Cruz the Desert

[BMAN]

It has been discussed recently and in the past that we, Copper State Cruisers, should attempt to host our very own Toyota 4X4 event. It's about time that we start to discuss and plan this event.

Questions that need answers:

Where do we hold this event?

Will this be an annual event held in the same location every year?

What types of trail do we want to make available to our guests?

Do we cook or cater the event? Or are the guests responsible to feed themselves?

You get the idea. Let's here everyone's thoughts.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I would like to see it held somewhere kinda central, with numerous good trails of varying difficulty. This would make it far more appealing to more people. FJ comes to mind, but if the best location happens to be up north I'm still down with that.
I think keep the same location year after year, like crusie moab, Glitter Gulch Gambol, GSMTR etc.
I think we should probably provide at least 1 dinner that would be included with registration fee.
C-gap in Tucson is a good all day trail. If, say, our event was in FJ and we added C-gap to the trail choices, I would gladly lead it.

some thoughts

also it would be up to us as a club to ensure that these trails are scouted out and passable.

 

[desertdude]

repost:

Well you Bman know me go big or go home - since then I have tempered my grand ideas a bit

The best events start out because you are having fun with your friends after a couple years and the same people still want to go next year and they bring along a few other friends the "event" grows all on its own.

I would like to see our club every year do something we like to do " call it anything we want" and see how this flys

Last fall some of us went to Fossil Springs to do a trail clean up - it was real fun the -wheeling easy - but it was the people/camping/hang time and area views that made the trip. Not to mention the fine swimming - ( heck this is where I ruined my knee trying to get down to the creek and had my fisrt taste of "cracker cakes") We did this in Sept of last year and want to repeat the event this year.

AZ has an immense amount of trails and areas to make it a long weekend of trail runs and camping - Could we as a club find a place we all like to go and make it an every year event? - " Florence Junction" ? somewhere more obscure and secret ?

 

[desertdude]

AZ

Yes

easy- moderate and hard

Group cooking - everyone participate

 

[desertdude]

Since AZrocks uses FJ is ther another area that offers the same wheeling ?

 

[cybler]

Have many of you done Reno Pass, trail connecting Sunflower and Punkin Center. I ran it a few years ago, almost 9 actually, but just went straight through, so I'm not sure if there are multiple trails to run. The trail gets fairly tough in the middle and you'll definately get some pinstripping from the tight brush.

Just a thought.

David

 

[import silvia]

Is there something slightly more mountainious than FJ? THe wheeling was great but the camping was kinda meh. I know that is lots of state land north of globe, there has to be soem good trails up in there somewhere.

 

[xrock]

Since FJ is already taken, why don't we show off one of most scenic and often vsited by tourists areas we have? Sedona/ Jerome.

Even if we left Broken arrow off the list due to the Pinkies, there are enough trails in the area, enough wide open spaces to camp (on the way to Robbers roost or along Shnelby), and more than enough beauty to keep the travelers coming back. Just off the top of my head, there's:

Sedona:
Broken Arrow
Shnelby Hill
Greasy spoon
Oak Creek (which is short but fun and with a river)
The Van whatever cabin
Soldiers Pass (short, but has the 7 pools)

Not to mention:
Palatki and Honanki Ruins, V-bar-V petroglyph panel, Robbers roost, Shaman's cave and all of the other non offroad tourist stuff they have.

Jerome:
Smiley Rock
Mingus mountain trail
and visiting the cool old town, the ghost town and other tourist stuff.

Really- you can spend a week in the area doing all of the trails and seeing the sites. I've never seen another event spending a whole weekend or week in this area.

We did last year for the Arizona Expedition that I put together and although there were only 10 trucks, everyone LOVED it. It's possible to even do little "symbol" stickers for the trails- kind of like Moab does. I already drew some up for last year and didn't do it.

Just a thought- I would be happy to help organize since I know a lot of the out of the way stuff from hiking, camping, offroading in the area.

 

[clarkrw3]

I like the Sedona/Jerome idea something different to the TTORA event I don't think we should make a CSC AZROCKS event. There are also alot of good trails around Crown King.

 

[Cantinero]

Previous posts:

I was thinking about this earlier as well BMAN. I was going to PM you on it, but since it is out now... If most of the proceeds were to go to a charity from the event, my company might get involved from the production angle with necessary lighting, audio, video, staging gear and such. Also this could possibly bring on board a well known communication company if one of their charities were so sponsored with some free air time advertisements of the event as a wash. We also could get an event license and bring on board an alcohol distributorship as well to donate beer sales to the named charity. Just don't know how big you want to make this thing, but we definitely have the know how and resources available to us to do it.

You can check out a little bit of what we do at: Shadow Mountain Productions, Inc.

