Box Canyon / Ajax Mine / Coke Ovens - Florence, AZ

John

Forum Member
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
40
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Location:
Box Canyon / Ajax Mile / Coke Ovens just outside of Florence, AZ


Google Maps : https://goo.gl/maps/qox9
​

Time of year:
June-10-2012​

Expected trail conditions:
Trail conditions range from easy dirt roads to difficult to maneuver rock trails. After rainfall, there are small water crossings and waterfalls that must be crossed.​

Vehicle:
1996 Subaru Legacy Outback 5MT EJ22E​

Area regulations:
This area is used for several different things. Its open for public use except when reg flags are being flown. The US Military uses it for weapons training certain times of the year. While weapons training is not happening, the land is open for anything from target shooting to 4 wheeling to camping. Rules are pretty lax, pretty much as long as you're not endangering anyone or anything, you're allowed to do whatever you want (within reason)​

Equipment recommended:
4x4
High clearance
Skid Plates
Firearms & Ammunition (12 gauge shotgun recommended for protection from wildlife)
Food
Water
Basic tools
Jack
Spare tire
CB Radio
Cell phone (T-Mobile has both data and voice coverage for the first 10 miles of the trails.)​

Type of surface:
These trails range from easy to extremely difficult. Some surfaces are "improved" dirt roads, while others require a rock crawler set up to get through.​

Wildlife
There is a risk of running across dangerous wildlife in this area.

  • Mountain Lion
  • Javalina
  • Coyote
  • Western Diamondback Rattle Snake
  • Scorpion
  • Wolf Spider
  • Black Widow
  • Tranchula
  • Cattle (bulls / cows / horses)
  • ETC

Since the desert is home to many poisonous / dangerous animals and insects, proper precautions must be taken. Its always good to carry Benadryl (allergy medicine) because it helps counteract scorpion venom. It can help buy you enough time to get to help if you were stunk. As well, some sort of firearm is recommended. Most animals will keep their distance from you, but if one is hungry enough it could be a disaster. A lot of the time you can just fire one round and it will scare the animal away.​

Here is a few teaser photos of the area

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TRAIL REPORT

We hit the trails at about 11am. It was 110F outside with 0% humidity.

Our gear consisted of :

Hand Tools
Firearms
Cooler w/ ice & drinks
Food
Chains
Jack
First aid
etc

We had a 2010 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon join us as well.

Our first stop was Ajax Mine. This is an old abandoned mine that hasn't been touched in about 100 years. The trails leading back to it I would rate moderate. There were some rocky spots where careful wheel placement was a must. I didn't come across anything that really presented a major challenge, but it was still a blast. Along the way, we found all kinds of cool stuff. Cattle grazes the area, so there were water holes for cattle where we found bulls and cows. They were pretty relaxed, my loud car didn't scare them. We were able to get close enough to snap a few pictures. We also found a collapsed wooden house, some wind mills, old mining equipment, the old mining rail road, etc. After we explored Ajax mine, we went back into town for lunch.

After lunch and a gas fill up, we headed back out into the trails. This time we were going to Cochran, AZ to see the Coke Ovens. Cochran was a small mining town that was founded in 1905 and abandoned in 1915. Most of the town is in ruins now, but the "Coke Ovens" still remain standing. It is one of Arizonas "Ghost Towns". Info on Cochran can be found on this link.

We started the journey by going through Box Canyon. Box Canyon is known to be a difficult Jeep trail to the local people here. Each person I told that I was taking my Outback through Box Canyon told me I would never make it through. The way to Box Canyon wasn't bad at all. it was smooth dirt roads all the way from the city (Florence)....however it got very rock, very fast once we entered the canyon. I didn't have any major issues. Things were pretty doable in the Outback with proper wheel placement. I did get hung up on a boulder once and had to be pulled off by the Rubicon, but on my second try with different wheel placement I was able to make it over. There were some spots where I bottomed out and scraped the bottom of the car pretty bad....but I was able to manage to make it through without major issues. At the end of Box Canyon (about a 2 mile trail) the driver of the Rubicon told me "I was expecting you to break something. I never thought you would have made it through. I'm amazed."

We took a little break to let the cars cool off and walk around a little bit. After our break, we continued our trip to Cochran. This is when things started getting pretty rough. For the next 15+ miles, there were no "easy" spots. It was all very steep up and down hill rocky terrain that was winding through the mountains. I was amazed at what my Outback was capable of doing when it came to "rock climbing"...especially on all season tires and stock suspension (without sway bars). These parts of the trails I would rate extremely difficult. I had to go very slow and place my wheels perfectly. There were spots where I slid sideways off of the rocks and bumped the side of my car against the rocky walls next to me...but I didn't cause any major damage to the car.

