The Ocala Jeep Club of Florida

Wrapping it up with a bang!

Editors Note: Four Wheeler Magazine had a great write- up on the Las Cruces trails in its June 1998 issue as it covered the 1998 Chili Challenge. It was fun to compare their observations with what we experienced.

The plan for today was to drive to the entrance and hike Patzcuarro's Revernge and Rocotillo Rapids - two of the nastiest trails extreme trails in the Chile Canyons, then circle back and follow the hard-rated Hopping Jalapeno trail to the canyon floor where we would pick up the moderate-rated Amastita Ledges trail and climb back up to the surface either via Amastita Ledges or the extreme-rated Habanero Falls trail.

Patzcuarro's Revenge and Rocotillo Rapids are among the most photographed trails in the Chile Canyons, and a regular site of the RockCrawling Championships. They are accessed via a single trail that divides at the base of a mountain into the two trails. Rocotillo Rapids is short and intense, with many severly offcamber and slick rock slopes that in turn require an uphill turn to climb a nasty ledge. Our jeeps were clearly not set up for these off camber areas, so we walked the trail - admiring the nice jeep-colored streaks of paint that adorned the huge rocks.

"Patzcuarro's Revenge: As hard to drive as it is to pronounce. It contains challenges like "Shark's Tooth", "Nemesis" and boulders, off-camber ledges and the occasional giant waterfall. You may be tired when finishing this trail, but you'll agree that its a keeper. Damage to body parts is quite likely" - Four Wheeler, June 1998.

We backtracked and explored Patzcuarro's Revenge -a longer trail marked by obstacles like The Nemesis (a giant u-shaped waterfall that is a bodyman's friend), and Shark's Tooth. We weren't brave enough to try these obstacles, but the large open rock garden at the base of the trail proved too tempting and we decided to play a bit. Unfortunately Bill Lanman's YJ grenaded a front axle as first a bearing cap popped, then the cross exploded through the yokes. He was able to limp it to the shade of the canyon wall as we replaced his axleshaft with the makeshift welded replacement that we had cobbled earlier in Jim's shop.

"Hopping Jalapeno: This new canyon is the hardest of the moderate trails. It has steep, off-camber roads, lots of ledges and a large crack known as the "Grease Pit." During the test run, we lost three tires and rolled one Jeep. Experience is needed on this trail" - Four Wheeler, June 1998.

After returning to the top, we gathered at the traditional exit point of Hopping Jalapeno, and started down the canyon as we ran the trail in reverse. It was quite exciting as we gingerly eased and spotted our Jeeps down each rocky ledge, and many of the off camber slopes proved to be all-too-exciting for those of us who drove extremely tall and top-heavy rigs. Running up the trail in the traditional direction would absolutely be a blast! Bill pinched a rock with a tire that promptly ripped a chunk out of the Swamper SSR - he had quite a handful to deal with for the rest of the day as he wrestled with a 34" TSL Swamper "minispare" while nursing his "get-home-alive-only" front axleshaft. The final obstacle was the Grease Pit - a very deep and long crack in the off-camber rock that is just wide enough to carefully straddle with a Jeep. The difficulty comes with backing up the Jeep against the off-camber slope in order to align it properly for the obstacle. I was the first (and only one) to try it....with so much body roll and pucker that the rest decided to bypass the obstacle by running across the slope.

"Amastita Ledges: This trail starts out moderate, but fun. It slowly gets harder with waterfalls, bathtubs, boulders, and then the ledges themselves. During the test run we popped two tires and turned over one Jeep. This is a hard trail: experience needed" - Four Wheeler, June 1998

Contrary to the Four Wheeler report, Amastita Ledges was a fun trail of medium sized boulders and low ledges - not too difficult but enough to keep you busy. The locals said that the nature of each trail can change from easy to extreme depending on how the flash floods rearrange the rocks and wash out/deposit sand and fine rock debris between the boulders. One of the cool obstacles was the BathTub - a huge volcanic rock shelf with a bathtub-sized hole and a long and deep crack that was just narrow enough to straddle. A small rock garden before the obstacle made it challenging to align the jeeps up correctly for the BathTub. Ellen carefully laid her camcorder in the Tub to video the jeeps coming overhead - but not before burning her skin on the searing hot rock!

"Habanero Falls: A short trip into the big canyon that exits out a side branch. It features seven waterfalls in a row. It's not very far, but plan on most of the day, some winching, some breaking, some praying, and a lot of praises for a really great four-wheel drive road" - Four Wheeler magazine, June 1998.

Towards the end of the Amastita Ledges trail, we passed the entrance to Habanero Falls. Nursing wounded Jeeps and running low on spare parts, most of us elected to finish up Amastita and head back for the hotel's pool. Scott Allen decided to try his luck, and together with Chuck Higgins and Tony Sommo the three Jeeps set out on this Extreme Trail. More details later when additional pictures are available.

For all of us who had to leave a day earlier, Jim Huff promised us a spectacular finish and brought us to the Organ Mountains for a sunset picnic. There we traversed a old rocky road to the site of a ruby mine on the side of the mountain that was abandoned in the 1920's. The area was pristine and free of the trash and litter that so often marks such popular sites. The original rock house where the miners lived is still intact, as was the mine itself.

Inside we walked under heavy timbers that braced the walls and peered down the old mine shaft. The dry hot air had preserved everything to where it appeared that the mine had just been abandoned. The only sign of decay was a collapsed storage room carved out of the rock, and light rust on the old machinery. Jeff clanged the makeshift bell that used to signal the upcoming approach of the hoppers filled with rubble. Deeper within the mine the boys discovered a wall embedded with quartz and amethyst crystals!

We parked the Jeeps on a small flat area, and sat and watched the sun set on this magnificent vista as we munched on store-bought fried chicken and a cake that Nancy Huff had baked.

With sunset we could see the neighboring mountain ridges outlined against the last dying rays of light, and soon the searing brightness of the daytime sun was replaced by the soothing glow from the lights of Las Cruces twinkling far below us, and millions of stars above shining bright in the cloudless night. We stayed on the mountain until 10 pm - watching flying bats, the lights and taking in the clear clean air before slowly descending down the mountain in our Jeeps.