Palo Verde again, and headed Soith through the Palo Verde Mountains Wilderness Area. South on Old Palo Verde Rd, then West on Milpitas Wash rd.

Pic below is on Old Palo Verde Rd

 

[Cleandezert]

Awesome, we have been wanting to do this trip for a couple years and plan on doing it later this season.

 

[Turboyota]

I still have almost an entire day of stuff to add. Been busy, sorry gents!

 

[GahnRacing]

I still have almost an entire day of stuff to add. Been busy, sorry gents!

Chop chop queer

 

[Turboyota]

Teaser pics in a washed out area of Old Palo Verde rd.

 

[Turboyota]

Map of early day 2:

The circled area of the purple route is Old Palo Verde rd. It was a beautiful, technical, and fun trail.

 

[WW_RANGER_X]

Google map surfing and watching youtube videos on this trail. Looks like a good time! It would be a mission to get down there from home but may be worth planning the trip down there some time.

 

[Mullen]

Looks like a gay old time! I need to do more cool shit like this.

 

[Turboyota]

Flexy follow-on screen grab pics from above^^^ washed out section.

 

[Harry Johnson]

Your trip reports are awesome. I'm like an 8 hour drive to that part of California these days and I'm living vicariously through these. Thanks for posting them!

 

[Turboyota]

Conclusion: only 4 months fucking late, I’m sorry.

After going South on the fun washed out power line road, we busted a West onto XXX rd. XXX Road was mostly graded, 2 lanes wide, and only slightly washed out at wash crossings. I was feeling the flow of the road, the delicious embrace of a few Coors lights, and the harmonious whistle of the turbo coupled with the timely exhale of the blowoff valve. Everything was fantastic.



Patrik: “Your water temp is creeping up”

Me: “Okay, thank you”



*no changes to aggressive assault on the dezert whatsoever*



1 minute later…



Patrik “Temp over 200”

Me: “fuck, I’ll lay off the boost I guess”



I drifted around a long sweeping left hand corner and immediately came head-on with an Subaru Outback Butch Lesbian edition.



Both of us: “FUUUUUUCKK! Subaruuuuu!!”



I saw the fucking fear in the poor bastard’s eyes. I straightened the truck out and put the passenger side right up into the graded berm and harrowingly skirted past the scissormobile.



Me: “what the fuck is that dude doing way out here??



The truck wasn’t cooling down, so we stopped in a shady wash and waited for @FatJeff and @dose. They weren’t far behind, so we had a beer and added water to my radiator. I had the better part of a case of water at that point.



They didn’t almost kill the poor subiBro because we radioed back, so that’s nice.



We ended up stopping every 20-30 miles to add water, and by the time we hit red canyon Jeep trail, the water was completely gone. We still had 14~ish miles of hill climbs, ridge running, and whoops to get back to Chiriaco summit. Partik hiked back down the trail a smidge to get video of Jeff and Dusty hitting a super sick jump(we hit it and high-fived and laughed like 7 year olds…). While he was gone on a documentation mission, I filled the Radiator with the remaining La Croix. That wasn’t nearly enough, so I urinated in an empty bottle and begrudgingly added my fluids to the radiator.



Thats a first for me, fellas. I have put out an engine fire with beer. The owner of PRP (Aaron) and I extinguished a small brush fire caused by a stuck caliper with our beer-laced urine. But I have never resorted to pissing in my radiator. Until now.



After that monumental life changing event, we thrashed thru the 2ft whoops giggling and high-fiving all the way to Chiriaco where I Bought a few gallons of water and topped off the radiator again.



Dusty and his bro said their goodbyes and rolled out to the land of flat bills and neck tattoos(Elsinore), and FatJeff and I rolled out toward Y-town. We cruised down the 10w toward Indio and refilled water again in Indio, then Banning, and then finally made it home safe.



Altogether another fantastic trip! Great group of dudes, and even Goldberg’s wife had a great time. @FatJeff and @Kellyex1450 ‘s sons had a blast together, and Patrik turned out to be a fantastic codog. I’m glad I had him ride with me instead of destroying his stockish F150.