Martinez area 01-13-08 W/ATV Illustrated TV
Once again I had a very unique opportunity this last week. I was asked if I would be interested in taking out a film crew from ATV Illustrated Television to film a segment for an upcoming TV show. How could I resist!!!!! I asked Jeff (azgolfer) and his son Jeff Jr along with Roy to join me. Roy ended up not making it for the ride. He said something about he didn't want to be a distraction for the film crew. He said if he was along the rest of us wouldn't get any film of us because they would focus on him. Oh well Roy... your loss.
I decided on the Martinez area because of the awesome scenery and the history of the area. I had several stops in mind such as the old town of Rymert and the Martinez Cabins as well as the processing plant.
Our original plan was to meet off Cottonwood Canyon rd at 8:00 AM but that was pushed back to 9:00 AM because the film crew (Brian and Scott) had their rental car broken into. Jeff & Jeff and I met for breakfast at 7:00 AM and headed to our meeting place. A little after 10:00 the crew was still not there so we thought maybe it was not to be. Oh well we had a RZR to play with so might as well go play. Just before we got out of phone reception I checked my messages and they left a message that they were about 20 minutes from the site. I headed back to get them while Jeff & Jeff played on some hills.
We got loaded up and headed to the mountains. The 1st stop was lower Woodpecker for a boulder crawl in the wash but there was a 4x4 truck stuck on the boulder pile with a Jeep trying to pull him out. Brian wanted to film us in the creek bed so we set up for some shots. As we finished the truck was pulled free so we were able to go through the boulders and get some film of the Pictographs on the boulders as well.
Since we got a very late start We decided to pass up on Rymert had head for the Martinez cabins. The scenery is very different for Brian and Scott who are from Minnesota so we stopped a few times along the way. We were at the entrance of the beautiful rocks surrounding the cabin filming a time lapse segment when about 12 jeeps came by us on their way to the Cabins. It was starting to get late so the film crew wanted to head back to the trucks as we had about 1 hour ride to get there.
I took us on a short cut down a wash off the main road to get us to an interesting hill climb. This is where there was a slight mishap. Brian and Scott were behind me in the RZR. The wash was tight and twisty. Brian wasn't sure if I went straight in the wash area or took the trail slightly left where there was a trail. It was a bit off camber but being undecided he missed the turn slightly and rolled the RZR onto it's left side. Thank goodness it was a slow speed roll over and Scott held onto the oh shit handle on the RZR so neither of them was hurt at all. I was surprised how easy it was to roll back over plus we had the camera gear ratcheted down in the back and it was still in place. Brian climbed back on the horse to drive it out of the wash but it was now very off camber so Jeff came to the rescue. Jeff said he was testing a new way of riding, it's called a 2 up side by side with one out as he was hanging off the side for ballast. It actually took JR hanging off the side as well so it was a 2 up and 2 out riding style. After putting everything back in the ice chest we were off.
We stopped at a very scenic spot that Brian wanted to film near the fun hill climb. As the crew was setting up I took the gear out of the RZR to go test it out on a hill climb. Jeff Jr hopped in the passenger seat and we were off to tear it up. I got to the bottom of the hill, put it in low 4x4 and nailed the throttle. We were throwing rocks like crazy as we were climbing to the top. We spun around and came back down, once at the bottom I said "that was a blast let's do it again". I pushed the button to take it out of 4 wheel drive and slid the back end around but it hit a rut and went up on 2 wheels but it landed on all 4 wheels. Now that I knew it could make it I hit the hill at full throttle. Jeff said we were giggling like little kids as we flew by him. I just had to do that one more time. As we headed back to the film crew I hit the gas as we came over a dirt pile landing on the fly smack in the middle of a huge puddle spraying us with mud in the process but it was worth it. I came sliding sideways past the film to the top of the hill.
After packing up we headed to the trucks as we had just enough daylight to make it back. I took us on a short cut that Montana Jim and I had found a couple of weeks ago through a mine area. The film guys wanted one more shot of the sunset as it was outstanding. You could not have asked for a better day. Not to hot or dusty and a good group of guys to ride with plus we got to see how they film a TV show.
