Ripley

Was visiting family in Clark, WY this past week and spent a few days wandering through desert, mountain, flat land, muddy,and rocky trails. My 2012 JK Sport Automatic is as basic as they come, still has 16" steelies & 225/75r16 street tires, and I have relatively ZERO experience driving in 4WD conditions. I drove the Meteetsee Trail to and from Red Lodge, drove deep into little Sand Coulee, and stumbled on a Jeep Road near the Clark's Fork Canyon access area that was probably more than I should've tackled with my stock Jeep and limited experience. This road definitely pushed the limits for me, but was very, very fun.

I looked at the map later and realized I was on Morrison Road ... The Easy Part. I will probably never attempt the REAL Morrison Jeep Trail, but the trails and roads on the other side of the river provided an awesome afternoon experience for me and my Old Fart Jeep.

The reason for this post is to encourage those who are less experienced, not yet willing or able to modify, or are just new to Jeep ownership to enjoy your Jeep as is and don't feel pressured to modify before you are ready. By all means, when and if you are ready, go all out! But don't be afraid to test your Jeep in stock form. It is designed to drive in these conditions and my little stock Jeep with street tires handled everything I threw at it. Even in 2WD, it handled the terrain like a champ. 4WD pulled me up hills I would have not expected to handle and helped me as I gained experience on heading back down to the bottom.

If I never get a chance to do this again, I can still say that my purchase of a Jeep was a good choice. This experience and these trails are awesome. I bought it as my "Happy Car" ... and it has already earned its keep.

If you ever get a chance, BLM land in The Bighorn Basin of Wyoming provides plenty of interesting rides. Beartooth Pass, Sunlight Basin, Yellowtail, Pryor Mountains, McCullough Peaks, the Meteetsee Trail, and many, many more places and trails throughout the area offer an unending list of choices to enjoy your Jeep.

Thanks for listening to this Old Dude. My Jeep now has a proven value that is unmatched by any vehicle I have ever owned.

Can't wait to begin my next adventure!

Ripley

Also ... I got 21.6 mpg on the way up from East Texas to Clark, WY. 800 miles of all types of driving and road conditions while I was in Wyoming and Montana, and 75-85 mph all the way back home sucked the total mpg down a bit ... but the total mpg for 72.5 hours in the Jeep, along with 3815 total miles was still pretty good. 18.1 mpg along with all the sights, scenes, and experiences was better than anticipated.