WHOA THER BIG FELLA! Pull them reigns in a bit. While your intentions and thoughts are noble... let's not put the cart that far in front of the horse. Keep in mind that in order to pull off something of that scale it would take a HUGE amount of time on the part of the club not to mention the liability to the club when you hold an event of that size.

Let's slow it down a bit first and talk about what we want the "event" to be.

BMAN- I totally agree it should be small to start. Like I said I didn't know how big you wanted to take this event, but I do have connections, resources, and knowledge in my industry to do whatever size event you want. Afterall this is what I do for a living on a worldwide scale. How ever I can be of service, let me know.

D

 

[DSRTRDR]

for the milder crowd, there are nice trails on the other side of I-17 as well, Sheep Bridge coming to mind, or down to the Verde at Childs (I think that's Dugas Ranch road, that's on the list of trails I haven't done yet) - might be intermediate

I like the Crown King/Horsethief Basin idea, really a lot of different terrain, could even include north of Lake Pleasant. It's also close to Table Mesa for the hardcore dudes.

 

[Cantinero]

While sticking to one area would be nice each year, maybe we should showcase the state a bit and take some of the financial burden off those who would always be made to travel and make it a rotating event between Northern, Central, and Southern Arizona and instead of "Cruz The Desert" it's "Cruz AZ". That way it would give our club members a chance to showcase their own back yards to the rest of us, where they spend the majority or their time wheeling, and everyone shares the financial burden of travel 2 out of 3 years.

 

[DSRTRDR]

I see merit in rotating. That's the only beef I have with Moab: it's always the same trails.

But the event should mostly be about company anyway.........

 

[medtro]

Will this be an annual event held in the same location every year?

What types of trail do we want to make available to our guests?

We host it for the 1st year, then we can discuss these questions after the event.

 

[BMAN]

Here's a couple of ideas for everyone to think about.

Food... lodging... services... wheeling diversity...

FJ is a great area for all of these. Kinda the reason that so many groups hold their events in the area. That said, I agree that we need to offer something different. As partial as I am to the FJ area, I agree that we should look elsewhere for our event. We should be searching out an area that offers nearby food and lodging for the princesses, fuel and supplies for all attendees, and diverse wheeling (mild to wild).

Included in the trail lineup should be mild trails for stockers and others who enjoy the vistas we have to offer here in Az. Mderate trails for those who like a little more challenge and some wild stuff for those of us who enjoy a real challenge.

Maybe we plan to host an evening raffle each day of the event with a Saturday evening hosted BBQ or something along these lines.

If we charge a registration fee I believe we will NEED to have our NFP status setup to do so. Remember that this is not cheap.

Keep the ideas flowing!

 

[BMAN]

We host it for the 1st year, then we can discuss these questions after the event.

Also a very VALID point.

 

[Cdaniel]

Central bases to consider near trails/fuel/amenities:
Kearny
Winkleman
Prescott
Camp Verde
Tucson

 

[MaddBaggins]

If we charge a registration fee I believe we will NEED to have our NFP status setup to do so. Remember that this is not cheap.

Keep the ideas flowing!

So as a club we have to eat the finances of this? If we're gonna shell out some dough, then it should be toward our NFP status.

 

[cybler]

I vote Sedona area, it's killing me not to be able to do the run this weekend. Anything above the rim sounds great too, then we don't have to wait until it cools off for an event.

NFP status would be a very good idea before this event really gets going. I'd be more willing to make contributions for the truck or event if I can write it off.

David

 

[Pskhaat]

Events I see as drawing people if only if they offer something for the most part people can't find anywhere else. That's why Moab is so popular. I very much believe we need to make this very AZ specific and very postcardy.

I do dislike so few options year after year in Moab, mainly because there are so many other options. If we did Camino Del Diablo every year I'd still be interested in doing it year after year, just because of it's uniqueness and there are no other real options.

I would say Jerome & primarily Sedona are the most attractive options. Sedona has it's own downfalls, but has hikes and other attractions to it to draw people from all over. There are a moderate amount of trails around there, lodging & restaurants. This is by far the most obvious location to try and replicate a Cruise Moab-style event.

I personally would like to see longer distance exploration-style event that varies in location and trails every year, like a 3 day trip. However this interests very few people as so many people enjoy rock crawling and harder trails instead.

Thus, my opinion remains that to attract most people, to reduce logistics on CSC's part, and to offer features other than wheeling (the reason my wife loves going to CM is she doesn't HAVE to be on the trail all the time, and as such I get to attend), Sedona is the clear choice. People can camp, or stay in an overpriced hotel. They can cook out or hit a restaurant. We (CSC) can then get a place (maybe a Ranch?) to cater one dinner for everyone. Close trails or further out trails are not out of the question.

I also believe that November is the perfect month for this, when the remainder of the country is getting cold and people start longing for travel and adventure from a while of armchair wheeling, yet cool enough to enjoy. This also allows non-compete with other major events in the Spring/Summertime.