That RZR handles very well. It has surprising power, climbs hills with ease and is a good boulder crawler. The 800 motor accelerates to 55 very quick as well. It is a little thirsty when it comes to gas but we did ride it pretty hard. For an excellent review of this machine pick up the February 2008 issue of ATV & SXS Illustrated Magazine.
Read MoreI decided on the Martinez area because of the awesome scenery and the history of the area. I had several stops in mind such as the old town of Rymert and the Martinez Cabins as well as the processing plant.
Our original plan was to meet off Cottonwood Canyon rd at 8:00 AM but that was pushed back to 9:00 AM because the film crew (Brian and Scott) had their rental car broken into. Jeff & Jeff and I met for breakfast at 7:00 AM and headed to our meeting place. A little after 10:00 the crew was still not there so we thought maybe it was not to be. Oh well we had a RZR to play with so might as well go play. Just before we got out of phone reception I checked my messages and they left a message that they were about 20 minutes from the site. I headed back to get them while Jeff & Jeff played on some hills.
We got loaded up and headed to the mountains. The 1st stop was lower Woodpecker for a boulder crawl in the wash but there was a 4x4 truck stuck on the boulder pile with a Jeep trying to pull him out. Brian wanted to film us in the creek bed so we set up for some shots. As we finished the truck was pulled free so we were able to go through the boulders and get some film of the Pictographs on the boulders as well.
Since we got a very late start We decided to pass up on Rymert had head for the Martinez cabins. The scenery is very different for Brian and Scott who are from Minnesota so we stopped a few times along the way. We were at the entrance of the beautiful rocks surrounding the cabin filming a time lapse segment when about 12 jeeps came by us on their way to the Cabins. It was starting to get late so the film crew wanted to head back to the trucks as we had about 1 hour ride to get there.
I took us on a short cut down a wash off the main road to get us to an interesting hill climb. This is where there was a slight mishap. Brian and Scott were behind me in the RZR. The wash was tight and twisty. Brian wasn't sure if I went straight in the wash area or took the trail slightly left where there was a trail. It was a bit off camber but being undecided he missed the turn slightly and rolled the RZR onto it's left side. Thank goodness it was a slow speed roll over and Scott held onto the oh shit handle on the RZR so neither of them was hurt at all. I was surprised how easy it was to roll back over plus we had the camera gear ratcheted down in the back and it was still in place. Brian climbed back on the horse to drive it out of the wash but it was now very off camber so Jeff came to the rescue. Jeff said he was testing a new way of riding, it's called a 2 up side by side with one out as he was hanging off the side for ballast. It actually took JR hanging off the side as well so it was a 2 up and 2 out riding style. After putting everything back in the ice chest we were off.
We stopped at a very scenic spot that Brian wanted to film near the fun hill climb. As the crew was setting up I took the gear out of the RZR to go test it out on a hill climb. Jeff Jr hopped in the passenger seat and we were off to tear it up. I got to the bottom of the hill, put it in low 4x4 and nailed the throttle. We were throwing rocks like crazy as we were climbing to the top. We spun around and came back down, once at the bottom I said "that was a blast let's do it again". I pushed the button to take it out of 4 wheel drive and slid the back end around but it hit a rut and went up on 2 wheels but it landed on all 4 wheels. Now that I knew it could make it I hit the hill at full throttle. Jeff said we were giggling like little kids as we flew by him. I just had to do that one more time. As we headed back to the film crew I hit the gas as we came over a dirt pile landing on the fly smack in the middle of a huge puddle spraying us with mud in the process but it was worth it. I came sliding sideways past the film to the top of the hill.
After packing up we headed to the trucks as we had just enough daylight to make it back. I took us on a short cut that Montana Jim and I had found a couple of weeks ago through a mine area. The film guys wanted one more shot of the sunset as it was outstanding. You could not have asked for a better day. Not to hot or dusty and a good group of guys to ride with plus we got to see how they film a TV show.
That RZR handles very well. It has surprising power, climbs hills with ease and is a good boulder crawler. The 800 motor accelerates to 55 very quick as well. It is a little thirsty when it comes to gas but we did ride it pretty hard. For an excellent review of this machine pick up the February 2008 issue of ATV & SXS Illustrated Magazine.
