After almost two months of bad luck chasing a no-start, replacing a burnt out winch, and
finding a leaking radiator at the very last minute, the LX successfully completed a ~ 3000 round trip from Seattle to Sedona and back,
almost flawlessly.
As always, the LX is a capable and comfortable touring, even with her extra girth. It's just so compliant, and so quiet. Going east to west, the 80 mph speed limited and 20-30 mph crosswinds through the open areas of Idaho and Utah, she slammed through gas like it was redbull. We averaged 11.5 mpg between Pendelton Oregon to Salt Lake City Utah. On the way back we got a respectable 14.5 mpg.
We got into Sedona on Monday about 3 hours before our rental was ready so we made our way down dry creek road. This is an extremely busy trail due to the Devil's bridge side quest. My very little nephews were with us, so we opted to go past it and play in the water by Van Deren Cabin instead.
The best part of this was all of the looks, points, and cat-calls that my 570 and my brother-in-laws 470 got from the pink jeep drivers.
Next on the agenda was the legendary Broken Arrow trail. I watched about 200 youtube videos before hand (of course) and felt pretty prepared for this trail. It's rated a double-black diamond on local guides but I think a stock 200 could do it with very careful spotting.
This trail is really short, but there are no dull moments. Its a little bit of everything: ledges, slick-rock climbs, off camber, sand, and incredible views.
The LX just chewed this trail up. With big tires, good traction and tons of clearance, I could have ran the whole trail in neutral height. No issues—well, until mushroom rock.
This is the last 1/3 of the trail before it become two way. If you know this trail, there is a climb, a hard left, and then a another slick rock climb. The second slick rock climb I heard a heart-stopping noise—a loud thunk, and then more scary noises at both droop and full lock. I thought for sure I broke a CV. I climbed under the car multiple times and didn't see anything out of place. I put the truck in neutral height and slid down the stair case and finished the trail.
Here's my brother in law coming down