We came up to one section that I looked at once and knew I wouldn't be able to make it through...I simply didn't have the horse power or ground clearance that was needed to do it....there was no possible "careful wheel placement" in this spot to make it though. It was a very narrow and very steep rocky climb. With a boulder on the left and a rock wall on the right. The climb was about 3 car lengths. After 3 tries, I made it to the top of it. My thinking was "f*ck it. If I get stuck, the Jeep can pull me back down.". I made it to the top to find a very sharp right turn with a sudden vertical step up that was about a foot and a half or two feet. I tried to make it up it several times (at an angle) but I simply didn't have enough horse power or grip in the tires. As well, my open diffs were killing me here.

I tried several times and then BAM....no more clutch. I recently replace my clutch about 8000 miles ago (clutch kit and flywheel) so this was the last thing I was expecting to happen. My car was immobilized. It would not move at all...any time I put it in gear and gave it gas, giant plumes of smoke were coming out from under the car with the distinct "burnt clutch" smell.

We were determined to see Cochran, so we all hopped in the Rubicon and continued on. The trails got simply brutal. There were obstacles that I looked at coming up on and they simply blew my mind. I'm not the type of person that gets scared easily, but I was honestly scared at several points during the trails.

We finally got out of the rocky trails and the smooth dirt paths that lead to Cochran. This was right along the river, so there was lots of vegetation and trees. There were actually so may trees that it made it impossible to even go 5 feet off of the path. We came across a giant hole in the road that was about 8 feet deep. There was no way we were able to make it through it. It looked like rain had washed part of the path away. We decided to rest there for awhile. We let the Rubicon cool down, ate, drank water, and set up targets for target shooting. After shooting a few boxes of ammunition, we got everyone packed up into the Rubicon again and turned around to head back to my car.

On the way back to my car, a few of the difficult areas that we had already gone through were even harder going the opposite direction. The ride back to my car was used to discuss what we were going to do with my car when we got to it.

Our two options were to leave my car there and return the next day with a new clutch kit or to try and pull it the entire 20 miles back through the trails and into town.
 
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We finally got to a point where we could see my car. I was so excited that I could see it again and it looked to be ok. I started thinking and figured that the clutch had just over heated and needed to cool down. I just installed that clutch about 8,000 miles ago...so a bad clutch was pretty much out of the question. When we got to my car, I jumped in and tried to move my car....Nothing happened.

We decided to try and tow my car with a tow chain back into town. This meant that we had to travel the 20 miles through the rocky trails towing a car. We chained the Rubicon and the Outback together and started to head out. I had a hand held radio and so did the driver of the Rubicon so we could talk back and forth to make towing a little easier.

Driving through these trails was already a pretty major challenge for me...especially in a stock Outback on all season tires. Let me tell you...being pulled all the way through without being able to control my car and the path I took was absolute hell.

About 5 miles after starting to tow my car, it got dark....nightfall hit FAST. By now, it was several hours past the time I said I would be home. Since we were miles away from anything, nobody had cell phone service to be able to call home and tell their families that they were OK and running late due to my car breaking down. Wildlife was starting to come out. We saw all kinds of wild animals from rabbits to coyotes.

Since I was not able to control what path I took over rocks and boulders, I was at the mercy of the Rubicons path of choice. There were several times when my undercarriage got hung up on big boulders and I had to be dragged off of them. I could hear the metal on the bottom of my car just scraping away.

After 20 miles of absolute hell, we finally got to the end of Box Canyon to the smooth dirt roads. This was such a GREAT feeling to be off of the trails. We stopped to inspect damage to the Outback and the Rubicon. The Outback got torn up right under the doors pretty bad...destroyed the front and rear bumper...and that was about it. The Rubicon broke its muffler and screwed up the front bumper. Nothing major was damaged...both suspensions lived, etc...

After towing my car about 10 miles down the dirt roads, we all started to get cell phone service. INSTANTLY my phone started blowing up with calls and text messages. The Pinal County Sheriff was out looking for us because we were reported "missing". I imediattly called 911 and advised them that we were all OK, we had a break down but got things figured out...and that we didn't answer any phones because there was no cell phone service where we were.

Once we got into town, I called a tow truck and had my car towed to my shop. The morning after...I pulled the transmission to see what kind of damage I had done.

When I pulled the transmission, I couldn't believe my eyes. My brand new clutch pretty much discenigrated. I took this oprotunity to patch up some other stuff on the car as well. I made my exhaust, fixed my bumpers and trimmed the bottoms of them off, did an oil change, etc.

Here are some pics


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As far as I know, I've been the only one to take a Subaru back there. Its always lifted trucks and Jeeps....Never an Outback.
 
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