The Crown King-Prescott Run

[jkernitzki]

Just a quick couple nights. Told the wife she is getting some wheel time on Crown King Road. She was supposed to get some at Off-Roadeo, but she was just too nervous. I figure this is as tame as it comes off-pavement, I need her to gain some confidence, even if it's a level 1.

Anyway, cockpit's set, luggage and tire/recovery gear stowed (not that we'll need it, but...), and it's off to Rock Springs Cafe for a good breakfast and then to the dirt. More pics & tales to follow over the next few days.

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[dwrufus53]

Could you share your route/map? I've been to Crown King (years ago)... we got there from I-17 to SR 69, then south from Spring Valley to Crown King ... I don't see a route from Crown Kint to Prescott except back to SR 69.

 

[jkernitzki]

Could you share your route/map? I've been to Crown King (years ago)... we got there from I-17 to SR 69, then south from Spring Valley to Crown King ... I don't see a route from Crown Kint to Prescott except back to SR 69.

From the Valley, there’s a few basic routes. The one you mentioned, another from I-17 at Exit 248 through Bumble Bee, and lastly up from the Lake Pleasant area via Castle Hot Springs (the “Back Way”). The last one is probably not best for a bone stock BS, and definitely not solo.

 

[jkernitzki]

Could you share your route/map? I've been to Crown King (years ago)... we got there from I-17 to SR 69, then south from Spring Valley to Crown King ... I don't see a route from Crown Kint to Prescott except back to SR 69.

Here’s the route we took this morning: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XCHP2Ypg5DhiFwnU9?g_st=ic

 

[jkernitzki]

Tiring day, a lot of video to d/l from the dash cam, and see if any of it is worth posting.

Until I can get to that, rest assured that Crown King’s fire safety is well in hand:

 

[Timon.Arg]

Just a quick couple nights. Told the wife she is getting some wheel time on Crown King Road. She was supposed to get some at Off-Roadeo, but she was just too nervous. I figure this is as tame as it comes off-pavement, I need her to gain some confidence, even if it's a level 1.

Anyway, cockpit's set, luggage and tire/recovery gear stowed (not that we'll need it, but...), and it's off to Rock Springs Cafe for a good breakfast and then to the dirt. More pics & tales to follow over the next few days.

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Can you share info about the tablet mounting system? Thanks!

 

[jkernitzki]

Can you share info about the tablet mounting system? Thanks!

Peastrex Cup Holder Tablet Mount,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D571YPSX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[Timon.Arg]

Peastrex Cup Holder Tablet Mount,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D571YPSX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Thanks ! Looking something like that.
Have a nice day.

 

[Wandering Pinto]

in February I drove the "Alternative Backway" to Crown King, not to be confused with the much harder "Backway to Crown King". It it rated a level 4 and I say that's spot on. You will test your tire placement skill in a few spots and be glad you have skid plates. I recommend not doing this alone, we went with a friend in a full sized two door.

 

[jkernitzki]

in February I drove the "Alternative Backway" to Crown King, not to be confused with the much harder "Backway to Crown King". It it rated a level 4 and I say that's spot on. You will test your tire placement skill in a few spots and be glad you have skid plates. I recommend not doing this alone, we went with a friend in a full sized two door.

This.

 

[Wandering Pinto]

https://www.onxmaps.com/offroad/trails/us/arizona/crown-king-to-castle-springs-alternate-to-backway

 

[jkernitzki]

We're back, unpacked, and laundry in progress.

Waiting on the Vantrue vids to sync, and on that thought (while we're waiting): The E1 Pro overheats like crazy. We're talking 2nd degree burns if you tried to hold it in your hand after a surprisingly short runtime. It gets to the point where you'll get SD Card errors until it drops to a tolerable temp.

WiFi sync to the phone is not the most convenient or consistent. Lots of failure to connect errors phone to cam. I believe much of that may be the CarPlay connection getting in the way, but I can't be positive.

Downloading vids is straightforward enough, I guess, but if I had an collision (or witnessed one), getting a vid to the involved parties or police would be frustrating, particularly if you're a bit shaken or feeling pressure to recover it. It's just not as obvious, simple, or clean as you would expect or demand in those situations.

The E1 comes with a CPL filter, and it's pretty crap, IMO. Didn't matter where I rotated it to, it still produced the rainbow in every vid. I'm pretty sure it's a coated plastic filter, and not perfectly flat or optically neutral. I'd rather just use an ND filter, but it looks like the E1 doesn't use a standard sizing, so I may be out of luck there. I'll just run naked and see how it works out.

I definitely need to get into FORScan and adjust the accessory power timeout value. For my needs, a minute is more than enough, and the factory setting is at least 10 minutes which is way too long to keep the cam powered after parking. I don't want parking mode on this thing, it's probably be a pile of molten slag by the time I got back.

I will have to set the collision detection as low as possible; most of the vids on the trail up to Crown King were stored in the collision detection folder, and the save snapshot feature was going off like crazy. Entirely too sensitive for even mild off-road use. We'll see if I can "de-tune" it to an acceptable level.

Once the vids finally sync, I'll follow up with final thoughts.

 

[jkernitzki]

https://www.onxmaps.com/offroad/trails/us/arizona/crown-king-to-castle-springs-alternate-to-backway

Reading some of the trail notes, it looks like the SXS hooligans are getting worse. I try to be "Trail Courteous" as much as I can, let folks by in both directions even when I don't have to, and try and mind the dust going through small towns or passing hikers & bicyclists. They're still in the minority, but it only takes a few to ruin a day.

People seem to think the trails are their personal rally course, and frankly I'm getting tired of it. Thankfully, I can schedule all my runs during the week and avoid most of them, as well as the idiots taking their Altima's and Chrysler Town & Country's where they don't belong.

 

[jkernitzki]

Well, most of the footage is pretty unusable. On that road, I don't think even a stabilized action cam would do a whole lot better. I ran street pressure the entire trip, and short of going down to 15 psi and keeping the speed below 10 mph, not much would've made a difference for either the camera or my kidneys.

I pulled a clip of one of the three (or four) switchbacks still in place from the days of the mining trains that used to haul ore down the mountain. For those not familiar with them, they were used to save time & money building tracks up steep grades, where carving out a large radius was cost-prohibitive, or just not possible due to terrain. Here's a model railroad using a switchback:

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Driving a switchback today:

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Couple of photos from CK:

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